1/72 Italeri F-5B

[Pappy]

G'day people,

I have moved forwards a bit.

I have been occupied with the forward/rear fuselage and intake seams. The front and rear fuselage matches up well, however the rear fuselage is just a shade too wide for the forward section and so a small bit of sanding is required, likewise for the intakes. Every thing eventually matched up and only a small amount of filler was required.

There is an ugly seam that runs right through the nose wheel bay.

I think I will add some plastic card over the top to hide it!

I have also turned my attention to correcting the ejector pin marks, of which there are several on the undercarriage, wheels, undercarriage doors and pylons. I filled these in with some CA. Here is a shot of the inner wing pylons that have had their ejector pin marks filled with CA.

The wings are a single part affair, with separate leading edge flaps.

The leading edge flaps appear 'drooped' in many pics of parked F-5 pics, so this is a nice touch. The wing undersides feature two slots , allowing up to two under wing pylons to be fitted. I will only be using the inner wing pylons so the outer slots were filled. I glued a scrap of plastic card into the slot and once roughly sanded, the lot was covered in CA and sanded again.

The peanut shaped tip tanks have been assembled. These feature cone shaped nav lights at the front. I cut this portion off and glued small sections of clear styrene sprue.

Once the glue has set properly, I will sand these to shape, hopefully they will look okay. Whilst the glue was drying, I finished painting the engine exhausts. They were sprayed with a rattle can of Tamiya Light Gun Metal (TS-42) and then given a little weathering using the Tamiya weathering powders

Thanks for looking,

Edited September 3, 2011 by Pappy

[keefr22]

Nice work again Pappy. I like your exhaust painting technique, very simple but very effective!

Keef

[jimbuna]

Coming along nicely.

[Wez]

That's nice work Pappy keep it up

You've highlighted something which is a bugbear of mine - the lack of after market stuff for both the F5B and the F5A! Decals aren't an issue but aside from the seats that True Detail I can't think of any other after market accessories for these kits! These are perfectly serviceable kits on a par with many current releases, they'd really benefit from a bit of AM but they don't get it which is something I don't get

These lovely kits would really benefit from some dedicated etched or resin cockpit details particularly the canopy actuator mechanism which is a bit tricky to say the least!

Sorry for getting on my soapbox but it does bother me.

Can't wait to see the finished article!

Wez

[Pappy]

That's nice work Pappy keep it up

You've highlighted something which is a bugbear of mine - the lack of after market stuff for both the F5B and the F5A! Decals aren't an issue but aside from the seats that True Detail I can't think of any other after market accessories for these kits! These are perfectly serviceable kits on a par with many current releases, they'd really benefit from a bit of AM but they don't get it which is something I don't get

These lovely kits would really benefit from some dedicated etched or resin cockpit details particularly the canopy actuator mechanism which is a bit tricky to say the least!

Sorry for getting on my soapbox but it does bother me.

Can't wait to see the finished article!

Wez

G'day Wez,

You won't get any argument from me, but I don't have any HAF decals sourced for this liitle guy yet.

The main markings should not be too hard, as these consist of dark blue HAF roundels and fin flash, as well as some no's for the fin, but the problem is that the 'RESCUE" and "P" (Greek Pi) "A" ('Polemiki Aeroporia') markings on the nose are not exactly abundant in the spares box!

cheers,

Nice work again Pappy. I like your exhaust painting technique, very simple but very effective!

Keef

Coming along nicely.

G'day fellas,

Thanks very much for the words of encouragement,

cheers,

[Pappy]

G'day people,

Well, the fuselage intake seams are now done,

I have also sheeted the nose gear bay to hide an ugly seam that is right down the middle. I may add a few bits of wire to add a little interest but I do not want to go nuts here.

The wings were the next area to get some attention. The peanut shaped tip tanks had their solid tips removed. In real life, these are clear nav lights. I had previously glued a section of clear sprue to the front of each tank. Now that the glue had set, I set about shaping the clear sprue into a cone shape. Once filed to shape, these were progressively polished using a 3-sided nail buffer, and finally given a quick brush coat of Future. I am pretty happy with them.

Whilst on the subject of the wings, I decided to drop the flaps. I used a PE razor saw to carefully cut out the flaps. Once separated, the mating surfaces were cleaned up and the leading edge of the flaps were slightly beveled to give them a drooped attitude when attached to the wing.

