VIDEO AD - ROBOT vs. F-16 DOGFIGHT IN TURKISH AIRSPACE

SMN couch potato time:

This is ‘sorta amazing’ as advertising concepts go and it’s also a creative take on the many Japanese transformer toys and model kits available. Here we have a Turkish Air Force jet-jockette (and, it has to be said, very fetching) mother who manages to leave her coffee mug at home before the day’s mission.

Vestel dishwasher to the rescue

Luckily, her Vestel Jetwash dishwasher can transform into a hyper-maneouvrable flying robot, who not only gives her daughter a ride in its marsupial-style protection pod, but also engages mother’s F-16 in an aerobatics-only non-lethal dogfight. 

Flying robot

Meantime, our fighter pilot’s daughter - who mysteriously manages to resist massive G-forces while aboard the transforming dishwasher - becomes quite the heroine, as she delivers the missing coffee mug at mission’s end. Mind you, our tasty flygirl does manage a winsome raised eyebrow when she sees the robot, now retransformed back into its Vestel Jetwash image, sitting innocently on the runway. 

Zanussi dishwasher

Great ad, dunno about the product - though if it’s as good as our 20-year-old Zanussi, then it’s a winner.

Tamiya model kit

Meantime, what’s what in the world of F-16 model kits? Well, our current vote goes to the 1:48 scale Tamiya F-16CJ Block 50 Fighting Falcon. This is a simply superb piece of model engineering that’s well up to the best that Tamiya has put out over the years. 

Detailed engine

Introduced a few years ago, Tamiya’s 1:32 scale kit features the bigger air intake duct required by the uprated F110-GE-129 jet engine, and this has been modelled as a separate detailed component that can be slid in and out of the fuselage like the real thing. As you can see from the pix, the Tamiya kit also features a loading trolley for the engine.

No crack filling

Model engineering has helped the build, with a one-piece upper wing-body moulding, to reduce crack-filling time. Tamiya’s kits rarely need much of this anyway, but this assembly method does away with the need completely.

Wheels and weapons

Other features on this big model include diecast landing gear, with rubber tyres. Soft ‘poly caps’ ensure that ordnance - missiles, ECM pod, fuel tanks - are removable and interchangeable, so the aircraft can be configured for different mission profiles. Flaps, rudder, and elevators are also positionable.

Multimedia components

Cast metal and photo-etch parts feature strongly, with items such as pitot tubes, static wicks, seat buckles, radar antenna, and flare dispensers all supplied this way. In the cockpit, Tamiya has been equally thorough, with a choice of smoked or clear canopies that can be open or closed, and an extremely well-sculpted pilot figure. Male or female? We can’t tell, so maybe it’s Vestel girl’s mother! Last but not least, Tamiya has included a set of weights, to avoid this F-16 being a tail-sitter when assembled.

Other F-16s to tempt you

Mind you, the 1:32 scale Tamiya kit is just one of many, as there’s a galaxy of choice out there to cover this piece of combat hardware that’s still (despite the upcoming F-35 strike fighter) pretty well state of the art where battle-honed flightgear is concerned. The conformal-tank  version above shows just how far the basic design - which first flew on February 2, 1974 - has advanced in the intervening years.

Tamiya 1:32 scale F-16, and some alternatives, available here.

If you like transforming robots, there's a selection here.

Thanks to Flightglobal for the heads-up on the video.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIGHTING FALCON - THE F-16 FIRST FLEW 37 YEARS AGO

The General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) F-16 Fighting Falcon first flew on February 2, 1974, and since its active entry in August four years later, has been in continuous service ever since.

From lightweight fighter to heavyweight attacker

The F-16 was developed originally as a lightweight day fighter, but has evolved into a much bigger, heavier, and more powerful beast since then - it’s now a highly successful all-weather multirole machine  that is flown by the air arms of some 26 different countries. For a jet fighter, production numbers are eyebrow-raising at 4450 manufactured so far, with more orders to come. However, to put that production number into perspective, Russia’s MiG-15 tops the charts with a likely total of some 18,000-plus, though a precise figure doesn’t seem to be available.

1:48 scale F-16 kits to buy

There are more F-16 kits than you can shake a stick at, so we’re just going to pick three of our faves - they come from Hasegawa, and are in big scales. The 1:48 scale F-16E Limited Edition has 146 components, including the conformal fuel tanks that give the aircraft much added range. Aesthetically, they don’t add the the F-16’s dainty looks, but to our eyes, the bumps, blisters, sensors, and other military extras give the aircraft a tough appeal of its own.

F-16 at Red Flag

The Hasegawa F-16i is an Israeli version, also in 1:48 scale. Like the original it has those conformal fuel tanks, very noticeable in the pic above, where you can see a pair of these jets, flying at the 2009 Red Flag combat-training exercise in the skies of the US Nevada Test and Training Range.

F-16 high-detail version to 1:32 scale

And bumpy looks are a feature of the bigger 1:32 (again!) scale F-16A Plus/C version from Hasegawa. It’s got even more parts - 240 in all - and is a kit that's loaded with one-of-a-kind detail that includes a swinging nose with radar, pop-out airbrakes, a beautifully moulded raised canopy, and cutaway detail that reveals the six-barrel M61 Vulcan gun, complete with ammo drum. Hasegawa's model engineers have excelled themselves with this item - it’s just beautiful, and every jet-age model maker should have one.

  

See F-16 kits, including these versions discussed above, here.

The pictures show, top to bottom:

1  Hasegawa F-16E Limited Edition, 1:48 scale.

2  Israeli F-16i jets perform at Red Flag, 2009.

3  Hasegawa F-16 high detail kit, 1:32 scale.

4  Diagram of the F-16’s main gun, a six-barrel M61.

Models courtesy Hasegawa.

‘SPECIAL COLORS’ F-16 FIGHTING FALCON FROM ITALERI

David Jefferis reports
The first production-standard F-16 fighter jet flew 36 years ago this month, and the type is still in front-line service across the world, with more than 4400 having been built, and customers still lining up for new ones. The basic design has been improved vastly over the years, especially where electronics and mission capabilities are concerned, but the basic shape and size remains much the same, a testament to the General Dynamics team that designed the aircraft back in the 1970s.

New markings from Italeri
Model manufacturers number the F-16 as one of their most popular modern jet subjects, and new kits continue to be released. This time it’s a very neat Italeri 1:48 scale offering, and it’s been given an excellent set of markings, called ‘Special Colors’ on the box. The decals are quite excellent, neatly and accurately printed, and give you a choice of tails - we rate the brooding tiger especially - or green-and-black chequerboard display markings.

In the box
As for the kit itself, Italeri claim it’s ‘new’ but we’re not quite sure how much of the kit is actually brand-new tooling. No matter - the parts are cleanly pressed, with tidy detail throughout, though a word of warning. The F-16’s canopy is a frameless design that gives the pilot unparalleled all-round vision, but the modelmaker has to be very careful indeed when removing this clear part from the runner. Take your time, use the sharpest blade possible, and be prepared for some gentle polishing to keep that canopy sparkling clear.  

On the video
The aerobatics on the video were flown in the grey and claggy skies of Europe by Belgian Air Force Commander ‘Mickey’ Artiges of the Belgian Air Force. Note the condensation trails coming off the leading edges of the wings as Artiges pulls gee in turns. It’s an inspiring display of expert flying, filmed by the Euro video producer Pro-Wing.


Visit Italeri here.

And lots more F-16s here.

Pictures courtesy Italeri.