mirageiv Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Hi folks, My entry for the group build will be the Esci kit, from the CRF-5A boxing below (the only one I could find!). I will arm it up with some BL755s or maybe a centreline MER and wingtip winders. I'll build it oob bar maybe some little mods in the exhausts etc..Never built this kit before but it does look like it shall live up to the hype. If I can find another kit I will build 2 for the GB, this one and another as a silver RNoAF RF-5A. The decals in this kit seem to be for a later jet but Giorgio is very kindly sending me some for the large wing roundel markings so I can build an earlier bird, thanks a bunch Giorgio! Thanks for looking, will get going soon. David. Edited November 24, 2015 by mirageiv 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalako Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Hi David, ESCI's kit is the best in this scale !!! The only thing that you should check if it is OK, is the vertical stabilizer. In my kit it was warped and I had to cut it off and reposition it. Cheers Shalako Edited November 21, 2015 by Shalako 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Thanks for the tip Shalako, the fin is a little warped but it is ok to just bend it back . I did a little prep work on the kit before main construction. As this will be in fight the intake blanking plates are too obvious when on a stand (would be fine for me if on the ground) , when looking head on they will be quite visible. So I cut out the intake area and will spray all the internals matt black which should give that 'disappearing dark intake trunking look'. I usually do it for my builds and unless you get a torch it looks convincing. Also I cut out the rear for some reheat pipes, looks a little rough but the nozzle covers it all ok. Drinking straws fitted the bill perfectly and some spare wheel hubs looked similar enough to the tiny flame holder as in this picture; http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/northrop/images/wmf_f-5a-27.jpg. I might mod them a little more with the central cone, but its all so tiny in there, hardly anything will be seen anyways. You know when you think you are doing something stupid, then continue with it anyway?.. well I managed to crush one of the nozzles whilst drilling through it from the wrong side , as can be seen in the pic, oops! Not too worry as I have another Esci kit on the way for a replacement. Finally the best picture I could get looking down the nozzle, they really are tiny little jet engines. Will get onto proper construction soon enough, cheers, David. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 opps! We've all done something similar to that before! does nobody do an aftermarket replacement? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Nice work on the engine David (not the damaged one !). I look forward to seeing your progress as your F-4's were fantastic. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hi Rich, I don't think so for the exhausts, or I have not seen any in this scale. Its not a massive problem as I'll rob one form another kit and build 2 for that one so they are the same, pretty simple shape after all! Craig, hehe thanks, just another lesson to learn I guess. Funnily enough I was looking at my phantoms the other day on the shelf, still unfinished after all this time, must get them done for a RFI thread! Cheers, David. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) Managed to make decent progress this weekend. The dark gull grey cockpit with decals, still needs a matt coat/wash. The NF-5A aircraft had a different IP to standard jets with a rolling map display on the left. Sprayed the interiors matt black and found I needed a cocktail stick spacer to get a good fit on the rear. Didn't quite get the hang of adding Tamiya 'flat' to their paints, always ends up slightly frosty . The intakes were sprayed light grey, then masked in prep for the black around the intakes, as its all so tiny I had no chance of doing that when they are attached. Then this happened with the unfinished seat in. On my kit a lot of the panel lines were nearly gone so I went around with a scriber to deepen them, hopefully I'll get some primer on soon to hide that ugly plastic colour. Pretty quick to assemble when using superglue as a filler. No fit problems bar the underside of the wings, needed a decent amount of filler there. I opened up some intakes a little, really need to get myself some micro drills. I tried to simulate the chaff/flare dispensers at the rear, not entirely happy after looking at the photo. I think I have a lot of decals for chaff/flares so I'll fill in these holes and use them instead. Finally I started on some of the stores. I have quite a few Airfix BL-755s lying around and its about time they got some use, I detailed them a little as oob they are just shapes. Not too sure how I'll do the front spinners yet, any suggestions would be much appreciated The plan is to load the jet: Aim 9P-BL755-Tank-BL755-Tank-BL755-Aim 9P. Seems a good compromise of self defence, payload and range, plus I think it looks cool! Thats all for now, its getting mighty cold in my garage , painting might be interesting! Thanks for looking, David. Edited November 22, 2015 by mirageiv 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Great work David, as usual. And very fast as well. I like your stores choices, will look very cool when finished. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 (edited) Thank you Craig! I couldn't help building it up so quick, its a very simple kit and quite relaxing to work on after taking on a few more involved ones lately. Yep, hopefully it will have 'the look' that makes you wonder if it will get off the ground or not I did one last bit for the weekend with the exhausts loosely lashed on, (pic of real thing http://www.ipms.nl/images/foto-specials/WA_vliegtuigen/f-5/nf5a-fb/northrop-nf5a-fb40.jpg In cutting out the holes for the exhausts I cocked up the rear a little so a new tail faring and plate at the back had to be made, for Dutch jets the serial goes on here as well. Its all getting a bit too tiny for me here so I won't do anything else bar filling the little hole that shouldn't be there. Cheers, David. Edited November 22, 2015 by mirageiv 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 There's some very nice work there, plus I don't care what anyone says cockpit decals can still look really cool, that cockpit looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Some very good details on the rear end of your F-5 ! I also noticed that your intake boundary layer plates fit well with the intakes parts proper, on my kit there seems to be a problem with the plates being slightly too long and too narrow. Guess it's another proof that buying an earlier box of any kit is always best 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 (edited) Some very good details on the rear end of your F-5 ! I also noticed that your intake boundary layer plates fit well with the intakes parts proper, on my kit there seems to be a problem with the plates being slightly too long and too narrow. Guess it's another proof that buying an earlier box of any kit is always best Thanks Giorgio . The intake plates were a little too long and needed trimming but width was ok, I aligned the front part first and trimmed the overlap at the end which I thought would be a neater way to do it. In all honesty compared to building the Heller 1/72 mirage series (describing, correcting shapes etc.. these kits are a dream! The kit that I received today (below) funnily enough has a much better fit after testing a few pieces and panel line clarity than my brown plastic one. When I got home today this was waiting for me, another F-5! This will be a Norwegian RF-5A in the late sixties or very early seventies, with Modeldecals RNoAF insignia on there way too. I'll catch this one up to the Dutch jet before progressing with that one further, makes sense to do them simultaneously given a lot of the steps and airbrushing bits will be the same. Plastic quality and overall mold quality is much better in this grey kit which is good. Probably the only tricky part will be sorting out the RF-5A nose. The kit provides this, For its time not bad, with I think correct shapes but no clear windows are provided or cameras so will have to think how to tackle that, the frames are not flush either. I made an RF-4 phantom where I build up the cameras etc before here, If I can I'll try do something similar but the RF-5A nose is so much smaller and the plastic a lot thicker it may be more difficult! I have the spare RF-5A nose from the other kit if I cock this one up as a back up anyways. If anyone has a decent picture/link of a RF-5A nose it would be a great help! Cheers, David. Edited November 23, 2015 by mirageiv 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwart Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 (edited) From an excellent CF-5 group on Facebook,i hope the direct link works. Edited November 23, 2015 by Gwart 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 David if anyone can make a set of 1/72 cameras and their fairings for an RF-5A then it's you! The work you did on your RF-4E earlier this year (that you have shown a picture of above) was superb. I look forward to seeing what you can do with the RF-5A, it's always been one of my favourite versions of the aircraft with it's distinctive chisel shaped nose. With all the ESCI F-5's being built here there will be a shortage of them soon! Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Ah Gwart, that picture is excellent, thank you so much! Craig-Thanks for the encouragement , I will give it a good go! I too think it is quite a distinct variant, especially in the attractive Norwegian scheme. I had initially held off this GB as I couldn't find any Esci kits to build , then a few popped up on eBay lately which I snapped at! Strangely enough no one else bid on them...maybe because they were listed as 'CRF-5' and a typical 'F-5' search did not show them up! , so I got 2 totalling circa £20 including postage which I am very pleased at. Thanks guys, David. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Oh dear...I think a lot of members are catching the dreaded "F-5 Fever"!! I am very surprised and pleased at the number of members who are build more than one F-5, I really didn't think it would be this popular when I proposed this GB. This awsome to see. I expect there will be a world wide shortage of Esci 1/72nd F-5's soon........better stock up so I can make a killing on evilBay!