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New tool F-16AM MLU in 1:48 announced by Kinetic


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Dave, I got my C kit yesterday and was pretty happy with what I saw in the box, but was a bit confused about the magfire weapons stuff too.  I sort of expected to find a packet with magnet stuff in there but nothing.  
Do you have the A and C vertical tail parts in your kit?

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2 hours ago, Gary F said:

Dave, I got my C kit yesterday and was pretty happy with what I saw in the box, but was a bit confused about the magfire weapons stuff too.  I sort of expected to find a packet with magnet stuff in there but nothing.  
Do you have the A and C vertical tail parts in your kit?


Yes.  The kit also has multiple IPs, the heavyweight and light weight gear on the NSI/P&W sprue, multiple main wheels, two upper rear fuselages, etc.  It looks like the way the kit is broken down, the only changes to the plastic for other versions will be a sprue with the MCID GE, associated gear doors and gear legs, and a new sprue with upper the front fuselage and cockpit tub for the two seater.  Also they would replace the single seat canopy with the two seater canopy.

 

 

 

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For options in the box, the Kinetic kit is going to be much better.  About the only F-16 models you can’t do (yet) from the new boxings are the two seaters, the MCID/GE engined aircraft, or early A blocks with the small stabs.  Also, the Kinetic kits have a bunch of stores options, so for versatility and bang for the buck, the Kinetic kits win hands down.  
 

The big question is going to be fit of the parts, to see if it’s as good as Tamiya.  That’s especially true of things like the missile bodies, which are broken down into many more parts than are normal.

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I've got my Kinetic C-model on pre-order with Squadron, along with my Tamiya F-35. Hoping they arrive together next month. 
A D-model will be in instant buy, since the Hasegawa kit is long OOP and pretty sparse. And Tamiya, well, we know...

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2 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

For options in the box, the Kinetic kit is going to be much better.  About the only F-16 models you can’t do (yet) from the new boxings are the two seaters, the MCID/GE engined aircraft, or early A blocks with the small stabs.  Also, the Kinetic kits have a bunch of stores options, so for versatility and bang for the buck, the Kinetic kits win hands down.  
 

The big question is going to be fit of the parts, to see if it’s as good as Tamiya.  That’s especially true of things like the missile bodies, which are broken down into many more parts than are normal.

 

What about overall quality of kit: surface, paneli lines, overall finish? Is it as good as Tamiya, close, or maybe much worse?
The same question is about details. Tamiya's F-16 has nice cokcpit, but rather poorly detailed wheel bays. How about that things in Kinetic kit?

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2 hours ago, Solo said:

 

What about overall quality of kit: surface, paneli lines, overall finish? Is it as good as Tamiya, close, or maybe much worse?
The same question is about details. Tamiya's F-16 has nice cokcpit, but rather poorly detailed wheel bays. How about that things in Kinetic kit?


There are plenty of closeup photos of the new Kinetic kit over at Hyperscale what’s new.

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Not sure what to make of Kinetic's F-16, as you can't really build an MLU-F-16 out of the box due to there being no strenghtening plates supplied with the kit.  No photoetch or vinyl to represent the plates at all.  The first structural addition was a small plate just behind the hinge for the canopy on the single-seaters.  Then in the late 80s/early 90s, came the plates on the upper wing root in front of the flaperons.  Both these structural modifications predated the MLU program.  Falcon STAR was a strucural upgrade that was separate to the MLU program which added the thick plates on the spine and "lawnmower blades", so every AM should have the two aforementioned structural plates, and later AMs should have the full regalia of strengthening plates, depending on the period of the subject you wish to build.  The kit does give you lots of options, including an A instrument panel (or close enough) and the early gun blast panel as well as the later/current one.  Based on that, I would say that out of the box, you're talking about a very early Block 15 aircraft (no small stabs, so Block 5 and 10 are out unless you modify the large horizontal stabs to the smaller type).  It would have been nice if Kinetic would also have included PIDS and ECIPS pylons to go with the MLU theme as these have been used for the past 10-15 years.

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8 minutes ago, DarkKnight said:

it sounds like the good news is photo etch and resin replacements could easily address the issues, I suppose my concern is the bird slicers, I think an interchangeable part would have been better, but who knows, maybe they plan on a different nose for an A or B

As for the reinforcement plate we are asking cross delta to make a block specified vinyl to cater the need. 
 

for the IFF, you just need to sand it flat for early block. 

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7 hours ago, Raymond Chung said:

As for the reinforcement plate we are asking cross delta to make a block specified vinyl to cater the need. 
 

for the IFF, you just need to sand it flat for early block. 

It would have been nice if these were included in the kit - since it is claimed to be an MLU which would have them (some or all depeding on timeframe).

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I honestly don't understand why there is such a nag relating to the strengtheners not being included? No other kits that represent MLU or block 40/42's have these. So we are acustomed with buying this from the aftermarket manufacturers. And as already mentioned by some - it is time dependant as these were gradualy introduced over time. 

 

And it is not like there are non available - all of these have been around for years: 

Probably others too, but this a selection. 

I've used both Daco and FLD in the past, and vinyl is definately the preference as they are easier to attach correctly on the fuselage compared to photo etch. PE is also a drag as you have to attach it by using super glue. Vinyl is far less messy. 

 

 

 

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24 minutes ago, Niels said:

I honestly don't understand why there is such a nag relating to the strengtheners not being included? No other kits that represent MLU or block 40/42's have these. So we are acustomed with buying this from the aftermarket manufacturers. And as already mentioned by some - it is time dependant as these were gradualy introduced over time. 

 

And it is not like there are non available - all of these have been around for years: 

Probably others too, but this a selection. 

I've used both Daco and FLD in the past, and vinyl is definately the preference as they are easier to attach correctly on the fuselage compared to photo etch. PE is also a drag as you have to attach it by using super glue. Vinyl is far less messy. 

 

 

 

 

Exactly!

 

Kinetic would have had to mould several sets of fuselage parts to allow for the various strengthening plates layouts depending on versions. 

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6 hours ago, Stephen said:

 

Exactly!

 

Kinetic would have had to mould several sets of fuselage parts to allow for the various strengthening plates layouts depending on versions. 

No they wouldn't.  Because of draft angles, they wouldn't be able to mould them properly (the ones behind the canopy in particular), with the exception of the upper wing root plates, so they should be separate parts to be added by the modeller. 

 

Why it is such a nag?  Because the kit is marketed as an MLU and therefore should have strengthening plates (of various amounts) which the MLU'ed F-16s had.  Sure, we can add them from aftermarket, and hopefully they will fit, but it would have been nice to have the parts supplied in the kit to allow you to build an accurate F-16AM.

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