A dry fit followed to ensure there were no fit issues

I can now turn my attention to the stores. I will be using the tip tanks as well as two inboard drop tanks. The centreline pylon will be fitted with a SUU-20 bomb and rocket dispenser. I sourced mine from one of the Hasegawa weapons sets.

The final thing to do is to fix up the cockpit.

The rear instrument panel needs a coaming as well as a 'bridge' or structural member that separates then two canopies. Italeri do not provide anything, which would not be an issue if the canopies were depicted closed, but mine will be open so I will need to scratch up something. I have also noticed that there is a small avionics shelf behind the rear seat. I tried to ignore it but I think I will have to do something about it because it would just bug me too much to leave as is.

cheers,

Edited September 4, 2011 by Pappy

[periklis_sale]

looking good mate!

are you still going to do it withthe ghost cammo?

[Pappy]

looking good mate!

are you still going to do it withthe ghost cammo?

G'day Peri,

I think that I will go with a faded and worn SEA camo, as I want to do my 1/48 CA F-5B in the ghost scheme. I have ordered a pair of Pavla MB MK.10's, it will likely be a couple of weeks until they arrive, so I will keep going as far as I can but I don't want to start painting the camo until they get here just in case I have fit issues. I assume that the MK.10's were mounted to the seat rails from the original seats, as the canopy opening mechanism is mounted of the ejection seat catapult rails.

Also, any ideas where I could source some dark blue HAF roundels and fin flashes, the Greek "RESCUE" and "PA" stencils in 1/72? Perhaps a 1/72 F-16 sheet?

cheers,

Pappy

Edited September 4, 2011 by Pappy

[Pappy]

Also, any ideas where I could source some dark blue HAF roundels and fin flashes, the Greek "RESCUE" and "PA" stencils in 1/72? Perhaps a 1/72 F-16 sheet?

cheers,

Pappy

I found that a Greek website "Kalfakis" sells a generic 1/72 sheet with roundels, flashes and the stencils that I am after, it looks like I have answered my own question!

cheers,

Pappy

Edited September 5, 2011 by Pappy

[Giorgio N]

Pappy, I was suggesting the old Esci F-5A box, that has the greek roundels and stencils, but then saw you found everything you needed.. and that Kalfakis shop looks very interesting !

Besides, the Esci roundels were too light, on my F-5A I used roundels from an Esci Mirage F-1 that were a much better colour.

[jenshb]

Nice work on a little jewel there Pappy! I've built four of them - all in Royal Norwegian AF markings, and the kit has some small niggles. The inner pylons are too close to the undercarriage, so any fuel tanks will clash with the gear doors. Move the pylons 2-3 mms further outboard. The F-5 trailing edge control surfaces tend to be in neutral, or with just a hint of both ailerons drooping a few degrees. I can't recall seeing pics of aircraft with power off and the trailing edge flaps down. LE flaps tended to be down like you've done. You may also need some shimming of the windshield.

Jens

[Moofles]

brilliant work so far, loving the tip tanks.

[jimbuna]

Looking great.

[Pappy]

Nice work on a little jewel there Pappy! I've built four of them - all in Royal Norwegian AF markings, and the kit has some small niggles. The inner pylons are too close to the undercarriage, so any fuel tanks will clash with the gear doors. Move the pylons 2-3 mms further outboard. The F-5 trailing edge control surfaces tend to be in neutral, or with just a hint of both ailerons drooping a few degrees. I can't recall seeing pics of aircraft with power off and the trailing edge flaps down. LE flaps tended to be down like you've done. You may also need some shimming of the windshield.

Jens

Bugger! Oh well serves me right for assuming the jugs would just fit...

I don't know whether flaps down is wrong, (it would be possible for maintenance, inspection etc) but as you say, it probably was not normal. However it adds interest and they are already attached so I will leave them as is. Thanks for pointing it out, it may help others when building an F-5. Nice info about the ailerons though and thanks for the heads up reference the windshield.

Incidentally, what colours were Norwegian F-5's? The scheme I want to do has at least the right tip tank in some odd colours, and I think that HAF F-5's used some ex-Norwegian F-5 tanks at some stage?

cheers,

Edited September 6, 2011 by Pappy

[periklis_sale]

Yes we did and they were all around in grey color!

