Still no newer F5-E kit than the Italeri in 1/72?

[WildeSau75]

Hi guys,

 

A few years ago when I was looking for a 1/72 F5-E Tiger kit, it seemed that the not that detailed, up to today's standard Italeri kit was the only real option.

 

Is this still the same? What would you recommend as THE 1/72 F5-E kit in terms of accuracy and detail level?

 

Wouldn't a decent 1/72 Tiger kit sell quite well considering the many airforces which used the type?

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Murph]

Hobby Boss F-5E  LINK  It has about the same detail as the Italeri kit, but has engraved panel lines.

 

Regards,

Murph

[WildeSau75]

7 hours ago, Murph said:

Hobby Boss F-5E  LINK  It has about the same detail as the Italeri kit, but has engraved panel lines.

 

Regards,

Murph

Thanks Murph - looks like a good alternative.

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Hook]

1 hour ago, WildeSau75 said:

Thanks Murph - looks like a good alternative.

 

Not really - the Hobbyboss canopy is way off in shape.

 

See:

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234974348-which-kit-would-you-recommend-for-a-172-f-5e/

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Giorgio N]

Yep, the 1/72 F-5 scene is pretty much the same today as it was a couple years ago, Italeri still the most accurate of the bunch with the Hobbyboss kit still easily available and still with that awful windscreen.

I may add something today that I hadn't noticed yet when I posted in the thread linked above: the instrument panel in the HB kit is better than the Italeri one, has the correct shape and the instruments are properly placed. As a result the panel coaming is also more accurate in shape than the Italeri one.

I've also compared the Mini Hobby and Hobbyboss F-5Es and while one is clearly based on the other (and both on Italeri's), the HB kit is much better moulded. The Mini Hobby kit retains the incorrect Italeri instrument panel.

One other thing changed in the meantime: Italeri re-released the F and this is now easily available again.

 

Would a new F-5E sell well ? I would believe so but in the end if even the Italeri kit was not always that available it may be that this subject is not a good seller as I believe. Yes it was used by a large number of air forces but in the end this doesn't seem to matter much. The number of modellers interested in the more obscure air forces doesn't seem to be that high and I guess that plastic modelling is not the most popular hobby in many of the countries that used the type. One exception is Switzerland, traditionally a good market for plastic kits and likely the reason why Italeri have been selling their kit in Swiss markings for the last few years

Edited December 30, 2017 by Giorgio N

[upnorth]

I think there's a market for a Fresh 1/72 F-5E, but I think it has to be done with some care.

 

I'd like to see a dedicated kit of the subject come out for the various modernised models that Brazil, Chile, Singapore and Thailand use.

 

A decals sheet with some exotic markings would certainly attract the small AF fans.

 

Additionally, if they tooled a weapons sprue with a well rounded range of modern stores like AIM-120 and Python missiles as well as Lightening III pods, they might also attract buyers who might not be fans of the F-5E but would by the kit for the weapons sprue.

[Wez]

I would concur that there's a market for a new F-5E/F series in 1/72nd especially if included the original and platypus noses, the original and later LERX, the original fin and the extended version used by some users.  I had hoped that AFV Club would've done the decent thing when they released their excellent 1/48th kits a few years ago...

 

Any new kit needs to make a decent fist of the canopy mechanism, it's a prominent feature of the aircraft.

 

Regarding the Italeri kit instrument panel, I recall reading in the Detail & Scale book on the F-5 that there were different instrument panel arrangements within the US community and this was before people started doing avionics/glass cockpit upgrades, could it be that Italeri's IP was right for one customer but not another or have they compromised too much in trying to capture every users options and singularly failed to capture anything remotely accurate?

 

Finally, has anybody tried using the Italeri windscreen on the Hobby Boss kit?  Does it fit?  If so, that could be a solution for me as I have a couple of gash ones kicking about.

[WildeSau75]

13 hours ago, Hook said:

14 hours ago, Hook said:

 

Not really - the Hobbyboss canopy is way off in shape.

 

See:

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234974348-which-kit-would-you-recommend-for-a-172-f-5e/

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Not really - the Hobbyboss canopy is way off in shape.

 

See:

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234974348-which-kit-would-you-recommend-for-a-172-f-5e/

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Thanks mate - good to know. It's a pity - guess the engraved panel lines are the smaller evil on this case.

 

Cheers,

Michael

[WildeSau75]

12 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Yep, the 1/72 F-5 scene is pretty much the same today as it was a couple years ago, Italeri still the most accurate of the bunch with the Hobbyboss kit still easily available and still with that awful windscreen.

