A new set of 3D printed F-16 LAU-129 Missile Launcher in 1/48^th scale (4 pieces) is provided by Fab Scale for the Tamiya kit. This is a drop-in replacement for the Tamiya kit for launchers that hold AIM-9 Sidewinders or AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.

Note: There is no official website for Fab Scale, a business card was inside the box referencing Scalemates.com

In The Package & Product Notes

The sample review I received came in a small plastic box wrapped in a Ziploc bag and surrounded by foam.

There are four (4) 3D printed LAU-129 missile launchers printed with pink salmon colored resin. These parts can replace C28 & C29 from the Tamiya kit.

The printed resolution of the missile launcher is amazing. There is a lot of tiny detail throughout the entire part and some careful painting and contrast weathering will make them pop.

A new 3D printed F-16 Exhaust Nozzle set in 1/48^th scale is provided by Fab Scale as drop-in replacements for the Tamiya kit (General Electric F110 engine).

Note: There is no official website for Fab Scale at the time of this review, but a few foreign hobby websites were selling the exhaust nozzle.

In The Package & Product Notes

The sample review came in a small cardboard box and parts are individually wrapped in Ziploc bags.

There are three (3) parts of this exhaust nozzle set printed with pink salmon colored resin. These parts replace kit parts A18, H12 & H3. The printed resolution of the exhaust nozzle is very fine with no build up layers and the print quality is excellent.

Review Process

I started by separating the parts from its base by using side-cutting nippers. Next, wet sanding removed the remaining support nubs.

TheSaab 35 Draken is the latest publication from Duke Hawkins Books and is the thirty-first volume of a series of books that they have recently published highlighting modern aircraft. This series got its start with The Sepecat Jaguar in July 2017 and has been quite successful. There is also a special limited edition on the Belgian Air Force F-16 and on the Juan Carlos I Aircraft Carrier. This series of publications fall under the name of Duke Hawkins, but it is not clear exactly who Duke Hawkins is. If you check out other retail sites on this series, you can findRobert Pied and Nicolas Deboeck listed as authors, but there is not much additional information on them. One of the bylines goes like this:

A Very Brief History the P-47

A great deal of information and data is readily available online about the legendary P-47, often referred to as ‘Juggernaut’ or just the ‘Jug.’ The thousands of women and men working around the United States produced over 15,683 P-47s with the P-47s accounting for over astounding 7,000 enemy aircraft losses,86,000 railway cars, 9,000 locomotives, 6,000 armored fighting vehicles and 68,000 trucks. You can easily spend hours reading about the exploits of the P-47 and many of the well-known pilots who flew them. The P-47’s maximum weight capacity was almost 17,000 pounds, compared to the P-51’s at 12,000 pounds, an increase of approximately 5,000 pounds or 41% more than the Mustang. It’s eight .50 caliber guns carried 3,500 rounds compared with the 1,840 rounds for the P-51 (a whopping 90% increase).

Tamiya follows it 1/48^th F-35A Lightning kit with a new and very updated 1/48^th F-35B. I have been lucky enough to review both. The F-35A Review is here: https://reviews.ipmsusa.org/review/f-35a-lightning-ii-4

For this review, I will focus on the differences between the two kits. Inside the box, you will find 14 sprues with tress A, B, C and E being carryovers from the A version. There are sprues to make weapons also: