Italeri F-16, worth a punt ?

[Blitz23]

Looking a decent F-16 that I can build OOB which isn't gonna cost me too much. I've seen Italeri's Special colours boxing and just wondered if anyone has built one whether it was worth the money.

[Rich G]

I would recommend getting one of the Revell F-16's, it's cheap,comes in many flavours and is better in quality than the Italeri one.

Rich

[Rob G]

I'm building a couple of the Italeri ones, and haven't had any real issues with construction so far. That said, it's not the best shapewise, and the Revell one is better detailed. I have several of each, can't comment on Revell's buildability as I haven't started one yet.

[charley420]

What scale?

I built the 48th special colours a while back and it went together well and was most definitely f16 shaped when finished.

[Blitz23]

What scale?

I built the 48th special colours a while back and it went together well and was most definitely f16 shaped when finished.

1/48, thanks for your input guys I'll see if I can get one off eBay.

[Rob G]

I'd assumed 1/72 for some odd reason. Ignore me, I've never built a 48th F-16 from anyone!

[Blitz23]

I'd assumed 1/72 for some odd reason. Ignore me, I've never built a 48th F-16 from anyone!

Yeah sorry I should have made the scale clear in the title.

[Wez]

Yeah sorry I should have made the scale clear in the title.

You could use the full editor to go in and change the title to add the 1/48th to save further confusion.

I was given the kit, it's in the stash along with a resin cockpit (NeOmega) and a resin exhaust (Aires IIRC), there was an issue with the version I have insofar as the exhaust didn't have the right number of exhaust petals (can't remember the correct number but the kit was one short), I don't know if this was corrected in different versions of the kit.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Wez

[Teeradej]

IMHO in 1/48 cost effective Tamiya viper OOB is absolutely pleasure.

Edited July 2, 2016 by Teeradej

[exdraken]

IMHO in 1/48 cost effective Tamiya viper OOB is absolutely pleasure.

yes, if you want to spend that kind of money n the first place, and if you want to model a F-16C!

all others versions are debatable

Italeri also reboxed some of Kinetics offerings. The F-16C Barak in Israeli colours (http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=1906&idCategoria=1&idSottocategoria=2), and the F-16D with Greek and USAF decals http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=523&idCategoria=1&idSottocategoria=2

come with a lot of weapons. and for sure better than any Revell F-16 or other Italeri F-16 in 1/48

Edited July 3, 2016 by exdraken

[Teeradej]

yes, if you want to spend that kind of money n the first place, and if you want to model a F-16C!

I dont think Tamiya viper selling from major retailers priced at something like "that kind of money" as 30-40 usd is rather average for modern tooled kit these days. If accuracy is not even your priority at least certainly you will not be disappointed with ease of build. The point is you get what you pay for.

[exdraken]

I dont think Tamiya viper selling from major retailers priced at something like "that kind of money" as 30-40 usd is rather average for modern tooled kit these days. If accuracy is not even your priority at least certainly you will not be disappointed with ease of build. The point is you get what you pay for.

don't understand me wrong, the Tamiya one is without a doubt the best C model available at the moment!

if you can get it at $30-40 than it is even better!

[Duncan B]

What about the Academy F-16, how does that stack up?

Duncan B

[Fernando]

Hi, everyone,

I concur about the Tamiya kit. If built OOB (which is entirely possible and a great looking model can be obtained), maybe with the only addition of a seat's harness, the price will not be higher than any cheaper kit "beefed up" as needed.

The only caveat is that they are rather inflexible kits regarding the version buildable. They are almost exclusively keyed to American planes. But if a plain C model in American service is what you want (or else it is irrelevant to you) those are the kits to go for.

Fernando

[Panoz]

If you are talking about Italeri's own F-16:

http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=497 or http://www.italeri.com/scheda.asp?idProdotto=1892 (decals are the only differences)

Then it is not bad as an A (comes with nice decals too).

Kinetic rebox is definitely better although it is considerably more expensive.

FYI only (not that you'd find them nowadays, but they sometimes turn up on ebay), Italeri's earlier pathetic attempts at a C and D should be avoided:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/142194-italeri-840-f-16c-fighting-falcon

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/135998-italeri-848-f-16b-d-viper

The Academy kit mentioned previously is a poor copy of the Hasegawa F-16C.