Kitty Hawk 1/32 F-5E Build video - Part 3: That's a Wrap!

[jgrease]

Thanks to @chuck540z3 for getting me going on this build after he completed his outstanding Navy aggressor. Here goes nothing...

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by jgrease

[chuck540z3]

Wow!  How did I miss this?  Thanks for the tip of the hat, but more importantly, awesome job!  Can't wait for Part 2.

 

Cheers,

chuck

[jgrease]

2 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

Wow!  How did I miss this?  Thanks for the tip of the hat, but more importantly, awesome job!  Can't wait for Part 2.

 

Cheers,

chuck

Thanks very much Chuck! Hope not to disappoint!

 

John

[alaninaustria]

Some really great info here, thanks mate! I have the F version planned for the future! 

Cheers and looking forward to part II!

BtW, can I ask where your dialect or accent is from in the US?

Alan

[dodgem37]

Great show, Bro'!

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[jgrease]

5 hours ago, alaninaustria said:

Some really great info here, thanks mate! I have the F version planned for the future! 

Cheers and looking forward to part II!

BtW, can I ask where your dialect or accent is from in the US?

Alan

Thanks very much Alan - I’m originally from New York City but I’ve relocated to Texas. I can’t get away from my accent though - lol.

 

John

[jgrease]

Like the title says - a LOT of seams...

 

[chuck540z3]

LOL John, "I'm running out of gas on this kit".  Too funny.  I thought the same thing when building this kit many times, but somehow soldiered on to completion.  I bet there are a lot of Kitty Hawk F-5E's on The Shelf of Doom all over the world, due to the work involved to get it looking decent.

 

A few comments which I hope are helpful:

• As you commented, if you use CA glue as a filler, make sure you sand it quickly after drying, hopefully within an hour or so.  Overnight, it usually dries harder than the plastic, which makes sanding it very tough to do smoothly.
• Use less CA glue when you fill.  It dries quicker, sands easier and you will always need additional glue touch ups later anyway.
• While you are correct in stating that the landing gear doors are usually closed when parked, I found quite a few pics with them open when parked, presumably due to maintenance and other reasons.  Since the detail within the gear bays is actually quite good, leaving them open is OK too (I did).
• I'm not sure if you mention it in your videos, but there are a lot of errors in the instructions, especially the clear "GP" sprue as follows:

Step 19.  The 2 circular navigation lights are GP-7, not GP-1 and they go on the top and bottom of the wings (the tops are never mentioned).

Step 21.  The two square lights on the vertical stabilizer are GP-5, not GP-7, which go above.  The oval lights are GP-10, not GP-3, which are the missile launcher rail lights applied in Step 30 (and correctly labeled there)

Step 22.  The 2 circular lights on the belly are GP-1, not GP-9.  The small GP-9 lenses are for the 2 hydraulic windows on either side of the engines at the back, and are never mentioned.

 

By coincidence, I found out last week that my F-5E will be in the March FineScale Modeler issue, which is usually out in early February.  I've seen a draft of the article and it looks pretty good and covers about all you can on 8 pages of a magazine, including the errors above of the clear parts.  Your videos show a heck of a lot more of how to get this kit together, so anyone building this kit might want to check out both.  Consider me Subscribed and giving you a big thumbs up!

 

LOL again ("I'm running out of gas...")

Chuck

 

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by chuck540z3

[jgrease]

8 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

LOL John, "I'm running out of gas on this kit".  Too funny.  I thought the same thing when building this kit many times, but somehow soldiered on to completion.  I bet there are a lot of Kitty Hawk F-5E's on The Shelf of Doom all over the world, due to the work involved to get it looking decent.

