Aires

1/48 F-16I Sufa cockpit For the Hasegawa kit.

Stock Number: 4422

Reviewed By  Rob Folden, IPMS# 45545

MSRP: $36.99 Website: www.aires.cz The Israeli F-16I Sufa is quite possibly the world’s most advanced F-16 variant. The two-seat, long-range fighter and ground attack aircraft recently found it’s way into the scale modeling world in kits from both Hasegawa and Kinetic. Both are excellent kits, however the Hasegawa kit’s cockpit leaves room for improvement. And to answer the call, Aires released an updated version of their F-16B cockpit, specific to the Sufa. Having built the Kinetic kit, and having an old Italeri F-16B/D [also Israeli], I wanted to see how the new resin cockpit stacked up. And it stacks up well. The resin set contains a double cockpit tub, seats, instrument panels with intergraded shrouds, sidewall panels, a clear acetate film, and a very nice photo-etched brass set. The castings are very crisp, with virtually no clean-up, other than the pour stubs. The instructions are fairly easy to follow. I began by cutting and grinding away the resin pour stubs. Everything [including the PE parts] was then primed with an enamel grey primer [I usually use a light automotive primer]. Following several references I had from the build of the Kinetic kit, painting was carefully done with Tamiya paints. Most of the individual buttons are picked out using a Size 00 brush, held at about a 30 degree angle so that only the top of the raised details are touched. I do have to say I like the addition of the O2 hoses in the resin cockpit, although judging from references, they are a little too small for 1/48 scale. The back of the acetate film gauges was painted white, with a little blue and brown for the artificial horizon. I used a strong white glue to attach the film to the PE panels, and the panels to the resin IP. The fit was perfect on the first try. The HUD is comprised of PE brackets with a clear film for the screen. Once everything was painted, washed, dry-brushed, and everything was dry, I assembled the cockpit. The parts fit together without a single gap or issue. Since I plan on using the cockpit in the Italeri kit, it took a little more grinding on the sides to get it to fit right, and some cutting of the Italeri fuselage. But with work, it does fit and really enhances the kit. The only real problem I had with the kit was in the PE seat belts. They are comprised of many pieces, including individual belts and buckles. Many of the parts were very small, and even with tweezers I had trouble holding them [and ultimately left them off]. Otherwise, I would highly recommend this cockpit set to anyone building the Hasegawa Sufa, or the old Italeri F-16B/D Israeli. Now, as for the Kinetic kit’s cockpit...while you could use the Aires set, the detail is virtually the same in the Kinetic kit. My sincere thanks to Aires for providing the review sample, and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it. Happy Modeling!