Greif8

Hi Gary, like Rampenfest I stopped airbrushing Tamiya metallic colors due to the exact problem both of you have/had.  I tried several ways to mitigate the issue but never had any success.  I use Mr. Color metallics to airbrush and they work great.  
 
Ernest

Very nice progess Joachim!  The scratchbuilt radio shelf looks excellent, as does the prop.
 
Ernest

Nice progress and I think the green looks just fine Harry.
 
Ernest

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions, guys. In the end it just seemed simpler to jerry-rig a home-made solution, so I came up with this:
 

 

 
And yes, it's as dodgy as it looks! But takes a 1/32 Mustang no problem:
 

 
Kev

Some more progress
Weathering started , matt coat applied. And finally Quickboost resin exhausts installed after painting.
 

Top work Jay, you meet the challenges associated with the cockpit and crushed them - it looks fantastic!
 
Ernest

Nice progress Daniel.  It is going to look good under paint.
 
Ernest

Superb build Jan!
 
Ernest

I have one of those wooden stands Kev, but the clear plastic Vertigo stand that I use for building is far, far superior. I love the fact that it has small lever-like clamps on the wing support areas that hold the model very firmly. My solution for getting the model into unusual positions is very Heath Robinson and not for the faint hearted, so I’m not going to attempt to describe it here. This stand that I bought some years ago from a vendor on LSP is very useful:
 

 
and can be used with the Vertigo jig:
 

 
 

Personally, I prefer my high tech cat food box (Fancy Feast FTW) and pipe insulator contraption. Absolutely one of the best suggestions I've ever received on LSP. 

Hello all. This is my first post on this great site so I hope you will be kind to me.
 
When this kit was first announced I was excited - I love the F-5E. I’ve seen scores of them over the years - mostly aggressors - the 527 AS at Alconbury, VFA-127, VFC-13 at Fallon and VMFT-401 at Yuma. I have even more in my collection including 64/65th AS Nellis aircraft and the NFWS from Miramar. There were literally hundreds of different schemes over the years.
 
I bought the kit as soon as it appeared but a few reviews and close inspection of the plastic soon revealed that all was not rosy! Well this is after all Kittyhawk! Needless to say - the lovely picture of an early F-5E out of Luke AFB is not attainable out of the box - it needs a bit of work!
 
Unperturbed I set about building an early NFWS (Top Gun) F-5E using the Furball decal sheet and planned for it to be ready for SMW 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the formation of “Top Gun”. I failed miserably!
 
So as not to bore those who are not interested I have added a list of modifications at the end of the post - it was a lot of work!
 
Colours were from Mr Paint (FS 36375 Light Ghost Gray) and Testors and Mr Paint (FS 35109) which were virtually identical - I already had the Testers version but found it difficult to spray so resorted to the Mr Paint version.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The F-5E evolved as time went on and various aerials, sensors and aerodynamic mods were scabbed onto the basic airframe. Why oh why didn’t KH do the same!? A classic miss of a golden opportunity! It’s almost as easy to update the ancient Hasegawa kit than correct this one!
 
Since this is not a review I will leave it at that but here is a list of the modifications I made to backdate the kit - most of which will be necessary to model any of the aggressors until the F-5N (which is what the kit really is) came along.
 
My main reference was the excellent build by Chuck on LSP here:
https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/78413-132-kitty-hawk-f-5e-kicked-up-a-notch-oct-319-finished/
I will however point out that my build was not quite as involved as that one and nowhere near as good.
I chose F-5E 169881/543 - mainly because I found a number of pictures of this aircraft on the web including a shot of the underneath. I chose to depict the aircraft a little later without the (IMHO) naff looking heart and diamond in the paintwork.
 
The main changes I made were:
 
Starboard cockpit side console was moulded reversed - carefully cut off and glued back the correct way and tidied up.
 
Seat was assembled as per photographs and not the instructions. The cushion is shown in the incorrect place on the instructions.
 
RWR sensors on nose filled with superglue and removed.
 
Slots for the rear RWR sensors filled
 
All gun doors closed up which involves reworking the latches.
 
Fill sand and rescribe longitudinal mould flaw on fuselage sides.
 
Chaff and Flare dispenser mountings removed from underside of fuselage and U/C door
 
UHF Aerial on fin tip removed
 
Slot for VHF aerial filled on spine.
 
Refuelling ports are on the wrong side. Moulds were taken and the ports filled. Holes drilled in correct position and covers moulded and fitted.
 
Rivets added to hot areas at fear fuselage and afterburner units. Archer rivets used.
 
LEX modified to earlier shape
 
Flaps and Ailerons modified to allow the correct droop.
 
Master pitot probe fitted. No appropriate pitot included in kit for the “Standard” nose
 
Resin A/B cans were poorly moulded on my example so I made a lining tube to give impression of “double skin” to exhaust
 
Under fuselage pylon reprofiled - it simply doesn’t fit!
 
Starboard side AOA panel scribed and probe scratch built
 
Added Eduard Seat Belts - I was losing the will to live by then and couldn’t cope with sorting out a harness from the kit etch parts.
 