 

A few comments which I hope are helpful:

• As you commented, if you use CA glue as a filler, make sure you sand it quickly after drying, hopefully within an hour or so.  Overnight, it usually dries harder than the plastic, which makes sanding it very tough to do smoothly.
• Use less CA glue when you fill.  It dries quicker, sands easier and you will always need additional glue touch ups later anyway.
• While you are correct in stating that the landing gear doors are usually closed when parked, I found quite a few pics with them open when parked, presumably due to maintenance and other reasons.  Since the detail within the gear bays is actually quite good, leaving them open is OK too (I did).
• I'm not sure if you mention it in your videos, but there are a lot of errors in the instructions, especially the clear "GP" sprue as follows:

Step 19.  The 2 circular navigation lights are GP-7, not GP-1 and they go on the top and bottom of the wings (the tops are never mentioned).

Step 21.  The two square lights on the vertical stabilizer are GP-5, not GP-7, which go above.  The oval lights are GP-10, not GP-3, which are the missile launcher rail lights applied in Step 30 (and correctly labeled there)

Step 22.  The 2 circular lights on the belly are GP-1, not GP-9.  The small GP-9 lenses are for the 2 hydraulic windows on either side of the engines at the back, and are never mentioned.

 

By coincidence, I found out last week that my F-5E will be in the March FineScale Modeler issue, which is usually out in early February.  I've seen a draft of the article and it looks pretty good and covers about all you can on 8 pages of a magazine, including the errors above of the clear parts.  Your videos show a heck of a lot more of how to get this kit together, so anyone building this kit might want to check out both.  Consider me Subscribed and giving you a big thumbs up!

 

LOL again ("I'm running out of gas...")

Chuck

 

 

Chuck - thanks very much for your assistance as well as your subscription! I definitely learned my lesson after leaving the CA overnight to dry - that stuff was rock hard the next morning! I've noted all of the clear part errors per your build, and I plan on going through them in a future video. As for those gear doors - had I realized how "challenging" the fit would be when closed, I would have left them open. As for "running out of gas" - LOL - seems like I reach this point on every KH model I build. I can't wait to get some primer on this thing already. I hope my build won't disappoint.

 

John

[jgrease]

1 hour ago, MARU5137 said:

SUPER work. 

Love the videos build. 

 

Both  are showing  AMAZING  work. 

 

Thank you very much! I really need to build an easier kit one of these days...

 

John

[Derek B]

Hi John,

 

Good build 

 

just to add to Chuck's advice about the of CA as a filler, if you mix it with talcum powder (any type will do) thoroughly first before you apply it, you will find that it still hardens within 10 minutes (working time 2-3 minutes), but is much easier to sand (no more difficult than the plastic, and, the more powder you add, the softer it becomes). It does not shrink, but is very easy to sand and can be scribed if wished (unlike straight CA, which is too hard). I have used this method for over 40 years successfully, so it may help.

 

Regards

 

Derek

Edited January 12, 2021 by Derek B

[jgrease]

1 hour ago, Derek B said:

Hi John,

Good build 

just to add to Chuck's advice about the of CA as a filler, if you mix it with talcum powder (any type will do) thoroughly first before you apply it, you will find that it still hardens within 10 minutes (working time 2-3 minutes), but is much easier to sand (no more difficult than the plastic, and, the more powder you add, the softer it becomes). It does not shrink, but is very easy to sand and can be scribed if wished (unlike straight CA, which is too hard). I have used this method for over 40 years successfully, so it may help.

 

 

Thanks very much Derek - I certainly appreciate the advice and I'll give it a try! Thanks for watching.

 

John

[jgrease]

And it's done... Thanks again to chuck540z3 for your help and inspiration!

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by jgrease

[chuck540z3]

Great job John and again thanks for the recognition. 

 

What I really like about your videos is your honesty.  If you screw something up, you actually point it out, which we modelers don't do enough.  I sure don't, although I still have plenty of mistakes like everybody else.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

PS.  Never use tweezers directly on decals!  Small paint brush and fingers only. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by chuck540z3

[jgrease]

Thanks again Chuck! I'll always admit my errors (except when I'm at a contest...) because that's all part of discussing any kit. And to be honest that was the first time in a very long time I used tweezers on a decal - needless to say my last.

 

John