Eduard 1/48 F-16CJ Block 52 BigSin First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Eduard from the Czech Republic is easily the most prolific producer of aftermarket details. Period. Their series of photo-etched detail sets have brought additional fidelity to otherwise bland subjects, and have taken even the best-produced models and kicked them up a notch or two with details that cannot be produced with injection-molded plastic. Many AMS modelers will collect the relevant Eduard photo-etch sets for a given project, but they'll also go out and gather specific resin enhancements as well. Eduard has stepped up with a new product line to complement their photo-etched detail series - Brassin. Brassin is a play on words with Brass and Resin, and in many sets in this series, the resin details also include a set of color photo-etch as well.

If you've been using Eduard's detail sets for a while, you'll know that for the AMS modeler, they combined all of the photo-etched details for a particular subject into a single package in their BIG ED series. Buying the BIG ED sets can give you some sticker shock, but if you add up the prices of the individual detail sets and masks included in each BIG ED set, you'll see you're saving some good money in that combined package.

Following that same business model, Eduard has started another savings package for the AMS modeler - BIG SIN. Like BIG ED, BIG SIN combines all of the relevant BRASSIN detail sets for a given subject into one package, in this case they've combined five resin detail sets produced for Tamiya's outstanding 1/48 scale F-16CJ Block 52 Viper kit and even added a set of color-printed photo-etch 'Remove Before Flight' flags as well. If you look at the list on the box, here are the specific sets included in this first BIG SIN release:

• 648004 F-16CJ Block 52 Engine
• 648007 F-16 Late Wheels
• 648008 F-16 Late Seat
• 648033 F-16 Late Radar
• 648039 F-16 Air Brakes
• 49009 Remove Before Flight

I checked current pricing for each of the above sets and they added up to $76.70 USD if purchased individually at full price. Combined street price for these sets bought individually is around $69.85 USD. The suggest retail price for this BIG SIN set is $66.95, which saves you $9.75 USD at full price. Street price for this combined set is around $57.00 USD which saves you almost $13.00 USD. Your results may vary, but you can see that BIG SIN, like BIG ED, will save you money if you're going to use all of the available sets on a given project.

Looking at each set, the 'Engine' set is not really an F100 engine but rather a nicely cast resin F100 compressor face as well as the afterburner chamber and nozzle with photo-etched parts for the flame holder and fuel spray ring inside the chamber. The late wheel set gives you the hub pattern used on the late-block Vipers and includes the two main wheels, nose wheel, and a set of yellow resin wheel chocks. The late seat provides the late-production ACES II ejection seat that is equipping later-build F-16s as well as finding their way into older Eagles, Vipers, etc., that get a depot update.

The late radar provides a nice one-piece resin radome with the lightning arrestor strips nicely portrayed as well as the nose bulkhead, gimbal mount, and late-block APG-68 radar antenna. A set of open speed brakes are included with the replacements for the kit's parts. As mentioned above, this set also include a nice set of the RBF tags which only need a bit of thread or fine wire to safey pin the various strut points, pylons, tail hook, etc., that 'safe' the aircraft while it is parked. The castings are nicely done with sharp detailing.

You should be able to find this detail set at your local hobby retailer or one of the many online hobby shops. Trust me, this is worth looking for!

My sincere thanks to Eduard for this review sample!