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

[longmc]

On 2/7/2023 at 12:08 PM, 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?

Same here.  I ordered in December when they had the special shipping deal. Original invoice said air mail. A week later, I got my shipping invoice that stated surface, 2-6 mos. Feels a bit like a bait and switch, but it is what it is. nearly 4 months and still states it's waiting for pickup in china. 

[flybywire]

Now that's is superb service. There are a lot, I mean a lot of much, much better services out there, like Hobbysearch and Hobby Link Japan to name a few, they will never fail you!

[sigtau]

24 minutes ago, longmc said:

Same here.  I ordered in December when they had the special shipping deal. Original invoice said air mail. A week later, I got my shipping invoice that stated surface, 2-6 mos. Feels a bit like a bait and switch, but it is what it is. nearly 4 months and still states it's waiting for pickup in china. 

Yep, same here, I didn't catch the fine print until after I placed the order.  It was only airmail if the items were in stock at the US warehouse. 

 

Here's what my order details state at the moment.  Sounds like it hasn't even shipped out of China yet.  I can accept surface shipping being slow.  But not showing proof of any sort of shipment after 4 month is unacceptable.  I requested proof of shipment AGAIN in my last reply to their customer service.  I also asked why can't my order be fulfilled from their USA warehouse inventory.

 

[Dave Williams]

This is the December promotion.

 

https://doc.luckymodel.com/NL221210-1307/newsletter.htm

 

I too selected airmail, and it got swapped to $12 surface shipping, although the order confirmation said airmail, but only got charged the $12.

[ST0RM]

So Luckymodel really means, you'll be lucky if you ever get it!

[Bsin]

1 minute ago, ST0RM said:

So Luckymodel really means, you'll be lucky if you ever get it!

BAHAHA!!!

[jonbryon]

Well I'm pretty happy with the new UK warehouse. Kinetic 1/48 Nesher shipped (with the Spring discount code) for £32. Hannants have it for sale at £65 + P&P...

 

Jon

[Raymond Chung]

On 3/26/2023 at 12:49 PM, sigtau said:

Yep, same here, I didn't catch the fine print until after I placed the order.  It was only airmail if the items were in stock at the US warehouse. 

 

Here's what my order details state at the moment.  Sounds like it hasn't even shipped out of China yet.  I can accept surface shipping being slow.  But not showing proof of any sort of shipment after 4 month is unacceptable.  I requested proof of shipment AGAIN in my last reply to their customer service.  I also asked why can't my order be fulfilled from their USA warehouse inventory.

 

Sorry folks, we forget to upload the sailing date when it is loaded.

 

For order queued up from Dec to Feb (blocked by the chinese new year holiday) , it is loaded into the container in March and queued for the vessel. 

 

For those who have backorder since Dec to Feb on 48102, please contact me at raymond@luckymodel.com. I will release another shipment from the US office. 

 

The CS staff does not know the exact ETA/D date for shipment cutoff. As we don't send by Post office to USA by surface mail anymore. All USA order were queued to the HK-US container shipment every 45-60 days interval. As we reported a high mail loss by Hk Post in 2022 and some small packet can only reach 9 months after we post it out.

 

We are stocking up more inventory at US office to provide a much faster domestic delivery and avoiding high air mail shipping cost these days. 

[habu2]

When will the D-model (48105) be available at US distributors?  I'd rather wait and order from them than play this guessing game...

[Raymond Chung]

1 hour ago, habu2 said:

When will the D-model (48105) be available at US distributors?  I'd rather wait and order from them than play this guessing game...

Use airmail instead, surface will take sometimes.

[Niels]

I recently placed 2 orders, first was 2 off Tamiya 1/48 F-35A and the second 2 off of the new F-16D.

First order of the two F-35A's - in 2 parcels - are already close to delivery here in Norway, ordered on March 18th and I will have them in a day or two. 
The second order with the 2 off F-16D, ordered the same date, was only picked up today as it had to be transported from the Guangzhou warehouse to Hong Kong before it could be shipped. 
Both requested by airmail, which is stated to take 14-21 days. For the first order, it seems I will have it in ~12 days roughly, while the second will likely be closer to the 21 day delivery time. All in all within the advised delivery time. Not bad at all.  

 

If you order by ground transport, you have to allow <2 months delivery time, as ground transport is snail mail unfortunately. Most if not all online retailers advise of such long delivery times for ground transports. Unfortunate, but ground transport has never been quick.  

LM has in the past been quite flexible to upgrade the shipping option if required, so this is also worth a try. Just use the "my request" option. 

[habu2]

1 hour ago, Raymond Chung said:

Use airmail instead, surface will take sometimes.

 

Thanks but that didn't answer my question. 

 

When will the D-model (48105) be available at US distributors?

[Dave Williams]

My guess is that the kits for the US warehouse are sent over by ship, so typical surface shipping times, likely 3-4 months from the initial release of a kit.  Also unlikely that a container gets filled up immediately with a just released kit, since a lot of the initial stock goes to distributors.

[Janissary]

I want to build a 1/48 F-16D block 50+ (with the dorsal spine and CFTs). If a two-seater is just too difficult to come by, I may go with a single seater block 50+. Raymond, is there any way you can share with us a timeline for your next plans for the F-16 family? I'd much rather buy everything in a single box. 

 

I am willing to put aside kit bashing Tamiya and old Kinetic, and just go with a new tool C or D from Kinetic to support your company. I could scrounge up the spine and the CFTs from the old Kinetic boxes (which will be expensive), but my hesitation is that as soon as I start, you will announce a Block 50+ throwing a wrench in my plans 🙂 

 

So any hints about the 50+? I am working on your F-104 right now (lovely kit) but as soon as that is done, I am thinking about an F-16. 

thank you. 

[Solo]

But there is new Delta Block 50:

[Janissary]

2 hours ago, Solo said:

But there is new Delta Block 50:

I know. That's why I said I could start with the Kinetic D. Like I said, I am trying to avoid getting the spine and CFT's from old boxings or aftermarket. Hence my question to Raymond.

[Raymond Chung]

15 hours ago, Janissary said:

I know. That's why I said I could start with the Kinetic D. Like I said, I am trying to avoid getting the spine and CFT's from old boxings or aftermarket. Hence my question to Raymond.

The CFT and spine would not be appear at least by 2026

[Janissary]

Thank you. That is great to know, makes it easier to prioritize builds. 

[Gary F]

2026 .... that’s disappointing. 

[thegoodsgt]

8 hours ago, Gary F said:

2026 .... that’s disappointing. 

 

Fear not. Time flies quickly, especially if you're over 40.  🤣

[sigtau]

For anyone who was still waiting on their kits ordered back in December, any updates?

 

Here's what my status shows.  It sounds like it might have made it on a ship, but there's no actual confirmation, only "scheduled".

 

Side note, I used Paypal and it's saying I have until June 9th to file a claim.  I fully intend on exercising that option in the next two weeks. 

 

[Stephen]

My pre ordered F-16D's arrived in the UK this week and were collected on Friday.

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, sigtau said:

For anyone who was still waiting on their kits ordered back in December, any updates?

 

Here's what my status shows.  It sounds like it might have made it on a ship, but there's no actual confirmation, only "scheduled".

 

Side note, I used Paypal and it's saying I have until June 9th to file a claim.  I fully intend on exercising that option in the next two weeks. 

 

You have the ship name, the OOCL San Francisco, so you can track her through various ship tracking websites.  According to tracking, she was in Seattle on April 16 and is currently off the coast of Taiwan, about to enter port.  If it did get loaded on that ship around Mar 23, it probably got offloaded in Seattle in mid April, so it should arrive any day now.   Takes a week or two for the container to be offloaded, clear customs, unloaded from the container, shipped to Lucky’s US warehouse, and then shipped to you.

 

https://ss.shipmentlink.com/tvs2/download_txt/PNW1_E.html

 

[flanker27]

Mine just got delivered today, also same ship oocl San Francisco. I notice there is no update till I inquire from Luckymodel website, than about a day later a fedex email with tracking number shows up. Suggest you do the same.

 

 

[Raymond Chung]

2 hours ago, sigtau said:

For anyone who was still waiting on their kits ordered back in December, any updates?

 

Here's what my status shows.  It sounds like it might have made it on a ship, but there's no actual confirmation, only "scheduled".

 

Side note, I used Paypal and it's saying I have until June 9th to file a claim.  I fully intend on exercising that option in the next two weeks. 

 

The shipment landed in US Last week and send to FedEx/UPS, now it should show you the FedEx/UPS tracking, if not please contact our customer services.