Ok, update on the acquisitions front, finally, after over a month held in customs, i get the first of the 1/48 F-16s i've bought, the Kinetic kit. The Tamiya kit is probably never coming and the seller is going to refund my money so i've already ordered another one from another seller, the other one was the last item in stock. In fact, the second was even cheaper than the one lost.
Just brought it into the hut for parts inspection, i've read in a review that a sprue was missing from a factory-sealed box, sprue R containing the unique E variant fin fairing. Fortunately, mine came with all the sprues and bits, and it's a decent sized box full of plastic!!
I'm totally in love with this kit, and while i've read some hard knocking comments on it, but i think those were probably made by JMNs...
I mean, all kits have flaws, and yes, it would be nice to have 100% accurate and perfect fitting kits to build but i also think that would take out some of the building skills part of it all, leaving things more concentrated in model painting and weathering instead... But what do i know, i'm just a noob...
This kit has more weapons than the fighter can carry, very nice detail all around, excellent kit! Shape issues have been reported by some but others say it's just fine when compared to equivalent kits from other brands and scale drawings and plans of the Viper. Since this is the only 1/48 E variant kit out there, i would have to get it as the, now unobtainable, Hasegawa kit was limited edition... Anyway, most reviews say this one is better so no loss there.
The fact that i'm such a big fan of the Viper, is what made me wanna build a bigger, more detailed kit and 1/48 is big enough for me... at least for now...
I also want to make it a Whif cause i don't really see the need to have another RW UAE F-16E model in the world, it's been done, and far better than what i can achieve at the moment so i'm whiffing this sucker up!!
I've also ordered another big one, the Kittyhawk F-35C...
Being the only F-35 variant that i really like, and being 20€ cheaper than the other cheapest kit i found on the web, this was just asking to be bought on my Portuguese hobby store of choice, Bigcat modelismo. There are a few other 1/48 kits on my mind, probably also an F-16I Sufa, Raptor, YF-23, Super Hornet, Mig-29-19, SU-35S and T-50 PAK FA... BTW, the F-16XL is obviously a must get for me, so kinetic 1/48 F-16XL it will be!!
Well, as the summer is quickly coming to an end, that means more time and will to do some modeling. I've managed to match last year's production rate of 2 so far, so if i don't slack around i might even finish more than one before the year ends. With 5 models on the bench at the moment, 2 are in primary paint stages and the other 3 just need a bit of work to be ready for the airbrush. Not seen on the pic is the Airfix F-86E that's just missing the canopy and paint. Actually, all the 11 models in my SBP are at that stage so they shouldn't be too hard finish, right? Best part, probably all of them will be What-If!
