Philippines Air Force Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter
I have always loved the lines of the Northrop F-5A. Sleek and elegant with that great area-ruled fuselage, it is a real classic. This model is the one that was built concurrent with my Iraqi MiG-21MF. The kit is the ancient Testors (ex-Hawk?) 1/48 F5-A. It's not much of a build but I've always loved the look of this series and all the variants. One of the nice pilots I met at the Rockdale airport told me he had trained in the T-38 and said how much he had enjoyed it...he said, "hey, they're still using it today so something must be right!" 😀
This model was built back about 1992 (back when I was working a kit almost everyday). I'd love to build at that pace again; perhaps the muse will strike again soon. Heaven knows I have a huge backlog to work with! The paint was Floquil Bright Silver and the decals came with the kit. I used the pilot figure to take up space in the oh-so sparse cockpit. It's another model that had never been photographed until I hauled it, along with five others, over to Rockdale back in August. It was a beautiful day, although the wind did get a bit gusty but that wasn't a problem with the amount of ballast stuck in the nose of this one! Oh, you might note that it is missing one of its 20mm nose cannons. Oh well. Que sera sera! Thanks for taking a look, comments are always welcome... but you all knew that. 🙂
Gary
12 additional images. Click to enlarge.
Tom Cleaver said on November 17, 2014
That cranky old kit looks pretty darn nice with "some modeling skill" applied.
Craig Abrahamson said on November 17, 2014
Once again, nicely photographed and presented. Nice work.
Morne Meyer said on November 17, 2014
Very nice indeed. Also like that sleek profile. You did a good job on this one!
Bernd Müller said on November 18, 2014
A nice build of an ancient kit, well done. The presentation of your build is
impressive, i hope your inspiration is back soon.
I am still waiting for another F-5 build here on iModeler and hope that the South African postal service will return to work in this century 🙁
Morne Meyer said on November 18, 2014
Haha Bernd. Not in this millenium. When it comes to striking South Africa surely beats the rest of the world hands down! 🙂 At least the strike is nearing an end after 3 months. Imagine where my F-5 is under all that pile of mail!
Rob Pollock said on November 18, 2014
Yes a great looking model, well presented.
Richard Mcstay said on November 18, 2014
Fantastic Gary! Great photography once again! They look like they are the real thing!
bob mack said on November 18, 2014
what a beauty...love that national insignia
Simon Whitney said on November 18, 2014
Great build Gary, nice pics too.
Well done sir.
Gary Brantley said on November 18, 2014
Thanks to all of you! My dad used to have an expression, "even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then." Most of the time I feel like that "blind hog", lol. Sometimes though, I get lucky and do find an acorn. I appreciate the compliments of you wonderfully skilled modelers so much. It is great validation for me and really does inspire me to get off my butt and finish some more planes. I do have many other completed builds that haven't "seen the light of day". Hopefully, I will have some more trips to the airport soon. Sincere thanks again, Gary
California Steve said on November 18, 2014
Oh we're not done with you yet Gary! What a great looking aircraft. There is something about natural lighting and some very nice photos.
Really, Really, nice Gary.
California Steve
Gary Brantley said on November 18, 2014
You're right Steve, there's nothing like natural light, and the "natural" surroundings of an airport! I've never been able to get any good pics inside. I'm fortunate to live just 4 or 5 minutes from our little airport here in Cameron; and they have finished a large new hangar out there that should make for a nice backdrop. Thanks for your wonderful comments!
George Williams said on November 18, 2014
Again, this model has held up well and stood the test of time, and the photography is outstanding.
Gary Brantley said on November 18, 2014
Thank you George! I really appreciate that!
Gary
Rick Wilkes said on November 20, 2014
Great looking F-5 Gary, the Philippine Air Force markings really make it standout.
Gary Brantley said on November 20, 2014
Thank you sir! Yeah, I liked the Philippines markings as soon as I saw them; I knew I wanted to use them for this plane. I don't think I've ever seen another model with them either.
Farouk Tan said on May 27, 2017
Very convincing rendition of the F-5A ALAMID.. regards..
Gary Brantley said on May 27, 2017
Many thanks Farouk! I appreciate the generous comment.:)