The Sufa Showdown - Hasegawa vs Kinetic 1/48 F-16I

[Tomcat RIO]

Painting begins.

first a raw side by side shot with a bit of prime.

canopy masked

pre shaded.

nose is sprayed grey.

underside of both sprayed in light grey.

special attention paid to the intake region and pylons.

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started spraying the complicated grey scheme of the Singapore Sufa. (official local parlance names it the F-16D Blk 52+ though)

first the sides of the CFT and forward fuselage in a medium grey

[Tomcat RIO]

masked off the cft sides so i can spray the dark grey of the wings and top fuselage

used paper template to get a feather edge for the spine edge

when dry, i masked off the cft, top wings areas in order to spray the side in the same color as the bottom airframe

the complicated dark grey cft is slowly sprayed free hand. the cft front tip is masked to spray light grey

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wingtip weapon rails also masked and sprayed

the crescent moon grey on the front fuselage is sprayed free hand.

completed spraying

[JMan]

WOW, incredible work!

[doose]

Very nice comparison!! Thank you for sharing this, keep up the good work!! Are you building the sufas with traditional camo or something special???

Thanks again.

[Tomcat RIO]

the israeli sufa's turn

first nose is masked off

followed by a basecoat of tamiya xf52 and xf59 earth and desert yellow, roughly 70-30%

next is the israeli green, i used gunze h-312 and added some white to the bottle. this is done freehand but from my reference pics the real planes have sharp edges. will touch up later with the dark brown.

finished up the spraying of the IAF camoflage. i used paper templates and blutack to produce as sharp an edge as possible between the colours. Working from the left wing to the right to ease up my frustration.

all masking removed.

the front edge of the wings and rear fuselage was masked and sprayed in same grey colour as the lower fuselage.

[Tomcat RIO]

comparison shots of the landing gears. no contest, Kinetic wins all hands down.

eventually the landing gear bay was built up and washed. here kinetic leads ahead by years.

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The Sufa showdown continues.

clear coated the Israeli kinetic Sufa and given it a wash of enamel. Kinetic's rivets are extensive and deep, and here they allow very good capture of recesses wash. adding to contrast with the camoflaged green and browns.

panel washed

[Tomcat RIO]

Decal time and i choose the negev squadron markings

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the Singaporean Sufa was processed similiarly, with a gloss clear coat and enamel wash. followed by decalling.

hasegawa's rivets are very shallow. so after 2 coats of enamel wash with black, they appear a dark grey tinge, with is suitable enough for the gentle grey scheme of the RSAF aircraft. not too contrasting

[Tomcat RIO]

for decalling i used Zotz's vivacious vipers sheet 02.

i like the red chaff box decals provided by hasegawa, soft and conforms to the grills on the plastic with a bit of decal softerner

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lastly, some comparison shots of the wheel hub and main landing gear bays, showing the superior detail of the newer kinetic kit.

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and here parked side by side, 2 Sufas decalled. next update will be the cockpit!

[muswp1]

Cool comparison there. Looks like the Kinetic kit would be perfect if the fit was a little better.

[Netz]

Not to debate the basic kit shape accuracy,but how does the antennas suit compare to the real aircraft, there seems to be definite differences between the two kits, but which one is more accurate?

There also seems to be quite a bit of parts clean-up and fit issues on the Kinetic kit, I know a club member complained of it, and said it was a real chore and a deterrent form building another one.

Curt

[Aggressor Supporter]

Nice updates and both are looking great! Keep it up.

[jbrundt]

Good comparison.

Just goes to show you neither kit is perfect. I recently finished a hasegawa D converted to a Barak with the AEF resin set and it was not without effort I can assure you.

I have both the Kinetic Sufa and Hasegawa 'F' in my stash. This thread will come in handy down the road.

Thanks,

Jeff

[MarkW]

I wonder if there could be some part swapping to make a superior "Frakenplane". Wouldn't be the first time two (too?) expensive kits were bashed.

[Netz]

I wonder if there could be some part swapping to make a superior "Frakenplane". Wouldn't be the first time two (too?) expensive kits were bashed.

Tamiya "C" with Hasegawa "I"

Curt

[Tomcat RIO]

Cool comparison there. Looks like the Kinetic kit would be perfect if the fit was a little better.

Not to debate the basic kit shape accuracy,but how does the antennas suit compare to the real aircraft, there seems to be definite differences between the two kits, but which one is more accurate?

There also seems to be quite a bit of parts clean-up and fit issues on the Kinetic kit, I know a club member complained of it, and said it was a real chore and a deterrent form building another one.

Curt

yes the kinetic kit although being new, suffers from alot of extra plastic flash and pin marks that have to be removed. sort of the 'punishment' that 'nothing is free in the world' and you have to buy sandpaper for all the extra weapons.

@netz - compared to the real airplane, i would say the hasegawa is more accurate in shape and dimensions. the kinetic appears more chunky and thick along the spines.

i would try to get photos of the real Sufa and compare the lines (not too good with photoshop) in my feeble attempt.

anyway some long awaited updates. i begin all the small steps towards finishing this pair. after all the decals have been stuck, i proceeded to the smaller bits.

painted up the ccokpit with black and drybrushed grey

none of them are accurate for a sufa i guess, but the kinetic has more busyness than the old 'Gawa. which is actually a B.

pitot tubes attached, hase on left and kine's brass one on right.

