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


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Come on guys! Don`t go after Raymond throat like that!! I haven`t been giving the MLU kit the most favorable response - but is there a perfect kit? I wished for a RF-5A - and guess what - Kinetic delivered (soon anyway). After spending many years flying the A-model and a few years flying the MLU, I am trying to stay away from being a besserwisser, but....

 

Check six - and build something! That`s where the fun is!!

 

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Just now, WouldbeIceman said:

Come on guys! Don`t go after Raymond throat like that!! I haven`t been giving the MLU kit the most favorable response - but is there a perfect kit? I wished for a RF-5A - and guess what - Kinetic delivered (soon anyway). After spending many years flying the A-model and a few years flying the MLU, I am trying to stay away from being a besserwisser, but....

 

Check six - and build something! That`s where the fun is!!

 

To be fair, I only said the fit was "mediocre" - not bad, but not great.  

 

As a block 15 and up plane, it's not bad.  The A and ADF tail base shape is the only significant error in the kit.

As a block 52 plane, it's pretty much good to go.

 

I have two more kits coming and have stacks of block 25 through 52 decals that need a home.  This kit will work fine for that range of blocks.

 

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7 hours ago, Raymond Chung said:

 

as for the D37,D7, I try 3-4 times and everything fits well. And I try this morning again and incomplete install the D73 will make the gap between the lower fuselage and then create your issue of installing the D37,D7. 
 

 

I forgot to mention I also had to remove some material from the shelf on D31, show with the red lines in these photos.  Everything seems to fit fine after I made that modification.  D31 seats up fine to the forward intake halves well.

 

I also forgot there was an issue with wide gaps on either side of D7 where it sits between E1 and E2.  To solve that issue, I removed a small amount of material from the mating surfaces of E1 and E2.  It resulted in a very nice fit of D7, but that may have caused D31 to interfere with D7.  Note the uneven gap where the forward bulkhead D31 meets part E1. By solving one issue, I may have caused myself another. 

 

 

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On 1/28/2023 at 6:29 AM, Raymond Chung said:

Well I think this is a building experience, I show the same assemble part and I don’t find it, except few parts like D74 with a 3 second sanding. 
 

if you take Tamiya F-16 as the compare benmark those fitting issue also happen. 
 

but no one say “a lot of fitting issue” 

 

 

F-16 I next please! w/pilots in cockpit

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On 1/28/2023 at 4:29 AM, Raymond Chung said:

Well I think this is a building experience, I show the same assemble part and I don’t find it, except few parts like D74 with a 3 second sanding.

 

My "building experience" clearly needs work.  I guess I'll just have to do better next time converting and detailing the cockpit of your kit to a block 10 configuration.  Mixture of kit parts, modified Quinta F-16A set for the V1 kit, Eduard seat, leftover Eduard PE bits, scratch built instrument panel, HUD/video recorder, sidewall details, etc.......  Still need to install the yellow spider shaped canopy lock and finish up a few minor finishing touches.

 

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Thanks Gary! 

 

It's unfortunate the fit is so meh with this kit.  The problems have persisted with nearly every major assembly step.  The biggest overall issue is steps at nearly every joint.  Some can be mitigated with reducing part thickness or shimming.  But many require obliterating detail in order to level the joints.

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Sigtau, are you seeing warpage in other areas of the kit that may be affecting your fit?  
I got one of my new C kits out to look at some of the issues you’ve mentioned, especially the fuselage fit you mentioned. Mine seems to fit fine… the main fuselage shell parts … but I’m also not seeing any warpage either, so wondering if warping in your kit is the major issue.  Even that lower aft U shaped part fit very well to the lower fuselage. I glued it and was really pleased with the fit.  I’m actually trying to do a v1 kit before I fully work on the v2 kit.  The v1 haas beaten me numerous times w poor fit, wrapping, and just so much work to get anywhere, but I finally seem to be overcoming past issues so maybe I’ll get the v1 done and then try this new kit. It’s really nice to see the upgrade with the new kit while working on the older one.  Hope the other v2 kits aren’t warped and you get better build experiences with those. 

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24 minutes ago, Gary F said:

Sigtau, are you seeing warpage in other areas of the kit that may be affecting your fit?  
I got one of my new C kits out to look at some of the issues you’ve mentioned, especially the fuselage fit you mentioned. Mine seems to fit fine… the main fuselage shell parts … but I’m also not seeing any warpage either, so wondering if warping in your kit is the major issue.  Even that lower aft U shaped part fit very well to the lower fuselage. I glued it and was really pleased with the fit.  I’m actually trying to do a v1 kit before I fully work on the v2 kit.  The v1 haas beaten me numerous times w poor fit, wrapping, and just so much work to get anywhere, but I finally seem to be overcoming past issues so maybe I’ll get the v1 done and then try this new kit. It’s really nice to see the upgrade with the new kit while working on the older one.  Hope the other v2 kits aren’t warped and you get better build experiences with those. 