I may add something today that I hadn't noticed yet when I posted in the thread linked above: the instrument panel in the HB kit is better than the Italeri one, has the correct shape and the instruments are properly placed. As a result the panel coaming is also more accurate in shape than the Italeri one.

I've also compared the Mini Hobby and Hobbyboss F-5Es and while one is clearly based on the other (and both on Italeri's), the HB kit is much better moulded. The Mini Hobby kit retains the incorrect Italeri instrument panel.

One other thing changed in the meantime: Italeri re-released the F and this is now easily available again.

 

Would a new F-5E sell well ? I would believe so but in the end if even the Italeri kit was not always that available it may be that this subject is not a good seller as I believe. Yes it was used by a large number of air forces but in the end this doesn't seem to matter much. The number of modellers interested in the more obscure air forces doesn't seem to be that high and I guess that plastic modelling is not the most popular hobby in many of the countries that used the type. One exception is Switzerland, traditionally a good market for plastic kits and likely the reason why Italeri have been selling their kit in Swiss markings for the last few years

Grazie Giorgio - good to know. Guess will stick to the Italeri kit. And yes, getting the Italeri kit isn't that difficult here in Switzerland.

 

Hope one day we will see a decent F-5 E and an F - a shrunk AVF kit would be nice :-).

 

Cheers,

Michael

[Trenton guy]

Wolfpack-D from Korea, they of the excellent T-2 Buckeye in 1/72 and T-38 in 1/48, promised a new tool F-5E/F a couple of years ago. Havn’t heard much about them since. Wolfpack does really excellent resin but seem slow the bring their proposed injection kits to market. They may be undercapitalized, which is a shame since the few kits they have brought to market are really good.

[Wez]

4 hours ago, Trenton guy said:

Wolfpack-D from Korea, they of the excellent T-2 Buckeye in 1/72 and T-38 in 1/48, promised a new tool F-5E/F a couple of years ago. Havn’t heard much about them since. Wolfpack does really excellent resin but seem slow the bring their proposed injection kits to market. They may be undercapitalized, which is a shame since the few kits they have brought to market are really good.

They're also really poorly distributed too and have low production runs, seeming to sell out quickly (it may not be the reality but it certainly seems that way).

 

Ordering one from Korea and running the gamut of Customs and import duties is great if you only ever wanted to make one but I have decals for Swiss, Brazilian, Chilean, Singaporean as well as US examples so I's want about a dozen which starts to make things expensive (especially if Customs took their pound of flesh too)!

 

I just want a mainstream manufacturer to make a kit of what is a pretty significant aircraft in terms of worldwide use, that has many colourful options to capture the imagination, in 1/72nd scale that is reasonably, readily available and affordable, not too much to ask is it?

Edited December 31, 2017 by Wez

[Giorgio N]

As they did a Mirage F-1, another type that saw service with many air forces, I hope that Special Hobby will take on the task of giving us a modern F-5E... An F-5 with the same quality of the Mirage would be a great little kit !

 

Regarding instrument panels, it may well be that the Italeri and HB ones represent different standards. The shape though is always the same and IMHO HB is right here and Italeri not so much

[Truro Model Builder]

When you consider that in 1/48th scale there are good kits of nearly all the F-5/T-38/F-20 variants that have emerged in the last few years, it is remarkable that in 1/72 they have been all but ignored.

[Wez]

38 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

As they did a Mirage F-1, another type that saw service with many air forces, I hope that Special Hobby will take on the task of giving us a modern F-5E... An F-5 with the same quality of the Mirage would be a great little kit !

 

Regarding instrument panels, it may well be that the Italeri and HB ones represent different standards. The shape though is always the same and IMHO HB is right here and Italeri not so much

 

Giorgio, Special Hobby continue to offer a glimmer of hope with post-war aircraft, the F-5 would be right up their street.

 

Regarding the Italeri IP, sounds like Italeri stuffed it up!

 

9 minutes ago, Truro Model Builder said:

When you consider that in 1/48th scale there are good kits of nearly all the F-5/T-38/F-20 variants that have emerged in the last few years, it is remarkable that in 1/72 they have been all but ignored.

 

I find this a bit bizarre myself, I don't stick to one scale but I'll only ever buy 1 or 2 1/48th kits of a subject where I'm likely to buy many, many more in 1/72nd (the F-5 being a good example of this), I can't be the only one?