Greif8

Looking superb Tolga! Tell me about the gauges on the inner starboard nacelle that look beautifully done. They appear to be mounted on the nacelle, though my understanding is that there are holes in the nacelle through which the gauges are seen, the gauges being housed in a triangle-shaped mounting which is secured to the engine bearer. 
 

 

Some progress from my birthday
 











 

Today's update;
Heavy exhaust and oil etc stains applied due to reference picture.
 














 
 

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

I really enjoyed following your build in the "Turning Japanese" GB Niels.  This is truely a work of art production by you!
 
Ernest

Beautiful build Niels.  You did an outstanding job with the airbrush on this one!
 
Ernest

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

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

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