[jenshb]

The Norwegian F-5s were delivered in Northrop aluminium paint (they were never bare metal!) that tended to weather noticeably, and touchups and replaceing panels gave them a patched appearance after a while. The colour started off as a reasonably bright finish, but then became darker and duller with age. Two F-5As were painted the same warm olive green as the CF-104s (FS24098 is a close match) as experiments as the aircraft were easily spotted against the ground. The experiments proved that it was better to keep them silver painted as the green colour made them easier to spot against the sky. In the mid to late 80s (I think) the F-5s were repainted in the same colour as the F-16 fleet, and the P-3 and the C-130 - Neutral Grey FS 26270.

Jens

[RNoAF Aerobatic Team]

The Norwegian F-5s were delivered in Northrop aluminium paint (they were never bare metal!) that tended to weather noticeably, and touchups and replaceing panels gave them a patched appearance after a while. The colour started off as a reasonably bright finish, but then became darker and duller with age. Two F-5As were painted the same warm olive green as the CF-104s (FS24098 is a close match) as experiments as the aircraft were easily spotted against the ground. The experiments proved that it was better to keep them silver painted as the green colour made them easier to spot against the sky. In the mid to late 80s (I think) the F-5s were repainted in the same colour as the F-16 fleet, and the P-3 and the C-130 - Neutral Grey FS 26270.

Jens

Jens

Do you by any chance have the FS for the Northrop Alu paint?

As I am going to start the build of 2 x F-5`s "Flying Jokers"

Sort of

Sorry Pappy!!!

[jenshb]

I don't have an FS number for the Northrop Aluminium paint I'm afraid. I'd go for a shade that is darker than aluminium. For my first models I used Xtracolor Duraluminium, but the last tin I bought it was very coarse grained and it was just "goo". For the latest one I used Citadel Mithril Silver toned down with grey to make it look less like metal and more like metallic paint. It should be a silver-looking paint, not like a grey metallic though. Your best bet is to look at photos and try to capture that look.

Jens

[Pappy]

Jens

Do you by any chance have the FS for the Northrop Alu paint?

As I am going to start the build of 2 x F-5`s "Flying Jokers"

Sort of

Sorry Pappy!!!

S'orright! We are all learning stuf about F-5's,

cheers,

Pappy

[Pappy]

G'day people,

Well the main wings are now on and a quick wipe of Mr Surfacer 500 took care of most of the gaps, though there are a couple of spots where the wing root extensions join the intakes that need just a touch of filler.

I have added a little more detail to the cockpit(s). My reference pics show that there is some sort of avionics jiggery-pokery going on behind the rear seat. I also needed to add a coaming for the rear instrument panel as well as the gun sight for the front seat driver. This was made from a corner of the front PE instrument panel that I had to modify to fit the fuselage, it just goes to show -never throw anything away!!

Some of the gubbins for the canopy opening mechanism on each cockpit firewall and a few electrical cables added a touch of busyness as well. The seats are just dry fitted to give an idea, they will be replaced with resin MK.10's. I was not shooting for absolute accuracy, rather than an impression of what is in there.

The dry fit of the tail planes shows that there are now issues of concern there. I will start painting the cockpits soon but I am currently waiting for a pair of Pavla MB Mk.10 ejection seats, so in the meantime I have started on the stores. I will not fit the under wing tanks as the undercarriage doors interfere with the fit. the simple fix is to fill in under wing slots for the pylon and move these outboard 2-3mm. I can't be bothered now so I will just fit empty wing pylons.

I still painted all the under wing tank though, who knows, If I ever build a single seater I may use these on that kit? I will also be adding a SUU-20A/A practice bomb dispenser to the centreline to add a little interest. The item is from the Hasegawa Weapons set (Set 3), but I decided to a dd a few missing details like the RBF flags, elec safety switch ("ice-tongs') and the rotary arming switches. To make it a little more interesting, I decided to 'animate' the individual practice bomb RBF streamers by bending them to look like they are fluttering in the breeze instead of just hanging straight down.

The last items to get a little love were the pylons themselves. I drilled the swaybrace extensions out and used some stretched sprue to add the threaded screws that the swaybraces are attached to, in addition to swaybrace pads themselves.

cheers,

Edited September 11, 2011 by Pappy

[Pappy]

G'day again,

The cockpit bits have had a splash of paint and the details picked out. I also added a little more detail to the gunsight. The front windscreen is just dry fitted in these pics.

cheers,

[Darth Vader]

As usual very clean and precise . I love seeing your work Pappy

[Moofles]

coming along very nicely, great work so far.

[RNoAF Aerobatic Team]

Looks good, Pappy!!

[jimbuna]

Coming along nicely.