hello folks. some of you guys might have seen this on ARC and plamo through links, but here is the original thread for your ease of viewing!

this will be a comprehensive review of what to look out for, a comparison of parts and fitting and accuracy. Bring on the AMS to a certain level..

here's the awaited battle of the OOB sufas.. no more expensive resin, no more hunting for elusive and rare and overpriced twin tubbers.



first the main body frames - hase uses their classic 1 peice, while kinetic has the seperated top half for spawning more variants from single tool tail


the lower fuselage - hase is cleaner, has less rivets in the small panels. kin's plastic is a bit grainy, and also the rivets are larger than hase's. however, kin's has ALOT MORE panels and panel lines and rivets than hases, possibly due to more research.


fuse top - same as above, hase is smoother finish than kins. and kins has more panels and rivets.


one major source of debate for me is the accuracy of the elevator rivets. hase's rivets arrange in a triangle around the main axle, while kins is a trapezium. i have use a wash to highlight


both kits give static dispenser points. but kins gives the wick as well.


the nose! kins has a taller, sharper nose than hase. the tip of kins nose is also a double point, unlike the curvy one of hase.


seen from the side, it also appears that kins is marginally thicker than hase. by marginally i mean about 0.1-0.3mm.. almost negligible. but the key issue is how hase's has a convex slope from front to end, and kins is almost straight.


a comparison of the lower fuse, source of great argument.. this is the recorrected lower fuse of kin vs hase. i feel that both have the same levelled shape, but the angle that kin's entire lower fuselage projects from the intake is a tad too sharp. say, 5 deg compared to hases 3 deg incline. i will only know the overall shape after it is built.(might look different with paint on)

on to the intakes. hase's old intakes for the PW were used for this kit, and is hardly adequate. it does not provide markings and drilling points for the average modeller to attach the sufa's many exhausts and rwrs.
kin's, provides all this, and the attachment point for the litening stations. plus, kin has more rivets and panels.


the intake trunking differs greatly, kin gives the little buldge for the larger nose wheel, which is not accurate in shape, and is slightly too forward(about 2-3mm depending on how you measure). but this is better than hase who does not give.


the top wings of the 2 are also different primarily in the rivet vs panels.
both are riveted, but the panels of both are located at different positions relative to the leading edge. it will need a original mechanical blueprint to determine who is correct. (or the tamiya kit)


moving to landing gear bays, the forward ldg of kin's is far better detailed than hase, which is obviously the older and shows less research at that time.


kins' main landing gear bay far outshines hase's even without adding the other parts yet. although traditionally, we would have plugged hase's wheel well with an aftermarket set. thus, kin offers an oppurtunity for elbow grease at detailing, while hase allows you to drop fit an entire resin set.


the landing gear itself shows difference in detail. kins gives a suspension spring and single spoke axle. while hase gives landing light mounting point, and the disc type brake to attach. i've built a hase 16 before and the disc offers more area for glue to hold, but again, it will only be known when i build.


the PW exhaust nozzle shows another superior design by kin over the older hase. each seperate petal has detailed interior and exterior compared to the older hase. again this is due to the age of hase's mould and the limitations at the time when it was moulded decades ago.





the cockpit. hase's cockpit uses an additional sprue frame for the 2nd seater. this add on phenomenon creates probelms, especially when the center portion of the cockpit needs to be walled up. kin gives it in 1 piece, but the instruments themselves are seperate. some reviews have said that this (kin) will cause fitting probelms, but i will only know when it is being built.
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now, to what everyone really wants to see. the sufa related parts. boy this is a great difference between kin and hase!!

first the cfts. kin gives PE for the mesh, while hase moulds it to the cft. moreover, the position of the exhust mesh is different for both brands, again only after mounting the cft on the kit and comparing to real photos will we know which is more accurate-er


the shape of the cfts also differs. from the top view, hase is sharper and broader at both ends than kin.



and their panel lines also appear at different positions, and kin is slightly thinner than hase from the side view


the spine is also another piece that is greatly different. after placing the rear rwr ball at the same place, the 2 brands differ completely in panel line alignment and panel placement. again this is because each spine is catered to their owners airframe: whilst they look different now, when mounted on the f-16, it could be aligned to the panels on the fuse top, this i will only know when i build. also, kin's is very much thicker spine and squarer edge than hase. it will need original lockheed and IAI drawing to know who is correct in the angles.


