Swiss F-5F Tiger II – Italeri 1/72 + scratch
I made this kit as an offer to my good friend Peter. His parents are from Switzerland and he keeps a strong bond to the country so, as I knew he likes planes in swiss colors...
The Kit is from Italeri and it's not very impressive... The instructions are the worst: some small mistakes but a lot of omissions: lots of pieces and decals are not drawn, so I figured where to put them by photos.
(Thanks Internet for all the photos)
As some parts don't even exist (the arch between the two canopies, for instance) I've made some scratchbuild as l Like π and some improvements (like the exausts on the sidewinders or small parts on the cockpit)
As they are really awesome, I include some photos of the real plane.
As usual, opinions, questions, comments or advices are welcomed
Thanks for your time
Manuel
Nicely finished and presented, sir...the added pics are a bonus. π
Thank you for your kind words.
I remember this kit from the early nineties, when I was around 10 years old. This F-5 two seater was my second ever model kit, after a 1/100 Academy F-15. I remember, I was so impressed with this F-5 kit, that I promised myself to buy only Italeri kits in the future! It even had an instrument panel! Awesome! π
Well, not that much time later, I realized that there are much better kits than this F-5F, not to mention other manufacturers than Italeri... π
You did a great job with this old kit, looks very nice!
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I think there's should be a nicer kit somewhere...
but this one gave me some fun, and it turned out ok.
Maybe in the future I'll buy a modern kit, with much quality.
Excellent work Manuel - your friend should be delighted!
Thank you for your kind words. Yes he was!
As all Swiss citizen I was obliged to spend 10 months in the army. Fortunately I was enrolled as a ground engineer in the Swiss Airforce. I worked on the Hunter Hawker, F5E Tiger and finally FA18.
As a tall guy the F5 was a terrible plan to work on. I canβt remember how many time I bumped my head on this machine. The Swiss model is also equiped with an autonomous gyroscope which was incredibly accurate but required to be started about 10 minutes before flight. To start the engines we used an external air unit equipped with an engine from an Allouette helicopter. We used it to start the first engine, then the first engine provided the necessary air to run the second one.
Thanks for this model able to remind me some nice memories.
Thank you for sharing your memories.
And about this kit, does it look (a bit at least) with the original plane? π
Thanks
Yes yes well done! in particular the famous boring Swiss grey with a perfect discrete weathering ?
thanks! About the boring Swiss grey: when I began to put the decals, a friend of mine saw the plane and ask: 'What TF? why are you putting the decals on top of the primer?'
Lol
:-DDDDDD
This is an excellent work, Manuel! Thanks for sharing. Your work on that tiny interior is superb!
Thanks for sharing your memories, Alex.
Thank you Sir, you are very kind.
A silk purse from a sow's ear!
Thank you!
Kind words indeed...
An excellent build, Manuel! I think most air forces color schemes are boring today.
Yeah! I don't know why, but it seems that they don't want to be seen π
a good job
Congratulations
Thks so much!
Hello Manuel,
Beautiful model. The Swiss were quite lucky with their badge of F-5F fighters.
Regards, Dirk / The Netherlands.
Thanks Dirk,
Yes, they were. A lot of them are still flying.
Regards from Portugal
Very nice! I like what you've done with it, and some nice catches regarding missing details.
I have two models of this same boxing - the early boxing and this newer one with the Swiss decals. I actually bought the newer boxing because I wanted to model the Sundowner's aggressor version (see here: https://imodeler.com/2017/09/italeri-172-f-5f-tiger-ii-sundowners-aggressor/), but had decided that I would use the Swiss decals to make the older boxing a Swiss version. Your reference photos and missing details info will help that build!
Thanks!
I'm glad if my photos can help you. Instructions booklet misses some pieces and decals, so I watched the photos very carefully. Feel free to put questions if you need.
Saw your Sundowners: thumbs up!