STILL THE BEST F-16 IN 1/48 SCALE TODAY

This is a review of the Tamiya 1/48 scale F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter of the USAF

[@GeneralKatarn]

I just received this kit and it's details are in a league of their own compared to other brands

[@keunghoa]

Some kits from those years were of better quality than newer ones today, generally tamiya’s kits were well engineered and easy to build, however choose carefully as Tamiya used to sell other brands as Tamiya (italeri kits)…

[@andreasvulcan_gr2595]

This is a really good kit. Great fit, excellent armament options, two canopies. However, it is only good for a small portion of the F-16's flying out there. It is only giving one engine option (no big/small mouth intake option) and does not provide the drag chute at the tail. So, no Taiwanese, Greek, Turkish, Belgian, Norwegian and so on without an aftermarket set. By the way, the resin aftermarkets for this area come at a cost of roughly 50% the kit value. Another area for improvement (like with most Tamiya kits) are the decals.

[@keunghoa]

Tamiya is not known for releasing multiple variants of an aircraft, Hasegawa provides more in this area, but then Hasegawa’s kits have their own idiosyncrasies…

[@aaaeee2862]

Love the fighting falcon design.

[@keunghoa]

It’s a good looking fighter, first flight in 1974, and still going strong with many countries air forces

[@aaaeee2862]

@@keunghoa I didn’t make myself clear, my apologies. I mean the decal of the fighting falcon.I also love the new design of the Fighting falcon Block 70/72.

[@keunghoa]

No problem, thanks for watching and commenting

[@aaaeee2862]

@@keunghoa 👍

[@spinster4000]

Nothing can come close to TAMIYA's model kits, the detail, quality of plastic, fit, its all amazing (the older kits dont have a lot of detail but the fit is still there) Nothing bad to say about tamiya kits EVER, and I never have to use any putty whatsoever

[@keunghoa]

Thank you for your comment. You’re right, even their current catalog still features kits first released many years ago, and they are still so way ahead of the more recent releases from other makers. In Japan, Tamiya’s slogan is “we are on your side”, meaning they aim to make their kits as modeler-friendly as possible, their latest offerings are proof of this thinking: advanced engineering, faultless fit, and most importantly real pleasure to build for all modellers .

[@spinster4000]

@@keunghoa 100% agreed. I built a super old Tamiya 1/48 FlakPanzer Gepard from like 1998? It went together better than a recent 2017 Hasegawa kit that I put together. I'm just astounded at the level of consistency tamiya produces.

[@mi24sturm35]

The Tamiya f16’s intakes are horrendous though

[@andreasvulcan_gr2595]

You should be a bit more cautious when saying EVER, or NEVER. There are several horrible kits by Tamiya out there. Granted, most of them are not produced by Tamiya and are reboxings instead but still. Take the 1/72 jets like F-18 or Su-34 for example. These are Italeri kits re-boxed by Tamiya. They are not good kits and if I had to buy them i would rather pay 5-10 euros less for the Italeri boxing with the huge Cartograph decal sheet instead of the horrible Tamiya decals. There are good and bad kits in all brands and maybe Tamiya has a higher percentage of good ones but they are not even close to 100% as many would like to believe.

[@keunghoa]

@@andreasvulcan_gr2595 Thank you for your comments. No manufacturer is perfect especially if you take into account everything they make. The latest kits from Tamiya are miles ahead compared to some of their older kits. I still remember the horrible 1/72 Su-33 which was just an SU-27 with canards glued on! Reboxing kits from other manufacturers did not do Tamiya much good either. If you want more versions of the F-16 than Tamiya can give, consider Hasegawa’s kits. Aircraft technology changes quickly, not all new data is available to kit manufacturers to include in their latest kits. It would be interesting to see who will come up with a model of the F-16V block 70/72 first…

[@oswaldolauritoesilva3097]

Sempre uma boa apresentação , do canal

[@keunghoa]

Thank you very much for your comment. It’s great encouragement for the channel.

[@alantoon5708]

I agree.

[@keunghoa]

Thank you for your comment.

[@rogerswope9881]

The others cost as much or more and aren’t any better.

[@keunghoa]

This boxing is the choice one also as it comes with a full complement of weapons.

[@jugjunkie101]

Are paid by Tamiya by any chance. Every "BEST" kit from you is Tamiya!

[@keunghoa]

Not just Tamiya, also Meng for the FA-18E, the F-106A, Eduard for the P-51D and Tempest, GWH for the F-15E, you should check out these videos as well and also other people’s reviews on the internet, there are plenty of them, check them out. I wish Tamiya would pay me for praising their kits! Let me know if you can find a 1/32 Corsair that is better than the Tamiya one.

[@jugjunkie101]

I will indeed. @@keunghoa