Small Scale Military Headquarters

well. here goes. My thoughts and opinion on my most recent purchase. your mileage may vary.
Purchased from flying mule, shipped via ups. fm was a pleasure to deal with and the box arrived with a crease on one side that transferred slightly to the box. not a big deal to me. my enjoyment is derived from assembly and display. i did save the packaging though. bbi did a good job on prepping this bird. jsi went overboard, but the f-14 turned out to be a POS when it came down to quality of craftsmanship. but i digress.
The pieces are solid. everything snaps in and stays put. i like that. landing gear is simple and straightforward. the plane is solid. it is not fragile and delicate like the spotcat.
Now for the stuff that was meh. i put the stickers on. 1/2 hour later, they no longer adhered to the rounded pieces that they are to be stuck to. i used tweezers for placement, but they don't stick.
the pilot. glad they included one. i unwrapped mine, moved the right leg so as to put into the cockpit, and the leg fell off in my hand. reattached without incident. moved the articulated arms so as to assume throttle and stick position. my pilot has 2 left hands. really? engine exhaust, on the inner side, has some kind of staining or debris ring that won't come off.
the weapons mounted just inboard of the sidewinders. fins are of a soft plastic. they were slightly folded like dog ears. hoping they spring back. the bombs on the midhardpoint seem to be an afterthought. how does bbi go from detailed droptanks and sidewinders to bombs that look like they came from the 10.00 toys that Target pushes out at Christmas?
I was really looking forward to this piece. now? meh.
If bbi is going to charge 160.00 i expect the product to be flawless. not jsi flawles. stickers that stick. figures that are anatomically correct. fins that are rigid. and from reading on here, the scale should be 1/18. not sort of close, or just off a bit.
i have it hanging and it looks great. its a great plane to look at. paint detail is great. my wife's cousin flew the viper in the first gulf war so its great for my kids to see what a family member flew.
Overall, i give it a B, maybe a B-. i want to be a passionate supporter to this scale, but after spotcat, and the price of this? HM 1/72 is looking more and more the way to go. It's a great plane-at the 80.00 mark. for 160? for that pricepoint, the quality control needs to be 4 times better.
bbi can put out a good product. i really thought the quality of this piece would be along the lines of their mustangs and corsairs of years past. it is not, and they need to get back to that type of quality before i part ways with my money.
Not trying to be a debbie downer or negative nancy. just my impressions 72 hours after i assembled and hung my f16.
bc

Sorry you have some problems with you F-16, mine is just about perfect even the pilots hands.

Exactly the same reason why I sold my Wolfpack. Looks good a few feet away, but up close, not so good. Very dull on details with the weapons and landing gear.

Sucks to hear about your F-16 shortcomings. My new 9/11 pilot has the same issue. Born with 2 left hands. I thought my pilot was the only anomaly. As for the bent fins the fix is simple but time consuming. Get some water boiling and also have a bucket full of ice water.

Dip (holding with tongs) the missile into the boiling water getting the fin submersed but not the entire missile. It will get very very soft in a rather short time. pull it out and bent it into a straight position and submerse into the bucket of ice water. You are basically re-training the stretching of the vinyl. You can do the heating with a heat gun or hairdryer but you have to be careful not to overdo it, or you will melt the vinyl. Boiling water won't.

As for the decals not sticking to the landing gears, it's because the plastic still has some mold release agent seeping out or still on the surface. Dawn dishwasher liquid and water mixture will clean off the release agent. Microscale and Tamiya also make mold release agent cleaning liquids that won't be as messy as soap and water but they will cost you.

To all, remember the fins, the F-16's fuselage nose and exhaust petals are made of a vinyl. Enamel or lacquer paints will not adhere well to these materials if you decide to paint your jet. Same goes for the F18's nose, exhaust, and intakes. Acrylic paints (the water based kind) are about the only type that will adhere.

sorry to hear that iballdriver, like Sabrefan, mine showed up quite flawless. As for "dull details", well for the money I think BBI delivered a perfect canvas to detail up. Sure it is missing the AOA & air temp probes, TACAN upper and lower antennas, static wicks for the tail, but all can be added and turn the BBI Falcon into a real show stopper. As for the decals, like Black Lion said its most likely the release agent stiil hanging around. Always clean the area before painting or decaling just to be sure.

iballdriver wrote: jsi went overboard, but the f-14 turned out to be a POS when it came down to quality of craftsmanship

What? Have you fallen from your camel and hit your head? The VF-84 had poor paint but the model itself is a breathtaking piece. Hang it up in your house and everyone who visits will have eyes that go directly to that airplane. VF-154 is almost perfect as a collectors' grade aircraft. The F-14 has very fragile, minute details that you won't see in other toolings. It's crafted like a built up plastic model, not some toy made for the bath tub.