the chin buldges are different. kin is smoother this time, hase give rivets and panels for the small triangle, and also a mysterious little blip on the front edge. i've not seen it before on rsaf sufas and most iaf sufas so this may be a new thing or unique to certain airframes.


one of the most difficult things is to capture the multiple angle of the chin bulge, and its flatness of the reciever side. here, hase excels by making the smooth transition from round front to flat back. but kin is rounder all the way, although you can see the effort trying to make the back, flat. kin left, hase right.


the aux exhaust port on either side of the fuse is different. hase's tapers to a 80deg end, while kin remains 90. actual pics show that there is a small angle, almost 80-85 it depends on the angle you are viewing. most of us will see it at ground level during maintenance. or upwards at airshows or a2a shots. and i will leave it as that.


weapons! (or the lack thereof) i dont have to mention the weapons set that came with kin against the 2 amraams and 2 aim-9ms of hase.


a comparison of the new lau-118( what is it actually?!) shows that hase's rivets are more refined than kin's. and some minor details that are up to the individual preference.

hase's new war hud is a simple 2 piece add on. i dont have pics of the kin, will compare when it is built.


and now let me do a sneak peak at hase's future relases of the f-16. they are really milking it with this one sprue.


first, the AIFF bird slicer antennae array. this is the version found on MLU's and non-sufa spinebacks of singapore, oman. the other spineback of chile, greece, poland and uae uses the blended AIFF like the sufa.


2nd, the presence of the larger intake nav lights that house ecm. this are only found on spinebacked BARAKs, regular longtail spinebacks of oman, greece, poland, chile and the uae block 60s. in fact, i suspect that hase may make the whole block 50/52 family just based on the provision of this 2 sets of rwrs.


3rd, the 2 tail ecm famous on spineback and regular block 52 tails of chile, greece, poland... the possibilties are endless with this. single seater or 2 seater it makes no difference..


lastly, the confirmation of the UAE block 60, is the presence of the 4 front fuselage blips and the nose FLIR on this sprue.

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and certainly not least, the decals.

both brands give the same squadrons, but hase print is darker than kin.



and did i mention only kin has the weapons stencil decals.?

it's started already! this will be a comprehensive review of what to look out for, a comparison of parts and fitting and accuracy. Bring on the AMS to a certain level..

the hasegawa 5 part spine is assembled quick and easy.


some sanding down of the resulting seam line removes any traces of the middle joint seam


even the side chaff dispenser panels show little hint of seam joints, or as good as panel lines. with only minimal sanding.


next step was to mount all the small blips and antennae by drilling holes.



Oops. there is an extra hole on the spine, don't drill the last one nearest the vert fin. it serves no purpose.


all the parts have been mounted. the round gps and rwr domes have little seams that will be filled by liquid putty later.


there is an add-on exhaust on the spine, which needs removal of a part on the spine in order for new part to fit.. circled in pencil . this is not written on the instructions.

i will now show the kinetic's spine


the sperated and multi part kinetic spine created many probelms of fitting for the small part. first, the refuelling receptacle could not fill up the moulded indent on the spine, and had to be filled with putty.


next the UHF antennae and intake near the canopy were seperate pieces. this sunk immediately into the hole provided, and i had to add placard inisde the whole, so that the 2 antennaes would be level to the rest of the spine.



still, after levelling, there were small gaps that will have to be filled.



compare that to hasegawa's moulded-on-spine antennaes. much easier to handle and less hassle. although they lack the thinness of the antenna, and the rear intake lacks the duct hole.


all the top domes have been mounted as 2 parts p22 and ss2. this facilates handling, no small fiddly parts to sand like the hase's.


the blanked out chaff dispensers were glued in.some sanding down to fit was nessacary.
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again the same probelm as the hase spine. no instructions to drill and place the auxillary exhaust! this even though the hole is provided on the spine.




next i have to make the short tail join the spine. another major issue of fitting because of multiple parts. i had to sand down the flat sides of the tail.


and even after that it would not fit.



because this is the probelm. the center of both halfs protrude outwards and need to be sanded down. this is illustrated in the pic.


and the vertical tail of kinetic, notorious already for the ejector pin.


and even after fitting, there is flash to remove.


the hasegawa does not fare any better with her 2 part vert tail.