The kit converts a Hasegawa or Academy F-16 into the awesome F-16XL. Whereas the fuselage and wings were one piece in the original ATTIC kit, the fuselage in this second release was split into top and bottom pieces to allow builders to super-detail the cockpit. This necessitated making the wings as separate pieces, which in turn required the wing fences and actuator fairings to also be separate parts.

The result is a resin conversion kit that can be built into a truly show-stopping model. It's the only accurate model of the amazing F-16XL on the market. The 1/72 scale Monogram kit has the inlet and gear in the wrong place and lacks the fuselage "hump." The 1/32 scale Korean model is even worse, with no fuselage stretch and the wing much too small. Kit consists of 14 resin parts, 2 missiles, a 9-page instruction booklet with color references, and a large decal sheet.

ATTIC has taken great care to make the engraved panel lines as accurate and delicate as possible. To show this, I sprayed some parts from another copy of this kit (not the one for sale) with thinned down black paint, then wet sanded with 600 grit wet or dry sand paper. The result is shown in the first photo to the right. The panel lines match the Hasegawa kit perfectly.

Harry Hillaker considered the F-16XL to be the best aircraft he designed. It carried 40% more payload than a regular F-16 twice as far, and it could fly supersonic without using afterburner.