Reviewed by Ken Bowes

Aeromaster Decals' 1/48 scale F-16 Israeli Barak
will be available online from Squadron.com

The most recent release from the Eagle Strike line complements their earlier F-16 Israeli Barak (Thunder) sheet. This time the subject is the earlier F-16A/B Netz (Hawk) aircraft delivered to the IAF from 1980. Eagle Strike have taken a slightly different approach with this release, instead of dedicated subjects, generic serial numbers, kill markings and aircraft names are provided, giving the modeller a much broader scope to select from. Given the extensive operational history of the Netz, including Operation Opera (the Osirak Raid) and over the Bekka Valley there are quite a few interesting subjects one could chose to build. The Eagle Strike team have however provided details of the more appealing airframes, including some stunning tail art applied over standard USAF Falcon schemes. One interesting thing to note was the far more restrained application of squadron markings on the early Netz, compared to the current Baraks.

For those who have previously used Eagle Strike Decals the package should come as no surprise. Included in the ziplock bag are two full colour A4 instruction sheets providing top, bottom and side views of the subject including a new way of designating the location of the myriad of stencilling using blue position markers combined with numbers and arrows. This is important as the colour and style of the stencils on IAF F-16 A/Bs changed markedly throughout their career. The decals themselves are spread over an A5 sheet plus a half size supplementary sheet, all the unique markings being on the larger A sheet and national markings and maintenance stencils for three aircraft spread between the two.  

Subjects for which Eagle Strike have provided profiles on the sheet are:  

·        F-16A 107 of 117 First Jet Squadron (5 kills)

·        F-16B 008 of 117 First Jet Squadron

·        F-16A 249 of 110 Sqn Knights of the North

·        F-16A 219 of 110 Sqn Knights of the North (1 kill)

·        F-16A 290 of 253 Negev Squadron (2 kills)

·        F-16B 015 of 110 Sqn Knights of the North

·        F-16B 995 of 144 Phoenix Squadron

·        F-16A 752 of 144 Phoenix Squadron

·        F-16A 112 of 253 Negev Squadron (4 kills)

·        F-16B 010 of 140 Golden Eagle Squadron

·        F-16B 001 of 253 Negev Squadron

·        F-16A 111 of 140 Golden Eagle Squadron (1 kill) 

Also included is the serial number, Hebrew name and kill marking tie ups for another 15 First Jet Squadron Netz’ greatly increasing the scope of the sheet. Usefully Eagle Strike also provides indications of correct application of stencil colours and selection of small or large stabilators as appropriate for each airframe and time period. I was left in little doubt by the instructions as to what I needed to do to correctly model a Netz at a particular point in its career.

Eagle Strike again attributes the research and design of this Sheet to Ra’anan Weiss of the Isradecals Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force Book Series, which should be an assurance that the subjects are correctly portrayed.

In a review of Baraks Part 1 I stated that I thought that the one possible drawback is that Eagle Strike had not provided any information on the histories of any of the subjects on the sheet. This is not the case here, with considerably more information on combat and service history included, perhaps reflecting the longer time that these aircraft have been in service. Specific aircraft from the Osirak Raid are identified with information on how to portray them both at the time of the raid and later. For further reference the IsraDecals Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force Number 2 is probably the authoritative source for information on these aircraft, although the new Air War on the Edge by Bill Norton also contains an excellent section on the Netz. For those looking around the Internet a good online reference to help identify the subjects on the sheet as I have done above is available at http://www.scramble.nl/ in the Israeli Air Force Order of Battle section.  

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Previous use of Eagle Strike decals has proved to be trouble free, being easy to apply and responding well to applications of Micro Sol/Set. This sheet is printed in Italy by Cartograph and is among the best decal printing I have seen. The modeller is well served for this subject with excellent Hasegawa and Italeri kits available of the F-16A/B. Eagle Strike has once again come up with an excellent product of an interesting subject.  

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to AeroMaster / Eagle Strike Products for the review sets

On-line sales are available from the AeroMaster Products / Eagle Strike Productions web site.
 

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2004 by Ken Bowes
This Page Created on 31 May, 2004
Last updated 31 May, 2004

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