Jump to content

F-16D Kinetic vs Hasegawa


Recommended Posts

I am shopping for a 1:48 F-16D. The block is not so important but I am not going for the Sufa or the new Polish versions, just the traditional F-16. Could you please share your experiences about the differences between the Kinetic and Hasegawa kits? I have found a site that favors the Kinetic kit but it was a comparison of the unbuilt kits. On the other hand, I have seen Kinetic builds where the modeler had to use a lot of putty and sanding.

My key criteria are the level of detail, panel lines/rivets, part fit, need for filling/sanding, and overall quality of the kit. Weapons, decals etc. are not critical for me.

Thank you very much.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I haven´t built the Kintetic I admit but the Gawa model is very old, it hasn´t got any intake trunk, it has a minimum of details in the wheel wells and it has the wrong MLGs and it has no weapons other than a couple of AMRAAMS and Sidewinders.....and it´s still it costs about the same as the Kinetic model!

I´d go for the Kintetic.

Link to post
Share on other sites

If surface detail and fit are the main criteria, then the Hasegawa kit is the way to go. The Kinetic kit has a slightly pebbly textue to its surface and the panel lines are a little heavy in some areas especially around the intake. The fit of the Hasegawa kit is also superior to that of the Kinetic one.

However, in other areas such as the landing gear bays and exhaust nozzle, the Kinetic kit is better as it has greater detail than the plain, uninspiring, Hasegawa ones.

Hope this helps you make a more informed choice.

Mark

Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with gd_ the criteria you laid out would point me to the Hasegawa kit.

But can you buy a Hasegawa F-16D??? I think your only source would be on the forums,or Vendor tables at local contest, I've been seeing them for around $25.

I'd go Hasegawa and add the Black Box pit, and Aires gear wells, it will build into a fine F-16D.

I will not recommend the Kinetic kit.

My unfinished F-16D

Curt

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm in the middle of a dual build, a Tamiya CJ and a Kinetic DJ, as far as the molding goes the Kinetic kit is almost clone of the Tamiya with subtle differences that make it just a little different. The Kinetic plastic is softer somewhat, the fit is not as good as the Tamiya, in a few places..nothing to drive you away, and in some places has more detail such as static dischargers, however some of the detail leaves ya wondering why they did that?. Overall the Kinetic offering is a good kit, If Tamiya comes out with a "D" it will still be good as the price is not likely to be as high as the Tamiya offering. the rivets and panel lines are a little deeper in places,but nothing major. This may help you more....Cybermodeler Breakdown.

Edited by Angels49
Link to post
Share on other sites

They're on Zone Five.....

The nose on the 48th has been 'tweaked' so it doesn't bulge down AS MUCH as the initial two releases did (AM and DJ) but still has those who are most annoyed by it pining for the fijords...errr....waiting for a as yet hypothetical Tamiya F-16D (or A/B for that matter). The fix appears to have been lessening the bulge on the bottom odf the nose but the top still is said to angle down too much.

Matt - resident Kinetic Viper flack

Link to post
Share on other sites

I' d choose the kinetic kit, because the price ratio of Hasegawa (what you have to pay and what you get) is not so good. When you go for a kinetic, you get an aircraft AND a weapons collection. The nose issue is not so critical, there must be a thread how to fix this problem, and I've to say, it works well! Putty and sanding is NOT needed that much, onyl for guys who don't dryfit and prepare the parts well enough before glueing. For my build I use liquid cement and cyano. If you want to use AM parts, there are some oustanding wheel wells from Aires (and pits, and burner cans), even Eduard has some PE parts too.

Link to post
Share on other sites
What happened to the whole nose issue?

If you're an absolute stickler for perfection, OOB, this is not the kit, as far as the nose issue, if it looks like a duck.....yadda yadda yadda....., as far as that goes there are enough threads around to get you all the info needed on that. I don't let that bother me, I'm not entering any contest anytime soon anyway so for me it's a non issue. Somewhere in this forum in the In-Prog group is a tutorial how-to on cutting and correcting that hang up. A few of the more critical folks say that it's not fixable, that the slope starts too far back...., but later boxings have that prob corrected. IIRC that is only in the Kinetic AM and DG/DJ Vipers. Most of the folks who are gonna be seeing my finished builds won't know the difference anyway.

HTH

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback. Since my first post, I have firmly decided that I will do a Block 50.

Based on your comments, I have done some research and the nose issue with the Kinetic kit is quite significant for me. Although there are interesting fixes like the 'Pablo Cut,' I can't see my self doing this at all. Has Kinetic truly fixed this problem, and if so, how can I know which box has the new nose? If I can get the correct nose in the box, I'd go with the Kinetic kit.

However, if that does not work, I think I will go with the hasegawa kit. This is what I am interested in:

http://www.hlj.com/product/HSG09352

It seems so difficult to find this kit though. (If you have one and are willing to sell, please pm me)

Alternatively, I would really appreciate if I can create a F-16D Block 50 using the Polish Block 52 model:

http://store.spruebrothers.com/148-hasegaw...urce=googlebase

I have not found a clear answer to this question (can't tell if it has the block 50 mouth and engine etc. and if the base model is suitable for my purposes) Any help will be very appreciated.

Thanks.

Edited by Janissary
Link to post
Share on other sites

The initial 3 Kinetic Viper kits had the nose issue. These are the F-16A/B MLU, F-16DG/DJ and F-16C Block 40 Barak. I am not sure if this issue has been corrected for later batches of these kits.

Looking at the parts diagram, you can build a regular Block 50 D from the Hasegawa Polish AF kit. parts for the MCID intake are included but I can't tell if the GE exhaust is there. Also, you'll need to replace the cockpit as the kit one depicts a Block 15 front IP and block 10 rear IP.

Mark

Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like you could use the F-16F or the Sufa, the Sufa is also on sale for $30, $2 more for the F-16F, if your not interested in building the Sufa or the "F" as an "F" you cold sell the extra parts and recoup some money.... there are only a few parts tree difference between the two "F" "I"

As for the Kinetic kit repair,well, they fattened it up a bit to remove the droop, and changed the cross section at the nose, do a search and you'll find plenty, also there are some comparison pictures somewhere in one of those discussions here on ARC.

Curt

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...