Eduard F-16 Radar Early & Late (648855 & 648856 for Kinetic) 1:48

[Mike]

F-16 Radar Early & Late (648855 & 648856 for Kinetic)

1:48 Eduard Brassin

 

 

Kinetic’s new F-16 kits are readily available now, and Eduard have created these new sets to detail up the radar with 3D printed details unsurpassed by most other methods of construction.  These two sets both arrive in their own shallow Brassin cardboard box, with the resin parts safely cocooned in bags, the Photo-Etch (PE) in another bag with a piece of card to protect them), and the instructions folded around acting as padding.

 

The sets contain the same number of parts, five parts on four bases in 3D printed resin, and one PE part, although the details differ very slightly.  Each set is a drop-in replacement for the kit nose cone, the bulkhead sliding inside the front of the fuselage until it butts up against the lip, then the radar backing plate is attached to a pivot on the bulkhead, and has the PE radar panel applied to the front.  The radome is superbly detailed, hollow and thin, with the angle-of-attack probes moulded/printed-in, and four studs printed on the inner lip that the instructions advise not to remove during liberation from the print base.  There is also a hinge-point inside the radome that mates with its opposite on the bulkhead, using the kit pitot probe to plug the hole in the tip.  The two unused parts so far are FOD guards that can be painted red and glued over the AoA probes for a parked up example, which is thoughtful.

 

The painting call-outs are given throughout the instruction steps in Eduard’s preferred brand, which is Gunze Sangyo’s Mr Color range, with enamel (C codes) and acrylic (H codes) supplied along with the colour names underneath.

 

 

F-16 Radar Early (648855)

 

 

 

F-16 Radar Early (648855)

 

 

 

Conclusion

Gorgeous detail on both sets, inside and out.  If you plan on modelling your F-16 with the radar exposed, this is exactly what you need, and there are definite differences in the two sets, as evidenced by the late having an egg-crate texture on the bulkhead, while the early version does not.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Review sample courtesy of