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Best 1/72 F-16 kit/s


davidsm

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5 hours ago, Shalako said:

I have read all the reviews and comments for the Revell, Hasegawa, and etc F-16s, however, I've noticed that no one mentions the ESCI F-16s.

 

Anyone knows how accurate or not, are these kits?

 

 

Maybe it is because the original post was asking about the best F-16 on the market and the ESCI kit is nowhere near that standard?

 

Mark

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I have an Esci kit in the stash, at a cursory glance I noticed that the rear airbrakes area is not that accurate, with a strange shape. Nothing that can't be corrected though. I would have to check other areas.

Detail is similar to the Hasegawa offering, that is pretty sparse. Surface detail is recessed and pretty nice

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I quite liked the Revell one..........

I have somehow acquired two more different manufacturers' efforts and another Revell one (that's a lot for a basically WW2 modeller) so I am looking at this with interest. I'll report back in a year or two about the other ones....!!!

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8 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

I have an Esci kit in the stash, at a cursory glance I noticed that the rear airbrakes area is not that accurate, with a strange shape. Nothing that can't be corrected though. I would have to check other areas.

Detail is similar to the Hasegawa offering, that is pretty sparse. Surface detail is recessed and pretty nice

Buona Sera Giorgio!

 

I have heard what you're saying about the airbrakes from a fellow modeller. He told me that by adding a millimetre or so, or placing in the open position the airbrakes the shape issue is not that obvious. He also told me that I should pay attention to the instrument panels because there is a significant gap between their end and the cockpit's floor (single and twin-seat).

Edited by Shalako
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15 hours ago, Shalako said:

Buona Sera Giorgio!

 

I have heard what you're saying about the airbrakes from a fellow modeller. He told me that by adding a millimetre or so, or placing in the open position the airbrakes the shape issue is not that obvious. He also told me that I should pay attention to the instrument panels because there is a significant gap between their end and the cockpit's floor (single and twin-seat).

 

Buongiorno !

I also believe that sorting the airbrake area is not a big problem, their sides are not parallel but they curve inward to follow the contour of the exhaust, that is quite weird. Yoi can see this feature in the pictures here

 

https://modelingmadness.com/scott/mod/us/f16bpreview.htm

 

I found a review in an old Italian magazine and it was positive, this was considered in the days to be one of the best F-16 kits on the market. Of course this was in the '80s and today there are way better kits around. In any case the 1/72 F-16 was one of the moulds that Esci contracted to a Far East company and this is visible in the finesse of the mould and panel lines, that still look good today.

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Hi Giorgio,

 

Many thanks for your reply lad. Much like the company's F-5s and harriers, this one looks pretty nice and cheap, I just bought one (the twin-seat) from Ebay!!!

 

Now, I only need some resin seats and a new exhaust.

 

Cheers

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On 7/21/2011 at 1:25 PM, davidsm said:

Hi everyone. I'm looking to get a few f-16 kits at some point soon. Am I right in thinking Revell is the best in 1/72 or do others come close?

Cheers

David

Well the Revell F-16 are good the main trouble that too many commemorative schemes and no operational ones

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/11/2019 at 1:33 PM, Ant99 said:

Hello from paris. I want to build a 1/72 scale F-16 of the Aggressors.

What's the best kit for it ? Being no specialist, I just found it should be a Block 30.

 

Antoine

Some aggressors are Block 30s, some are Block 32s. The main difference is the engine, while the 32s retain the P&W engine with the smaller intake, the 30s have the GE engine and the larger intake.

They are grouped by bases, I believe the 32s are in AK and the 30s in WA, or the other way around.

Check TwoBobs for the decals.

The one kit that gives you all the options is the Hasegawa F-16CJ.

For the specific pods you may need the recourse to the Hasegawa Weapons Sets.

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23 hours ago, Ant99 said:

Thank you ! I was hoping the Tamiya F-16 CJ could be the one as it seems excellent :)

 

You can use Tamiya’s CJ, it’s a block 50 and uses the GE engine.

Most of the block 30/32s  have been retrofitted with the “beer cans” on the wings leading edge as well, although some may not have the heavy duty landing gear.

Check the specific airplane.

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  • 3 years later...

And why nobody writes anything about the Cyber Hobby / Dragon Wings kit? It entered the market after Tamiya and Academy - is it worse than them?

So is Tamiya or Revell still the best option to build an Israeli F-16C Block 30 or 40? Or maybe Academy?

Cheers

Michael

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4 hours ago, KRK4m said:

And why nobody writes anything about the Cyber Hobby / Dragon Wings kit? It entered the market after Tamiya and Academy - is it worse than them?

So is Tamiya or Revell still the best option to build an Israeli F-16C Block 30 or 40? Or maybe Academy?

Cheers

Michael

Has the CyberHobby/Dragon kit actually been released? Scalemates still lists it as Future "201x".  I've certainly never seen one for sale online, much less IRL.  Dragon has an unfortunate track record of announcing new kits but only releasing them in their companion diecast/pre-built line (if that, even). 1/700 CVN-65 Enterprise, 1/72 Saturn 1B, etc. The world waits....

 

As for best current kits, generally the consensus is Tamiya for the C blocks they've covered, Revell AG for virtually all other options A-D. Hasegawa is still the only game in town for the E/F (out of the box, at least), and their ADF boxings - if you can find them without a staggering price tag - are the best and only complete/accurate option for that variant.

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16 hours ago, KRK4m said:

And why nobody writes anything about the Cyber Hobby / Dragon Wings kit? It entered the market after Tamiya and Academy - is it worse than them?

So is Tamiya or Revell still the best option to build an Israeli F-16C Block 30 or 40? Or maybe Academy?

Cheers

Michael

 

The Academy kit is nice but the nose area is not as accurate as in other kits. It's quite an easy build, not on par with Tamiya's but IMHO better than Revell's. It's a kit I enjoyed, built 2 and have another in the stash.. but it's not the best, so much that for my favourite subjects I've used the Revell kit

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22 hours ago, KRK4m said:

And why nobody writes anything about the Cyber Hobby / Dragon Wings kit? It entered the market after Tamiya and Academy - is it worse than them?

So is Tamiya or Revell still the best option to build an Israeli F-16C Block 30 or 40? Or maybe Academy?

Cheers

Michael

Actually the Cyber Hobby/Dragon F-16 never entered the market, much like their 1/350 Atlanta, Pennsylvania or late model Gearing.

I believe that HHA's early Block 30s had the NSI inlet, so no Tamiya for that. Buy a Revell C and you can build any HHA F-16, from A to C.

Edited by Robertone139
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