Following the cancellation of the Israeli Industries Lavi fighter project in May 1988,

Israel placed an order for 60 F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft (30 F-16C and 30 F-16D), plus
an option for 15 more aircraft under the Peace Marble III program.

The first of these F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft, called Barak II (Lightning), arrived in Israel
in August of 1991.

The F-16C Barak II is fitted with the General Electric F110-GE-100 engine, delivering
28,000lbs of thrust, which is at least 4000lbs more than the Pratt and Whitney F100-PW-
200 fitted to the earlier F-16A Netz. To cope with the extra airflow required by the GE
engine, the Barak II is fitted with an enlarged air intake commonly called big mouth.

The Barak has extensive local modifications incorporated, with different avionics fits and
a higher gross weight than other F-16Cs totalling 48,000 pounds - at least 5,500 pounds
heavier than USAF F-16Cs.

Over the past few months I have read quite a few reviews on the earlier F-16 releases by
Kinetic and now that I have the kit in front of me I can see for myself what all the fuss
has been about.

Just recently I have built the old 1/48 scale Hasegawa F-16A as an Israeli Netz, the
Hasegawa F-16D as a twin seat Barak with the assistance of the CMK Barak detail set,
and the Tamiya F-16C as a single seat Barak with the assistance of a bit of scratch
building.

Previous reviews of the earlier Kinetic releases have highlighted inaccuracies with the tail
parachute/ECM housing extension and some panel lines. It has also been claimed that the
nose has too much droop. Some of these issues are easily corrected and some may be
perception - it all depends on what the modeller is happy to accept or correct. From my
experience with the Hasegawa and Tamiya F-16 kits, all the kits suffer from minor
inaccuracies and various levels or lack of detail. During my review I will not go over old
ground or compare the kits to much further but present the review on the merits of the kit.

Kinetics 1/48 scale Barak kit comes in quite a large box, but it is completely packed full
with approximately 450 parts. This is far more than any F-16 kit from Hasegawa and
slightly more than Tamiya.

In reality, many of these parts are options and some will be consigned to the spares box.
The range of ordnance provided looks more like a dedicated weapons detail set rather
than included options and the list provides for almost every weapons fit possible on an F-
16 except for 6 bomb multiple ejector racks. This list includes:

2 x 370 gallon wing tanks

1 x 300 gallon centerline tank

1 x AAQ-13 LANTIRN Pod

1 x AAQ-14 LANTIRN Pod

1 x AAQ-28 Litening Pod

1 x AAQ-33 Sniper Pod

1 x ALQ-131

4 x AIM-120B AMRAAM

4 x AIM-120C AMRAAM

4 x AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles

4 x AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles

2 x AGM-65 Maverick

2 x AGM-119A Penguin

4 x Mk.82

2 x GBU-31 JDAM

4 x GBU-38 JDAM

4 x GBU-12 Paveway II

2 x GBU-24 Paveway III

4 x CBU-87

Not all the weapons provided can be fitted to the Israeli Barak but the instructions
provide a load fit out table and any unused weapons can be consigned to the spares box
as a bonus. One disappointment is the absence of the Israeli-made much larger 600
gallon wing tanks that are often fitted to the Barak and Sufa.

The kit is designed to allow the manufacturer to issue many versions of the F-16 with
minimal mould changes. In fact the kit contains most of the parts to make almost any
version of the F-16C. The alternate parts are provided as replacement panel drop in and
surface mount detail and in some cases filling of some surface panel detail.

Sometimes these inserts and options can cause fit problems but in this case the parts seem
to fit okay.

The nose in the review kit certainly appears to have too much droop but most of this is
caused by a weak point in the fuselage mould around the nose wheel well causing the
lower nose half to droop and when it is lined up with the upper fuselage half. There is a
6mm gap that pulls together when glued. I compared the dry fitted nose to the Hasegawa
kit and the droop is the same but the join line is in a different position causing the lower
half of the Kinetic nose to be about 2-3mm deeper, but the dimension of the kit noses is
similar.

The surface detail, while not quite as sharp as the Tamiya kit, is still quite crisp and clean.
I would rate the surface detail to be very good and it should look convincing under a coat
of paint. T

Detail in the cockpit and wheel wells is more than sufficient. I am usually an after-market
detail fanatic but after careful examination of the kit parts and comparing them to the
Aires detail sets that I used for the wheel well, cockpit and engine of my Hasegawa kit, I
have decided the detail is ample and I will not be adding any after market sets.

The exhaust nozzle is excellent, containing full internal detail even to the point that the
afterburner flame holder ring is correctly positioned downstream from the turbine discs.
Full internal detail is proved on the speed brake petals allowing these to be displayed in
the open position, and all of the Israeli specific antennae, ECM bulges, and various
panels are all supplied.

The transparencies are crystal clear but will possibly need a coat of clear smoke to
accurately portray the gold impregnated tint of the real aircraft.