The F-16 is probably the most successful US fighter since theF-4 Phantom in terms of overseas sales. The plane is relatively easy tomaintain, doesn't cost a huge amount of money and provides both air to air andair to ground capabilities in the same airframe. That has made it very popularwith many air forces who want a great deal of bang for the buck. True, they canget similar capabilities with Russian, British and French aircraft, but with somany F-16s around and many having been pulled out of USAF service, there is noproblem with parts and 'used' Falcons can be purchased for a very reasonableprice.

One of the earliest export users of the F-16 has been theIsraeli Defense Force. Actually, it is more than just a self-defense force,being quite capable of projecting offensive power anywhere in the region that itwishes and it has proved that several times in the past. It was with some ofthese power projection missions that the usefulness of the F-16 was shown to theIDF. It was not unusual to find that the IDF wished newer and more improvedFalcons. One of those is the two seat F-16D Brakeet. This is basically astandard F-16D that has an upper fuselage 'hump' added that incorporatesadditional avionics systems. These are probably ECM systems to allow for jammingand deception of enemy surveillance systems as the strike group heads to itstarget. The only other country to currently fly similar aircraft is theSingapore Air Force. 

I won't go into a longdescription of the Hasegawa F-16B/D kit. Suffice it to say that this isn'texactly one of the newest models around. The F-16B/D kit has been around fornearly two decades in its current form and that is what provides the basis ofthis kit. Of course there are some other additions in the form of sprues for theF-16C-40/50 kit to give you new wingtip launchers, ECM bumps, bulged wheeldoors, new wheels and a larger intake. I'll leave it to the F-16 experts to tellme if this kit has everything right or not. 

What adds the extra $8-10 to the kit is the inclusion of theavionics spine as well as new ECM bumps and a new radio antenna in resin. To usethis, you plug it into the upper fuselage where the tail normally goes, cut offthe kit tail, and glue it to the resin spine. I'd drill a hole in the spine andfin and put a pin in there to provide some support or it will be easy to snap itoff.

Decals are fortwo aircraft that are basically the same. Colors given are FS 30219 brown/33531yellow/35622 blue over FS 36375 grey. Frankly, I don't think that is correct asone of the upper colors is generally a green and the underside on IDF planes areusually a very light blue. You can see the HobbycraftA-4H review to see the colors I used on that kit.  However, I will bemore than glad to find out that I am wrong. If you know the current colors forthe Brakeet, please contact me so I can put them in this review. The two unitsare  105 'Scorpion' squadron as shown on the box art and 601 Test andEvaluation squadron with red stripes on the tail.

I'm sure that IDF fans are very glad this kit is available andI'm just hoping for some current Singapore AF decals so I can do one of the onesI photographed last year!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by asite that averages over 3,000 visits a day, please contactme or see other details in the Note toContributors.

UPDATE:

Reader Yoav Efrati has sent in some information onthis plane you might find of interest. I'll let him take it from here:

"A FEW NOTES CONCERNING THE HASEGAWA F-16D.
FIRST OF ALL THERE IS NO AIRCRAFT NAMED "BRAKEET" IN THE IAF. BLOCK 30AND BLOCK 40 F-16C AND F-16D AIRFRAMES ARE NAMED BARAK (LIGHTNING IN HEBREW).THE HASEGAWA KIT PROVIDES AN ACCURATE SPINE. THERE ARE ADDITIONAL RWR BULGESTHAT MUST BE EITHER SCRATCH BUILT USING PHOTOS OR REPLACED BY ONES MADE BY EAGLEDESIGNS.

THE "BOX" MOLDED TO THE AFT END OF THE RESIN SPINE ISOVER SIMPLIFIED, SEE PHOTOS BELOW:

SOME OTHER ITEMS NEED CORRECTING IN THE KIT INCLUDE: ADD A REVISED/LARGER JFSINTAKE AFT THE LEFT WHEEL WELL, RESHAPE THE GUN OPENING, MAKE NEW REAR COCKPITVIEWING SCREEN ATOP THE DASHBOARD.
I PUBLISHED A COMPLETE ARTICLE ON HOW TO MODIFY THE HASEGAWA F-16D INTO ANACCURATE RENDITION OF THE ISRAELI TWO SEAT BARAK IN THE MAY ISSUE OF SCALEAIRCRAFT MODELLING. MANY OF THE CHANGES NOTED IN THE ARTICLE ARE RELEVANT TOTHIS KIT.

AS FOR THE DECAL SHEET, DON'TUSE IT. THE COLOR USED FOR THE SAND IS TOO LIGHT, THE RED TEST UNIT MARKINGSSHOULD BE ORANGE. ISRADECAL F-16C/D SHEET, AVAILABLE THROUGH HANNANTS, PROVIDESCORRECT MARKINGS.


AS FOR THE ACCURATE COLORS USE ON THE F-16A/B/C/D. TOP SURFACE SAND F.S.33531,BROWN F.S.30219, GREEN F.S.34424 (RAF W.W.II SKY), BOTTOM SURFACE LIGHT GHOSTGRAY. THE COLORS I PREFER TO USE ARE, HUMBROL 121 FOR THE SAND, HUMBROL 119 FORTHE BROWN, TESTORS MODEL MASTERS "SKY" FOR THE GREEN AND
HUMBROL 127 FOR THE UNDERSURFACE GRAY. FOR THE RADOM, MISSILE RAIL AND RWRANTENNAS I USE HUMBROL 140. NOTE - THE COCKPIT COLOR FOR THE BARAK IS BLACK, NOTGRAY."