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skids Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 If only I did 1/72, looks a lot nicer than the Kinetic. This is looking extremely nice 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 (edited) Rich- I usually do duo builds when the aircraft in question has some cool colours and options as i can never decide on just one! The F-5 certainly fits the bill there. Skids-Thanks for the comment, its a nice kit for sure, just some bits are tiny! A little more progress mainly from last evening. Think I messed up a bit on the fit of the lower wings, needed a good amount of filler here. Will dry fit more next time.. Cockpit for the RF-5A done. I pinched the decals from one of the latest Revell F-4F boxings, they seem to be images of the cockpit in decal form and are quite convincing in real life. They were cut up in effort to match an image of a RF-5A cockpit somewhat. Work has started on the nose. Originally I thought the nose provided was good to go, should have checked first! The kit provides a good recon nose for the CRF-A jets but the Norwegian jets have a different layout with some differing window locations and angled faces surrounding the windows. So far they have been filled/cut/drilled out, roughly shaped around the windows and tiny windows are being prepared from some spare clear plastic. After the exterior is done I'll go about the internal cameras which should be in the next update. Exhausts and intakes cut out again with matt black insides, albeit neater this time. Finally a quick note on the instructions for this kit. As Giorgio is finding in his build some are suspect on the differing versions, same on this one too in places but this introduction page pulls a cracker ! I'll wait till the weekend for the next update, hopefully the camera area will be done by then, cheers, David. Edited November 24, 2015 by mirageiv 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Really coming along David, both of them. The spare decals from the F4F really do look quite good, and in such a small aircraft in 1/72 are perfect. Nice attention to detail on the RF-5A nose, going the extra mile on this is going to make all the difference and will really make it stand out especially with the cameras you are going to add. I don't think much to ESCI's aircraft recognition skills though as looking at the instructions they seem to get their RF-5's confused with F-4's, an easy mistake to make if you turn your back on them, close your eyes and cover your ears! Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 I mean it's a pretty easy mistake to make.......they both have two engines, two crew, low set wings and they fly, they would have had me fooled! That's a clever use of the cockpit decals, it looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 That cockpit looks very good ! I wonder if there would be interest for a set of generic blocks of instruments for this purpose... individual instruments in 1/72 scale are a pain in a certain part of the body (I should know, I use them sometimes), maybe proposing the same approach you used would be better 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Both great builds there, the cockpits look fantastic and that's a good job so far on improving the RF-5 nose.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 That cockpit looks very good ! I wonder if there would be interest for a set of generic blocks of instruments for this purpose... individual instruments in 1/72 scale are a pain in a certain part of the body (I should know, I use them sometimes), maybe proposing the same approach you used would be better 1/72 dials? Crazy stuff Giorgio ! I tried 1/48 versions and they were even too fiddly for me. I would for sure buy some generic decal blocks, maybe produced in certain styles and combinations of panels/dials/switches etc to represent say post war US Gull grey cockpits or Soviet Blue/grey ones. For newer kits this need is declining I guess with better tooled oob cockpits and decals provided, but for older kits (My stash is full of Heller 1/72 gems, Mirages/Viggens/Drakens/Etendards) they would be very useful imho. I guess though only 1/72 modellers and below (1/144 this is ideal) would purchase however, 1/48 and up may be pushing it. Anyways they are growing on me now having used some in my last builds in 1/72 closed cockpit models . Cheers, David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Some really good work going on here! Well done so far, David. Am I wrong, or you don't paint the pit? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 (edited) Thank you Antoine Yes I painted it Xtracolor Dark Gull Grey, however due to my rubbish photography it is hard to tell! They still need some matt and weathering however. Progress wise: Still messing about with tiny cameras! Cheers, david. Edited November 26, 2015 by mirageiv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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