Cheers
 
Malcolm

Looking good Mike!  That is some very nice scratchbuilding on the canopy.
 
Ernest

Hello guys,
this is my recent build after a long hiatus from the bench.
I was looking for something simple, OOB build, without no cross checking of the reference and no need to think about the finish
Hope you like it
jan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Finished M5 Bomb Trailer in diorama...
 

 
Link to B-25J 'Old Ironsides III' diorama: http://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=2738

Painted, now for the weathering....
 

 
Added a couple of .50 cal ammo boxes...
 

Finishing the Bomb Trailer...
 

 
The wooden profile under the rails ar made from balsa wood...
 

 
The main wheels with added tread... Rear hook
 

 
500 lb bombs from the kit...
 

 
Detail of the front leaf spring...

Latest scratch build 1/32 M5 Bomb Trailer for the B-25J-1 "Old Ironsides III" diorama project...
 

 
The original bomb trailer together with "Old Ironsides III" capture from "training during combat"
 

 
Plastic card roughed up with sandpaper to get wooden texture, bolt heads...
 

 
Bottom of the trailer, scratch build front wheels and cast in resin. Main wheels from my stash...
 

 
100 lb practice bombs cast in resin after a wooden mold...
 

 
Photo of original 100 lb practice bomb

Hi All
 
This is a JASDF F-4EJ Kai of the 3rd Wing, 8 Squadron "Black Panthers" based at Misawa Air Base. It is painted in the 50th Anniversary markings of the 3rd Wing in 2007
 
It is based on the Tamiya F-4EJ kit with some additional goodies.
Kopecky Rear end and exhaust Sparkit Ejection Seats Wolfpack F-4EJ Kai ("Kai" is the Japanese word "Modified") conversion set DN Model Paint Masks DXM Decal set  
It was painted using a combination of Mr. Hobby paints and MRP. - This was part of the Group Build "Turning Japanese" and there is a Build Thread here https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/95291-f-4ej-kai-8th-squadron-jasdf-50th-anniversary-finished/
 
 
This was a really fun model to build and I am a bit sad to finish it -luckily there are many cool JASDF aircraft out there waiting to be built 
 









 
Thanks for looking - Now what to build next ; The Tarhe.. AH-64D.. Border Model Lancaster.. another F-16 
 
/Niels
 

Hi All
 
This is an F-16A from the Royal Danish Airforce painted in special markings to commemorate the disbandment of ESK 726 in 2005.
 
Denmark originally operated 4 F-16 squadrons based at different locations. In the early 2000´s it was decided to gather all aircraft at one location at FSN Skrydstrup into what became Fighter Wing Skrydstrup. ESK 726 (726 Squadron) operating out of FSN Aalborg was as a result disbanded. E-195 from ESK 726 was painted with this very special tail to commemorate the proud heritage of the squadron flying F-84, F-86, F-104 and ultimately F-16´s. The callsign of the squadron is Phantom.
Being a pure Fighter Squadron the load out below was quite often standard and it was not until the Saab Drakens and F-100 Super Sabre´s were phased out that the F-16 fleet started to focus on "Mud-Moving" in earnest as well 
 
The model is based on the Tamiya Thunderbirds kit with a few modifications. The airframe was undergoing MLU updates at the time but had still not had its stabilators updated so I used the Quickboost set to backdate. The UHF antenna and air data probe were also still in the old locations and were modified. The tail was converted using the PWMP set and I added a searchlight just below the port side RWR. (They are present on all single seat F-16´s in the RDAF). Danish F-16´s are painted in lighter shades of grey than the standard USAF versions which is very noticeable when viewed next to each other. The stabilators are also painted in light grey on both sides making them quite unique. 
 
I love the simplicity of these special markings and I personally think its one of the best looking F-16´s ever. It was a true pleasure trying to replicate it and do it justice in 1/32 scale
 











 
Thanks for looking
 
/Niels

Soooo, in parallel with the fuselage preparations, as you will recall, I had been working on the seat and seat support - this contraption:
 

 
Picture complements of Dana Bell volume 8.  
 
The seat was attached to the already completed seat support via four slider brackets.  Seat belts and shoulder straps were made from some photo-etch parts given to me by Peter C (Airscale), and lead sheet from a wine bottle.  Add some little bits like handle levers, and the bungees, and you get this:
 
 
 

 
See the bungees back there?  Made from 0.022 inch dia solder.  So it became time to install that bad boy into the airplane - that along with the remaining armor plate (the rectangular one):
 

 
Here it is (getting good pics is a bit difficult):
 

 

 
That seat installation, my friends, completes the cockpit.  AGES ago I began the cockpit work, and this post signifies its completion.   Makes me a happy camper - this cockpit was a heckuva challenge in so many ways....
 
Here are a few shots of the complete cockpit, just to celebrate a bit:
 
 
 

 

 
Anybody who has done big cockpit efforts knows that a significant portion of the work becomes basically invisible unless a flashlight is used.  So I guess it's just a labor of love.  
 