For warpage, I believe the worst of it was the upper forward fuselage.  It was slightly squashed down, causing the wings to not be level. 

 

The aft fuselage "U" shaped part had an issue Raymond described as a molding problem.  It looks like as the part was ejected from the mold, the forward edge curled outward.  Or the main lower fuselage curled inward.  Ether way, it created a step that had to be filled and sanded flat.

 

The other warping issue I ran into was the avionics doors on the nose.  They are molded separate and the fit is super sketchy.  They don't have positive mounting surfaces to ensure they sit flush with the bottom of the nose.  And I was left with gaps on the bottom where they meet up on either side of the two small antennas.  When I mounted the nose, I had to leave the bulkhead out to get nose cone properly centered vertically and horizontally.  I was left with small steps all the way around that required filling, reshaping, and rescribing.  There's probably a better way to tackle it.....maybe next time.

 

If you use the early A vertical tail top piece that is molded solid, it's too thin and will leave steps on both sides.  I masked and used putty to feather it into the main part of the v-tail.  This prevented completely obliterating all the nice detail on the v-tail.

 

With the LEX joint between the top and bottom fuselage parts, I found the lower fuselage wasn't sitting flush in the recess of the upper fuselage.  I ended up thinning the edges of the lower fuselage in this area to prevent a step at the joints on either side.  I also had to thin the two lower wing panels to minimize the steps at the leading edge and where they meet the sides of the lower fuselage.  If I recall, the starboard side was worse and required more thinning. 

 

Today as I was finishing prepping for primer, I noticed there are some nasty steps at the wing roots on the fuselage top where a mold insert is obviously is planned.  I'm probably just going to leave it because it too big to fix without destroying all the fine surface detail in that area.

 

I have two more kits still on the boat coming from Luckymodels.  I hope those fit better that this one I got here in the US. 

 

 

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At least some of you have the kit. I preordered from Luckymodel last summer, and it has been sitting in their warehouse for three months now because it is waiting to be picked up by their carrier. Or so they say. Have anyone else had problem with Luckymodel? Maybe they don't ship to Sweden/EU anymore? I have trouble finding the kit in stock in any european shops.

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46 minutes ago, erik_g said:

At least some of you have the kit. I preordered from Luckymodel last summer, and it has been sitting in their warehouse for three months now because it is waiting to be picked up by their carrier. Or so they say. Have anyone else had problem with Luckymodel? Maybe they don't ship to Sweden/EU anymore? I have trouble finding the kit in stock in any european shops.

I bought one locally, then ordered two direct from Luckymodel in early December.  I have the same issue with the two I ordered direct.  They sent me a tracking number and then nothing.  I've asked them why it hasn't been picked up and the reply I get is they are short staffed.  I just got an update today saying that the kits are on the way in a container and I'll get the final tracking number once they ship from their US based warehouse.  Perhaps there's a similar thing happening in the EU?

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I have experienced the same, however made a racket out of it as I had ordered airmail delivery, and then it shall not go by container. My preorder with LM this time however came just as quick as they got stock in the door and was able to ship. 

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9 hours ago, erik_g said:

At least some of you have the kit. I preordered from Luckymodel last summer, and it has been sitting in their warehouse for three months now because it is waiting to be picked up by their carrier. Or so they say. Have anyone else had problem with Luckymodel? Maybe they don't ship to Sweden/EU anymore? I have trouble finding the kit in stock in any european shops.

The HK post has not resume all country by air so far due to the limited air traffic from the lockdown policy before. We just resume to ship country by country. 

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8 hours ago, sigtau said:

I bought one locally, then ordered two direct from Luckymodel in early December.  I have the same issue with the two I ordered direct.  They sent me a tracking number and then nothing.  I've asked them why it hasn't been picked up and the reply I get is they are short staffed.  I just got an update today saying that the kits are on the way in a container and I'll get the final tracking number once they ship from their US based warehouse.  Perhaps there's a similar thing happening in the EU?

If you choose the flat surface shipping, the parcel is on the container which almost arrive US this week and it will be forward to you by FedEx. 
 

if you order with more expensive airmail it is shipped by HK POST via USPS as last delivery. 
 

at LuckyModel we suffered from the 3 years pandemic policy which affect every aspect of shipping. But seems the ocean freight starting to resume but air traffic capacity till not in full restore.  But for sure the good old times cheaper air mail and 7 days delivery would not be possible in short period of time. But you never know. 

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9 hours ago, erik_g said:

At least some of you have the kit. I preordered from Luckymodel last summer, and it has been sitting in their warehouse for three months now because it is waiting to be picked up by their carrier. Or so they say. Have anyone else had problem with Luckymodel? Maybe they don't ship to Sweden/EU anymore? I have trouble finding the kit in stock in any european shops.

