Malcolm Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 (edited) 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 Edited June 1, 2020 by Malcolm Spelling spook, scvrobeson, Out2gtcha and 32 others 35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Hello Malcolm, I moved this to the RFI forum as this is the place to post pics of completed builds. Great job on the F-5E! The paint job is fantastic! And... Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 I love this. Your demarcation line is superb. And that tailcone! Sincerely, Mark. Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagemusha Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 That's lovely, striking scheme, I also have a soft spot for the aircraft, despite your travails the kit certainly builds into a mighty fine model. Looking forward to seeing the next one off the production line, and... Out2gtcha and Malcolm 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted June 1, 2020 Author Share Posted June 1, 2020 57 minutes ago, LSP_Ray said: Hello Malcolm, I moved this to the RFI forum as this is the place to post pics of completed builds. Great job on the F-5E! The paint job is fantastic! And... Hello Ray Yeah - I noticed too late that I was in the wrong forum and I was hoping that you would correct me. Thanks. And thank you for your kind comments too. Cheers Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZPetrP Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Excellent work. Responsible. The result looks great Congratulation! Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squizzy 78 Posted June 1, 2020 Share Posted June 1, 2020 Looks fantastic, I’m loving the aggressor scheme and the finish you’ve been able to achieve on what I can only imagine is a difficult kit. If that’s what you can achieve, for your next build you should do a WIP thread, I’m sure I’ll learn tips and tricks from you. Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Cool paint Malcolm Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Wow, thats a stunner! Some seriously great modeling there Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Out2gtcha said: Wow, thats a stunner! Some seriously great modeling there +1 Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 (edited) Really nice F-5E Malcolm. Super, duper job. Having built one myself recently, I offer the following comments: You have made all the necessary corrections, of which there are several. Paint work and camo-demarcations are really well done. That is the best kit cockpit and IP I have seen yet. Most don't show theirs for a reason. Your raised rivets, staining and dull paint on the exhaust area is spot on. I left mine a bit shiny due to references of my particular aircraft, but your presentation is much more common. Again, terrific job- and welcome to LSP! Cheers, Chuck Edited June 2, 2020 by chuck540z3 Malcolm and Out2gtcha 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f5guy Posted April 2, 2023 Share Posted April 2, 2023 Hi, I just stumbled across this build. Very nicely done! I have plans to build this very jet, but I am waiting for someone to put out an aftermarket cockpit set to fix that Godawful kit cockpit. You really did #43 justice Fred K. Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greif8 Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 Welcome to the forum Malcom! Your F-5E looks beautiful; your did an outstanding job painting the aircraft and the model greatly resembles the real aircraft. Well Done! Ernest Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Beautiful ! Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cicciuzzo Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 The airbrushed heart on the left side under the canopy is missing Just kidding of course, beautiful F-5 Malcolm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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