Next is the sliding canopy.  You might recall it had very inaccurate intermediate frame segments, that looked like a halo.  I took this shot about 8 months ago:
 

 
I sanded away the offending frame strips and got to work trying to restore the transparency to its former sheen.  We had a bit of discussion on this back then.  So this is what I have so far:
 
 
 
 
Getting there.  Now this part has various inaccuracies some of which I have addressed, or will address.  Some shape issues I just have to accept, if it is going to fit onto the fuselage with its own inaccuracies.   So it is going to receive two more accurate intermediate frame strips, and already I have increased the width of the forward frame, and filled in the little fastener holes with CA.  Also, it is going to receive various interior knick-knacks - roller trolleys of some kind, mirrors, and possibly hardware associated with emergency release.  That is what you can expect in the next post. 
 
Take care and stay tuned!  
 

Hi Tony, as was pointed out by Thierry there is no aftermarket part(s) for the H2S/H2X.  The antenna was a parabolic type, that looked a lot like today´s satellite TV antennas.  Below is a photo of an AN/APS-15 Antenna for an H2X radar set.  These were fairly large; American B-24 bombers had them installed in place of the ball turret.  The AN/APS-15 revolved at 20 RPM, and because it was curved like a dish allowed it to scan both horizontally and vertically.  The antenna for the British H2S was also parabolic, looking much like the AN7APS-15, and it was nearly the same size, having an RPM of 60.  As an aside, you would not see the antenna unless the radome was removed, but you probably already know that.  I will see if I can dig up a photo of the H2S antenna from my sources for you.
 
 
I built the HK Nose Art kit a bit over a year ago and the kit has a Mark I or Mark II version of H2S (Externally the versions were very nearly the same).  Below are a couple of photos from the build thread I did.  The kit parts look like accurate representations of either the TR3159 (Mark I) or TR3191 (Mark II).   The "cables" are scratchbuilt - the connectors are molded in the parts - and I added a couple of small labels and guages to add interest, but again, the kit parts look good.  It does not look like it would be too hard to scratchbuild the kit parts shown, if you are into that level of scratchbuilding.
 
HTH
Ernest
 
 
 

Hi Tony, as was pointed out by Thierry there is no aftermarket part(s) for the H2S/H2X.  The antenna was a parabolic type, that looked a lot like today´s satellite TV antennas.  Below is a photo of an AN/APS-15 Antenna for an H2X radar set.  These were fairly large; American B-24 bombers had them installed in place of the ball turret.  The AN/APS-15 revolved at 20 RPM, and because it was curved like a dish allowed it to scan both horizontally and vertically.  The antenna for the British H2S was also parabolic, looking much like the AN7APS-15, and it was nearly the same size, having an RPM of 60.  As an aside, you would not see the antenna unless the radome was removed, but you probably already know that.  I will see if I can dig up a photo of the H2S antenna from my sources for you.
 
 
I built the HK Nose Art kit a bit over a year ago and the kit has a Mark I or Mark II version of H2S (Externally the versions were very nearly the same).  Below are a couple of photos from the build thread I did.  The kit parts look like accurate representations of either the TR3159 (Mark I) or TR3191 (Mark II).   The "cables" are scratchbuilt - the connectors are molded in the parts - and I added a couple of small labels and guages to add interest, but again, the kit parts look good.  It does not look like it would be too hard to scratchbuild the kit parts shown, if you are into that level of scratchbuilding.
 
HTH
Ernest
 
 
 

Very nice progress Dan!  I don't know about "sins" in your cockpit - I think it looks fantastic!
 
Ernest

A real beauty Chris!  That is some of the best marking I have ever seen.
 
Ernest 

Hi Tony, as was pointed out by Thierry there is no aftermarket part(s) for the H2S/H2X.  The antenna was a parabolic type, that looked a lot like today´s satellite TV antennas.  Below is a photo of an AN/APS-15 Antenna for an H2X radar set.  These were fairly large; American B-24 bombers had them installed in place of the ball turret.  The AN/APS-15 revolved at 20 RPM, and because it was curved like a dish allowed it to scan both horizontally and vertically.  The antenna for the British H2S was also parabolic, looking much like the AN7APS-15, and it was nearly the same size, having an RPM of 60.  As an aside, you would not see the antenna unless the radome was removed, but you probably already know that.  I will see if I can dig up a photo of the H2S antenna from my sources for you.
 
 
I built the HK Nose Art kit a bit over a year ago and the kit has a Mark I or Mark II version of H2S (Externally the versions were very nearly the same).  Below are a couple of photos from the build thread I did.  The kit parts look like accurate representations of either the TR3159 (Mark I) or TR3191 (Mark II).   The "cables" are scratchbuilt - the connectors are molded in the parts - and I added a couple of small labels and guages to add interest, but again, the kit parts look good.  It does not look like it would be too hard to scratchbuild the kit parts shown, if you are into that level of scratchbuilding.
 
HTH
Ernest