The container for europe should able to reach Germany this week, check out the retailer. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 2/7/2023 at 5:33 PM, Raymond Chung said:

If you choose the flat surface shipping, the parcel is on the container which almost arrive US this week and it will be forward to you by FedEx. 
 

if you order with more expensive airmail it is shipped by HK POST via USPS as last delivery. 
 

at LuckyModel we suffered from the 3 years pandemic policy which affect every aspect of shipping. But seems the ocean freight starting to resume but air traffic capacity till not in full restore.  But for sure the good old times cheaper air mail and 7 days delivery would not be possible in short period of time. But you never know. 

So....six weeks later, still no shipping notice.  Customer service keeps telling me the same thing "DO22/1200461456 has been shipped with our container to the US last month"

 

Clearly, that container has long since arrived......

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Hope your kits show up soon.  How’s the one coming along you were showing earlier in this thread?

I just tried their local shipping option ... F-16 and a Kfir C10 and $14 for shipping from KS to WA. 

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3 hours ago, sigtau said:

So....six weeks later, still no shipping notice.  Customer service keeps telling me the same thing "DO22/1200461456 has been shipped with our container to the US last month"

 

Clearly, that container has long since arrived......

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Are you sure that was shipped by air, or surface?  The addition the container wording usually implies surface shipping.  I ordered the new SUE/SEM boxing in mid-December and it didn’t arrive until mid-March, for a total of about 3 months.  I don’t think I got a shipping notice until the container was actually ready to be loaded on a ship, sometime in January, I think. They can put your kit in a shipping container on xx day, but until the container is full, gets trucked to a port, and gets loaded onto a ship, it’s not leaving China.  I had the ship name and an estimated day it was supposed was loaded onto a ship, with shipping to the US taking two-three weeks.  I was able to track the ship on the web.  It didn’t get to the first Chinese port until mid January, a couple of days after they expected it.  It stopped in a total of 3 Chinese ports, then went to South Korea, before arriving in Washington in late February.  It didn’t get to FedEx’s hand until March 10 (assume the delay was in unloading the ship, then Customs, and then getting around to unloading the container), and then got to my house on March 16.

 

Was the screenshot you showed of U.S.A. stock taken now, or at the time you ordered it?  I didn’t think they had any US stock six weeks ago, if that’s when you ordered it.

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1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:


Are you sure that was shipped by air, or surface?  The addition the container wording usually implies surface shipping.  I ordered the new SUE/SEM boxing in mid-December and it didn’t arrive until mid-March, for a total of about 3 months.  I don’t think I got a shipping notice until the container was actually ready to be loaded on a ship, sometime in January, I think. They can put your kit in a shipping container on xx day, but until the container is full, gets trucked to a port, and gets loaded onto a ship, it’s not leaving China.  I had the ship name and an estimated day it was supposed was loaded onto a ship, with shipping to the US taking two-three weeks.  I was able to track the ship on the web.  It didn’t get to the first Chinese port until mid January, a couple of days after they expected it.  It stopped in a total of 3 Chinese ports, then went to South Korea, before arriving in Washington in late February.  It didn’t get to FedEx’s hand until March 10 (assume the delay was in unloading the ship, then Customs, and then getting around to unloading the container), and then got to my house on March 16.

 

Was the screenshot you showed of U.S.A. stock taken now, or at the time you ordered it?  I didn’t think they had any US stock six weeks ago, if that’s when you ordered it.

I ordered in early December.  Part of the order was shipped from their US warehouse, with two of the F-16 kits shipping from China via surface.  LM originally sent me a China post type of tracking number that ended up being dead.  No other useful information was provided.  Several back and forth messages with their customer service saying it's been shipped, dating back to early January.  No FedEx tracking numbers or updates provided.

 

The screenshot was taken this morning.  I think the inventory numbers were updated in the last week or so. 

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1 hour ago, sigtau said:

I ordered in early December.  Part of the order was shipped from their US warehouse, with two of the F-16 kits shipping from China via surface.  LM originally sent me a China post type of tracking number that ended up being dead.  No other useful information was provided.  Several back and forth messages with their customer service saying it's been shipped, dating back to early January.  No FedEx tracking numbers or updates provided.

 

The screenshot was taken this morning.  I think the inventory numbers were updated in the last week or so. 


Those dates are similar to mine.  I order my kit on Dec 12 and think got the shipping notice in early or mid January.  The shipping notice had the ship name.  If they said it was shipped, they should be able to provide the name of the ship that the container was loaded on and you should be able to track the ship using the ship name via their AIS transponder on various websites.

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9 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:


Those dates are similar to mine.  I order my kit on Dec 12 and think got the shipping notice in early or mid January.  The shipping notice had the ship name.  If they said it was shipped, they should be able to provide the name of the ship that the container was loaded on and you should be able to track the ship using the ship name via their AIS transponder on various websites.

I ordered the same day.  Their customer service won't provide any tracking info that's usable.  Just that it's in a shipping container, on a ship, somewhere on planet Earth. 

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