Your points on the F-16 are more reasonable. The Falcon is an older tooling that knocked my socks off when it came out way back when. It's simplicity is somewhat dated today, however. But, if you were able to buy the F-16 as an unfinished kit, there's no way you could build and paint it for less than $160 so its still an excellent value in my opinion, looking best from about 10 feet away.

Yoxford offers a beautiful detail kit for the F-16 model. I got his kit a few days ago, and his parts are first rate. I haven't had time to install the parts, but they are going to make my F-16 look awesome.

The F-14 is truly first rate when it comes to 1:18 models, even despite the fragility issues and QC defects - or rather the fact that the F-14 was designed to be a model led to it having many of its said defects (spots aside).

The F-16 on the other hand is a far older tooling (it dates from 2004) and was designed from the get-go as a toy. A very nice toy, but still a toy. That is why it lacks some of the finer points of detail that many later 1:18 aircraft toolings (heck even the 1:32 BBI F-4 Phantom) have.

I do agree, however, that the rubbery missles are an annoying detraction as are other QC defects, so your grievances are totally understood! I'll vouch for the boiling water method as working the best to straighten them. Could also be worth contacting BBI for replacement parts. They do follow through with that...

while i apprecitate the attention to detail that jsi was striving for and achieved, i can't appreciate it on a daily basis becuase i have my spotcat still in it's box. i am so paranoid about it being so brittle that i still have it in it's box and foam-spots and all. i opened it up on Christmas day 2 years ago and upon seeing the radar dish flopping around, unsecured, was all i needed to see that this was to fragile for display. i did one swing of the gear, and returned it to the retracted position. the gear will never see the light of day.
So here i sit at my computer. spotcat (200 bucks) in a box because it is too brittle, and my new viper hanging on 25lb. test line that makes me feel meh. i like looking over my shoulder and looking at what must be the last thing a foe sees before meeting Satan. I also like looking at my bbi daisy jane corsair, hung on said 25lb. test line. until bbi and jsi can meet my basic expectations, which i hold up as bbi's daisy jane and 'the p-51 "killer", then my hobby money will go to another scale that meets my expectations. Reprinting an old mold, slapping on different decals, then selling it for twice what it went for? c'mon.
As I mentioned in my first post on this thread, this is only my opinion, your mileage may vary.
I like the big models. i really do. that is why i went out of my comfort zone and ordered the viper. in my estimation, this is a great model for 80 bucks. for 160 dollars, i feel as though i were taken. and that is why i will sit out the next big thing, and buy more HM products.
bc

iballdriver wrote: As I mentioned in my first post on this thread, this is only my opinion, your mileage may vary.
I like the big models. i really do. that is why i went out of my comfort zone and ordered the viper. in my estimation, this is a great model for 80 bucks. for 160 dollars, i feel as though i were taken. and that is why i will sit out the next big thing, and buy more HM products.
bc

While I understand that you have a couple of issues with your F-16 iballdriver, you can't seriously think that this model is only worth $80.

HM 1/72 F-111 is more than that now, and their F-4's are over $60. And CW F-14's are getting to be $100.

I picked up two of these Enduring Freedom F-16's, and think that they are good value. Heck the Wolfpack versions were sometimes hitting close to $400 before this release. Not saying that this F-16 is worth $400, but that is what they were going for.

Obviously these large jets are not for you. The "spotcat" remains a big disappointment, but the F-16, and F-18 are very well done, IMO, and really get your attention. Much more so than an $80 P-51, or Corsair.

Hobby Master are doing the F-16, and F-18 in 1/72, with the F-18 retailing for $80. F-16 would be around $65-70, I would think.

Don't think it is unreasonable to ask $160 for a 1/18 F-16.

It is comparing apples to oranges I know, but as you said, your mileage may vary.

it is starting to grow on me.....i have it hanging, nose low attack attitude, full armament, glaring at me while i sit here at the computer. my kids see it too, and ask about their great-cousin who used to fly them.....and over there is my 21st century corsair attacking me, and behind it is my f-104 on my f-18 stand, and behind me is my bbi corsair.......need to get a bbi mustang methinks....
thanks for y'alls patience as i come around.....