F-5F Tiger II BLACKITE Over The Finish Line!

[themongoose]

Today was primer for the F. With all the black on this one i decided to go over the underside of the fuselage again before a coat of black. That paid off well as there’s very little to do now. 
my yin and yang is to rescribe or not to rescribe lol

i have to figure out the horizon line for the top yet. My 1st mask print in paper showed to be undersized. Rather than rush it I just worked on the front and bottom of fuselage. Should be able to erase the seam line pretty easy on this now as it’s faint in black.

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by themongoose

[Kagemusha]

Regards the wing fence, they definitely had them

 

 

 

F-5F walkaround

[themongoose]

Oh man that’s great info! Thanks Kagemusha  it is so hard to find good pics of the RSAF aircraft. I’ll add those before i do the primer on the top wings. Great timing 

[themongoose]

Well once i got to paint I had to pick one or the other to focus on. With the F-5E nearly finished it’s time to start the Blackite again! It’s a horribly cold and rainy day here in Cincinnati. Definitely time to stay in and paint. To kick things off I’ve got all the primer on now and will start on the masking this afternoon. Getting my motivation up so here are a few shots of progress in completing the primer...

 

 

[MikeMaben]

[themongoose]

Dang these stripes really tax your eyes  the flat surfaces went well. The spine has taken more than 3 days on and off after work to get right. I ended up splicing together a couple pieces at different angles to get it all sorted. I scanned pictures and side view drawings to get the different views and angles I needed. then did the splice on the plane from what i scaled and printed out on paper. Last I scanned the spliced piece into the Silhouette design software, modified the points along the lines to sharpen them up, and printed on Tamiya masking. Given all the family stuff going on this weekend it looks like the next round of painting will be tomorrow.

 

 

[Dandiego]

That masking is impressive,  most impressive. 

 

Dan

[LSP_Kevin]

1 hour ago, Dandiego said:

That masking is impressive,  most impressive. 

 

Dan

Exactly my thoughts!

 

Kev

[themongoose]

Thanks Kev, thanks Dan! Feels good after all that work.

Another 4hrs got me thru the dark gull gray stripes. All the major work is done now. Later next week I’ll get to sanding down the edges and doing a few touchups it needs. I think it will need a wash and maybe even a filter to blend things together. The difference in the gray shades seems kind of bold. Let me know what you guys think?

 

 

 

 

[DonH]

Looks great! I have an AFV 1/48 Tigereye in RSAF markings on the go, but would love to build an F.

 

All your work on the masking has paid off brilliantly, this is going to be an amazing looking Tiger.

[themongoose]

Thanks Don. You’ve probably seen these in person I’d guess? 
 

mostly working on little stuff right now. Painted pilots tonight, primed canopies, glued some small stuff on the fuselage. 

 

 

 

now here’s the carazy part! I spent an afternoon researching the refueling probe, location, shape, even pulled out the one from my F-100 and made a mold of the probe itself to use...fast forward to today. I’m looking at pilots in prep for paint and realize KH put it in the box in resin with the pilots and the ladder. WTH! Checked the instructions tonight and nope, not even shown in there. So it wasn’t me being forgetful, they just aren’t mentioned!

 

 

[themongoose]

She’s come a long way. Plus she’s been stalled by my deck repair project for a few weeks. Got the pilots in, canopies installed, and a satin clear on the bottom. That has brought out just a touch of faded paint, perfect I think for a plane kept in clean. This weekend I’ll do the decals and the tiger up top and then show you all how that’s looking. The satin coat brought the bottom together nicely...hope you’re all enjoying the build and another crazy paint scheme!

 

[blackbetty]

very nice painting!

[themongoose]

A real big moment here! Check out the tiger. Looking fierce. Now the pressures on to finish the missiles and all the other bits and bobs as my friends in the Midlands say 

 

 

I would say overall these are fine decals. No issues with the big kitty. He was resilient tho…took 5-6 applications of solvaset slowly over 2 days to get it to lay down around everything. There are 2 fine creases in it. Nothing you can see till you get within 6” of it. However if anyone has some suggestions on how to alleviate them I’m up for it as I’d like it to be as close to perfect as i can get. I tried a pin already Nd the solvaset following that. Rolled the creases out while they were soaking to try and get the air out. Should finish it up and do an unveiling later this week or on the weekend at the latest i think…unless the aim-9’s give me some problems. Given that I’m modifying the kit parts this isn’t out of the question lol

 

ok question for you all…after looking at the profile pic. Kittyhawk did the small 853 on the nose in black. It stands out too much don’t you think? I went back and looked at pics and it seems to match the dark gull grey. Would you guys say strip it off and paint the letters on? Late in the game for that but I can’t help but feel it’s an eye sore. Your thoughts?

Edited June 14, 2021 by themongoose
Question…

[Landrotten Highlander]

very nice work, makes me consider adding a Tiger to my collection.

Re the colours of the 853- I'd say only you can decide if it is an eyesore, for me it is not as the tiger stripes and face take far more attention then some white letters.