Introduction

One of the latest releases from RoG (Revell of Germany) is an F-16 MLU Solo Display. This model is a replica of the Solo Display aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force from the 2009 air show season to the current date. The F-16 Fighting Falcon first entered service in 1979 and is in the inventory of 25 countries as well as the United States Air Force.

Contents

In the typical end opening box from RoG with a nice artwork on the cover of the Royal Netherlands Air Force solo display aircraft you will find;

• 3 light grey sprues
• 1 clear sprue
• A very good decal sheet
• An instruction booklet

Review

This is one of the latest model aircraft releases from RoG and I believe it is an all new tooling kit. First impressions are very good as there is a very small amount of flash around the internal portion of the jet engine, the inside of the intake nozzle and one of the ventral fins that will need to be cleaned up but no other obvious faults with the mouldings, and for a model of this scale the detail is very good overall. The gates on the sprue are of a reasonable size and not excessive in number.

Cockpit
The cockpit in the model is obviously fairly basic in construction due to the scale, however RoG has done a good job of replicating the important areas, and it is more detailed than the models I remember in this scale where parts were a vague shape. The cockpit tub has reasonable side console controls represented and separate control stick and throttle control. The ejector seat is a three part affair with again good detail, and this should really look the part with careful painting. The instrument panel and separate clear HUD finish this area off unless you want to add the pilot figure included in the kit, the pilot figures right arm is moulded as a separate part to help with placement of the hand on the control stick I believe.

Undercarriage
The undercarriage and wheel bays are very well replicated for the scale and should really look the part on the finished model. The replicated detail in my opinion is very impressive in this scale and RoG has not forgotten to add the detail to the inner face of the wheel bay doors. The only details you may wish to add to this area are the brake lines using very fine wire.

Aircraft Exterior
The exterior detail on the exterior of the aircraft model is excellent with very fine recessed panel lines throughout. The various antennas on the aircraft for sending ,receiving and threat detection are beautifully replicated on the model and very finely reproduced. The main fuselage of the aircraft is moulded in three parts and splits along the sides which seems to be the norm for models of the F-16; the wings are an integral parts of on the rear upper fuselage. The tail fin, stabilisers, ventral fins, intake nozzle and nose cone finish the exterior off. A check of the overall dimensions shows the length to match my reference perfectly and the wingspan to be 4mm too wide, however I am unsure if this is plus or minus the sidewinder missiles and so may be correct.

Payload
Included with the model is a sprue of weapons pylons and a good selection of firepower and fuel tanks. While these are well moulded they are for the most part destined for the spares bin with the exception of the sidewinder missiles. I cannot recall having ever seen an F16 without wing tip mounted sidewinders and display aircraft are no exception as they are dummy missiles used for smoke generation during displays. The fact that this is a flying display model does mean the small recessed holes under the wings for the pylons will need to be filled.

Canopy
The canopy for the model is in two parts allowing the modeller to decide if they wish to display the finished model with the canopy open or closed. The clarity of the moulding is fair.

Instructions and decals
The instruction booklet is loose leafed and uses the black and white line drawing method to guide you through construction. The steps are clear and I see no issues with following them. The decal sheet is impressive and looks to be well thought out as regards layout. RoG look to have gone to a lot of trouble in order to make this complicated finish as easy as possible.

Conclusion

RoG must have one of the largest ranges of affordable scale aircraft models on the market today and this, one of their latest releases should be a stunning model when finished. The overall look of the parts and a stunning decal sheet should result in a great looking model. Details like the antennas on the wing and tail trailing edges are nice touches in 1/72nd scale that should lift the look of the finished kit.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For
details visit www.revell.de/en, @RevellGermany or facebook.com/Revell

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