F-5 Tiger II in 1/32 scale by Kitty Hawk
This was a challenging model, mostly because I had so many fit issues. But, this particular Kitty Hawk model's reputation proceeds itself, wow! I went with the VFC-111 Sundowners U.S. Navy version, and free-hand airbrushed the desert camouflage. For cockpit detail, I used Red Fox Studio on the control panels. There are some nice photo etch parts that come with it (such as mirrors, canopy parts, and once I got the hang of the decals, they weren't that bad; they all have their own behaviors, for sure. Probably the biggest disappointment were the gun bays simply did not fit...at all. So, all the time spent detailing those parts was wasted. But, I shut the bay doors, applied a bunch of filler and sanded like crazy. I had to re-create antennas (eaten by the carpet) using leftover photoetch parts, but satisfied how they turned out. The front screen had some build-up inside, very difficult to remove once it was committed to the frame with HUD & other stuff hanging.
The part I enjoyed the most was using 2mm micro magnets (Amazon) on the weapon pylons and weapons. This gives me the ability to build all the weapons, swap them out whenever. I mean, you can only look at Mk 20 cluster munitions for so long, then it's time o swap it for a Sparrow, right?
Thanks for looking, on to the much anticipated Magic FactoryA-4 Skyhawk.
Cheers!
Excellent result on this challenging kit, Joe!
Well done!
Thanks, Spiros!
This F5 looks awesome, Joe @jroamer
The desert camouflage suites it very well, nicely airbrushed.
Thanks, John! I try not to deviate from Tamiya paints when airbrushing, but in this case I used recommended Mr. Color acrylics and had no problem running them through my Iwata Neo airbrush. The other thing I tried was anti-slip paste from AMMO for the Mk 84s - brushed it on, light sanding and it does make a nice rough appearance on the dumb bombs.
Well done, Joe
Thanks, Gary...appreciate it!
Some lovely work, and that's one of my favorite schemes for the F-5 aggressor! Well done.
Thanks, Greg. With a lot of grey schemas on my shelves, I was ready for something different!