Hobbyboss F-5E Tiger II (1/72)

[Scargsy]

Just a placeholder for now, will add more details once the GB commences (and I've got some space on the workbench).

I'm going to attempt the US Navy 3-tone camo (grey) scheme, I have some camo masks for it, so hopefully not too hard!

 

According to Scalemates info here, the kit was originally a Trumpeter moulding from 1999 so shouldn't be too old, also I've become a bit of a fan of HobbyBoss 1/72 stuff, not overly complex and tend to build up quite nicely so fingers crossed.

 

 

[Robert Stuart]

I've got a few Hobbyboss F-5Es in my stash.  I've yet to build one, but they look like nice kits.

[Luke1199]

I've built the hobbyboss one and it's a great little kit, looking forward to seeing it

[modelling minion]

Welcome to the GB.

I don't think I've seen a Hobbyboss F-5E built so I look forward to watching your build.

 

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[Scargsy]

OK so I guess I should post a few photos before I start.

Not too many pieces - a couple of main sprues and a small clear one.

Instructions seem fairly clear - a black and white booklet and separate double sided colour markings sheet for the 4 versions.

I have some aftermarket camo masks and a canopy mask (though for a different kit - hopefully it will fit without too much alteration).

[Robert Stuart]

That was two hours ago, you finished yet?

Looks like a nice selection of masks to go with your kit.

[modelling minion]

Welcome to the GB.

Great to see another adversary/aggressor in the mix, and those masks should help with painting too.

 

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[Hook]

On 7/16/2022 at 4:27 AM, Scargsy said:

canopy mask (though for a different kit - hopefully it will fit without too much alteration).

The Hobbyboss F-5E is a nice kit, with one drawback - the windscreen is way too short, giving a compressed look. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Scargsy]

On 16/07/2022 at 05:41, Robert Stuart said:

That was two hours ago, you finished yet?

Looks like a nice selection of masks to go with your kit.

Not quite but after I finished another GB build I made a start on Sunday and in a couple of hours I'd knocked this together...

With this and the old Revell GB kit being pretty low parts count it's quite refreshing to have things go together so quickly.

 

The decals seem quite flimsy, I only managed to get one of the interior ones on, the other two folding and crumpling up into mess.

The kit does come with a pilot figure but he's missed out of the instructions, he seems quite out sized but then so does the whole interior - feels like the floor should be somewhat higher unless the F5 has a huge roomy cockpit (maybe that the pilot is a bit on the small side too).

 

Fit seems pretty good so-far but there is a large gap between the mounting points for the twin exhausts.

 

[Robert Stuart]

8 hours ago, Scargsy said:

feels like the floor should be somewhat higher unless the F5 has a huge roomy cockpit

Not sure, but if you watched Military Aviation History's video about the F-5E, he comments on the amount of space in the 'pit.

[modelling minion]

Looks like this has gone together very well indeed, nice work.👍

 

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[Col.]

It seems both pilot and seat are undersized and throw the look of everything in that area off.

[Scargsy]

So small progress is being made...

The undercarriage doors were fitted flush (I like to do planes in flight)...

I had to cut these doors (I think the extra bit is hinged to fit flush to the body.

The interior holes I then backfilled with some plasticard sheets for rigidity and some filler before adding some plasticard strips along the fuselage and sanding them back to better profile the top edges.

That's it for now, I'll need to fill those pylon holes. Most of the images of the actual aircraft show it fitted with only one sidewinder (a blue bodied one - which I guess is a training one).

[modelling minion]

Nice job on getting the gear doors fitted.👍

 

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[Robert Stuart]

Good progress, and it will be in its element.

[Scargsy]

So small increments of progress.

 

I had rather a lot of small holes to fill in the body/underside pieces

 

The sidewinders got built up - bit fiddly as they decided to have two of the four front fins as individual parts as well as the rocket exhaust as a tiny piece. Luckily I got them all glued together without losing any bits!

The rear fins are a 'slot through' design (so two of the two parallel fins are on a single piece of plastic that slots in at right angles to the others mounted on the main part).

