I
always wanted to have an F-5 in Philippine Air Force markings. As a kid, I would
often see them fly over our home: sometimes in formation of four aircraft,
sometimes alone. It was truly a sight to behold.
After
gathering much needed information regarding PAF F-5’s, I decided to build the
F-5B, the two-seat version. For this project I chose Revell’s 1/72 F-B. This
is actually a re-boxed ESCI kit and it’s the best representation of the
“Freedom Fighter” in this scale.
Work
started, as usual, with the cockpit interior. I used the kit-supplied decals for
the instrument panel and side consoles, which I think is adequate enough for
this scale. The seats, however, lacked detail. That’s when I decided to use
True Details’ F-5/T-38 seats to add some spice to the interior. But I left
these off until the final phase of the construction. After completing the
cockpit, I then trapped it between the halves, which comprise the forward
fuselage.
Assembly
of the mid and aft fuselage is very straightforward, requiring little putty and
sanding. After some test fitting, the forward fuselage was attached to this
assembly, but only after removing the alignment key that was causing fit
problems!
With
the help of fellow member, Mr. Allan Agati, I was able concoct the paint mixture
used by camouflaged PAF F-5’s using Gunze Sangyo lacquers. The model was then
primed and the camo pattern applied freehand using Tamiya’s Sprayworks HG
Superfine airbrush. The paints consisted of the following:
·
Green = H-6 (green) 75% + H-2 (black) 25% approx.
·
Tan = H-318 (radome) 80% + H-1 (white) 20% approx.
·
Brown = H-310 (FS30219)
·
Gray (undersides) = H-308 (FS36375) 90% + H-1 (white)10% approx.
I
used some of the data stencils found on the decal sheet. The low-viz winged
diamond & PAF seal are decals made by our club’s very own “Decal Team”
(Nice work, guys!).
Final
assembly consisted of attaching the landing gear, under wing stores, leading
edge flaps, ejection seat, and canopy. I chose to display the model with its
canopies opened so I attached the styrene canopy actuators to the resin seats
before installing them inside the cockpit. The clear parts were dipped in future
before being installed (carefully… as the alignment has to be just right).
Well,
there she is! She’s not your everyday F-5, but it was a very worthwhile
project. I’ll definitely build another one in PAF colors!
Happy
modeling!
Edmond
(IPMS-PHILIPPINES, BERT ANIDO CHAPTER)
REFERENCE:
Pictorial
History of the Philippine Air Force, Anglo-Philippine Aviation.
F-5
in Action, Squadron Signal Publications.
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