Canopies masking removed and test fitted. to my horror some overspray seeped on the udnerside of the canopies, will be removed.

engine PW exhausts painted and mounted. here you can see the vast difference in details between the brands. judge for yourselves.

a comparison of the airbrakes too. kinetic has deeper recessed details.

hase on top, kine below

the wingtip lights. hase's is much larger and taller than kine's. but i still have probelm painting them. shaky hands.

since the hasegawa sufa did not include any pods, i casted the Litening and Flir from the kinetic set. but after i casted these pods i realised the academy 1/48th Ra'am has a spare litening. So i might use that instead.

decalled

Edited May 18, 2010 by Tomcat RIO

[conor]

I would like to build my first model I would like to build the F-16I. Were do you get all the information about panel lines rivots etc? how do you get it exact?

[Netz]

This might make life a little easier, I see your using the very nice Tamiya Putty, best out there but impossible to get in the US now. In those intricate areas, and almost anywhere else, once you apply the putty take a Q-tip dipped in Nail Polish remover and wipe/shape the putty to the desired shape, you can virtually eliminate any sanding it those hard to get areas, like along the CFT and intakes.

Curt

mounted the plastic CFTs. both fitted very well, but required some filling at the gun vent area.

added the chin pod pylons. i made a copy of the kinetic to mount on the hasegawa( because hasegawa provides it in another weapon set, bah.) Fitting was good, requiring some putty to clean up the seam lines.

the casted kinetic on hasegawa

original Kinetic

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I would like to build my first model I would like to build the F-16I. Were do you get all the information about panel lines rivots etc? how do you get it exact?

For your fist build I wouldn't worry about rivets. As for kits, you say your first build, I don't know your experience but I would recommend the Hasegawa kit for a first timer, the Kinetic kit is just too difficult a build as seen here.

Actually for your first build I would suggest the Tamiya "C", it falls together out of the box and does not need any after-market to spice it up, the cost will be about the same for any of these 3 kits, if your set on a IDF/AF jet get the Wolfpack Design update, and (I Like/reasonable price) the Aeromaster decals this would put the price up $25 for the WP set and $10 for decals.

I'd just build a Tamiya F-16 (N) out of the box, that's your best value, and learning experience.

Curt

[twhite80]

I am very impressed with the Kinetic kit. I chose the HAsegawa over the Kinetic, but there are several places such as wheel wells, pitot tube, even intake where the Kinetic holds up well. Great thread!

[HOLMES]

Tomcat RIO,

I found this thread and build of yours very informative and brilliantly updated..

the updates and build coming together nicely......

Incredible build so far....

HOLMES

[Tomcat RIO]

wow i have not forgotten about this thread.

@conor -i have replied your PM about the panels

@netx - yes, i was using the q-tip and nail polish method! haha i use a low concentration lacquer thinner -can't remember what was the concentration but it was sold at my LHS for diluting gunze paints. this was a great trick that i learnt many years ago and is very helpful in all my models..

@twhite80 - yes i agree, the kinetic had some better details in the wheel wells, but the fitting is better. so it is really preference

@holmes - hey there! thanks!

[Tomcat RIO]

it ain;t over till the fat lady air traffic controller sings!

been busy with the normal viper thread and the eagles, but i havent forgotten about the sufas!

i finished up the hasegawa kit, using academy for the stencils, and adding a engine inlet made from alumnium foil. not exactly the nicest..

[Tomcat RIO]

then i displayed the singapore sufa and my eagle at a local hobby shop, somebody came along and wanted to buy it. offered a price i could not refuse..

but many catches as the buyer prefered closed airbrakes, bombs and sidewinders instead of the training loadout etc.. so instead of trying to modifiy to his needs, i decided to use the sufa i bought at a sale and build it to the same markings, with different loadouts. and hence, rushed like madness to finish the kit. August 9 purchase and finish august 29. 20 days for a commisioned build standard!

with experience from my award winning israeli sufa, i know well all the probelm areas of the kinetic kit and that really shortened my build time. the cockpit was assembled and the bottom base were grinded for a better fit.

modular sections were built and then quickly joined, as little putty was used as possible. acetone and sanding methods concurrently reduced seams and gaps to nothing within 3 days.

at about the 12 day mark, final assembly was done and it was given a basecoat to check for errors

and 14th day, paint hits the plastic, a massive 15 hours airbrush session through the day.. and end with a gloss coat

[

Edited September 1, 2010 by Tomcat RIO

[Tomcat RIO]

no let up in pace as i attacked the cockpit details, repainting the flat black

enamel wash

decals added using the same zotz sheet as the hasgeawa kit

adding pylons, wheels and pods on the 16 and 17th day

and then finally leave it to dry to prepare for weapons on the 19th, and canopy on 20th

and so now. a sneak preview of the 3 sufas comparison + review, coming soon to the display case/critique corner near you.

[Aggressor Supporter]

I am sure the guy who commissioned you for the Singapore Sufa will really like it from the one pic. Please make sure to post more pics of it before you ship it off.

[weirich1]

Just started building my Kinetic "I": noticed the spine and tail panel have the same fit issue, forward fuselage is warped but in appears to get better as parts installed, might put the CFTs on prior to mating the fuselage halves just to save a headache too. Sprue C majorly warped, glad I've got another kit I can "borrow" from . . .

Edited May 19, 2012 by weirich1