 

I use the mask set, which wasn't a great fit (not designed for this manufacturers kit) but it was easier than doing it from scratch!

 

Then onto priming, with a mix of Mr Surfacer 1500 black and Mr Surfacer 1000 grey, with self-leveling thinners (3:1:4)

 

I had a bit of a paint spillage on the rear vertical stabiliser but hopefully it won't be too noticable once I've got all the other paint coats on (has left a slightly raised part, not really visible in the image).

 

[modelling minion]

I think thats pretty good progress, looks good in the primer coat.

 

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[Robert Stuart]

Good progress
I'm intrigued that you are using a very dark grey for your priming.  How that help?

[Scargsy]

On 28/08/2022 at 09:39, Robert Stuart said:

Good progress
I'm intrigued that you are using a very dark grey for your priming.  How that help?

Depending on how well I go with airbrushing light coats it can give me a shaded look (put more in panel centres), spraying at an angle to leave darker parts in panel lines and any small deep areas I miss / don't get much paint in will look darker / shaded. Though this maybe tricky with the 3 colour camo (the camo masks need the 2nd colour to be the lightest, would work better working dark to light).

[Scargsy]

So progress is being made, I'd waited until the F-15 build was coming up to speed to do a bit of a paint session.

 

I'd decided to go with the colour codes from the mask set, some of the kit suggested colours seemed a bit off (far too blue on one colour) and the kit diagram has the underside with pretty much the same camo pattern as the top (the mask set only has masks for the top and I'm not really sure if an aircraft would have patterned camo underneath?)

 

Firstly I masked off the radome and exhaust - I had considered painting the exhaust first but wasn't sure how well any oversprayed silver would take to subsequent coats, so the inverse of the masking will be needed later to add the silver.

First colour was added...

 

Then on went the paint masks for part 1.

The masks seem OK, I had to add some tape over certain joins but it doesn't profess to be made specifically for this kit (just a general 1/72 F-5 mask set). The only critisim I'd have is even though it's nice they printed the numbers on each little mask section the text rubs off very easily (and leaves little black bits on the kit I needed to knock off so it doesn't get stuck in the paint).

 

The second colour was then applied, I went quite lightly trying to place it where the next set of masks would be but as you'll see further down I should have probably been a bit more uniform with it.

Also given the amount of different greys I'm currently spraying I figured it might be good to label the paint pots!

Here's another shot, showing part of the mask set map/booklet...

The second set of masks was then applied, here it is next to it's bigger sibling...

Finally the third colour was applied (this is also the colour suggested for the underside, so that go a coat of paint too)...

The masks were then removed to give the final camo...

Then plenty of masking tape and clingfilm were applied and the exhaust painted with AK Xtreme Dark Aluminium...

So that's pretty much where it is for now, I'll give it a light coat of clear then next step will be decals I guess.

[modelling minion]

Oh yes, that looks very smart indeed, as does your F-15.

The masks have certainly done their job very well and I think it is correct to have the underside in one colour though there were exceptions.

 

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[Robert Stuart]

That is a lovely collection of greys, making for an interesting scheme.
The F-5 looks so small next to its larger sibling.

[81-er]

She's looking very nice in the camo. Hard to believe that F-15's not 1/48 though, it's huge compared to the F-5!

 

James

[Wings unlevel]

Both look fantastic, both beautiful paint jobs.

[Scargsy]

So after a coat of gloss clear I added the decals, unfortunately I'd forgotten how thin these decals are (due to taking a break on the build) and so I unfortunately lost one of the 'Marines' decals for the sides - it crumpling up in the water to a mess I couldn't unfurl. Another clear gloss coat then to help seal the decals before I gave it a light wash with the Flory stuff (dark dirt, grime and a bit of grey) - I really like that this stuff is washable once dry, no fear of messing up!

 

Once the dirt wash had dried I rubbed pretty much most of it back off (leaving mainly a bit of panel lining effect) then gave the kit light overshot of semi-gloss clear followed by flat clear to seal in the wash.

 

That's it finished then - I'm actually quite pleased with how it came out (other than the missing decal)...