Northrop FA-5K

[John Howling Mouse]

Looks very enticing from over here...   

[Weaver]

Looks a good deal less enticing when you're holding it in your hand, believe me.....

2nd coat of grey on, looking better, but a few small sags  Inexperience/impatience biting......

[cthulhu77]

The camera is your friend!  It looks awesome on my screen...

[Shasper]

Heh Heh, Allllll - Riiight!


Shas

[Weaver]

Heh - I assumed that the yellowness of the sprayed-on-grey was the stone showing through the (possibly a bit over-thinned) grey. However, last night, I sprayed the white underside with grey, came to check it this morning, and it looked yellow too. Took it up from the cellar (spray booth) to the kitchen and it suddenly turned a nice shade of pure grey - it's the damn light in the cellar: makes everything look yellowy..........

[Weaver]

Well that was a bloody disaster - took the masking tape off, to discover that the "low tack, low residue" tape had left masses of tacky residue. Everywhere. Worse, grey paint appears to have crept through said residue, and while I've managed to scrape it off white areas, I can't do the same on Stone ones, because the paint is so thin that it goes straight through to white. Can't touch  then up either: paint from the tin looks WAY different to the sprayed paint. I thought at first that the tack wouldn't come off the Stone areas AT ALL, but after it had air-dried for a bit, it came off with only a few hours of patient, fiddly dabbing....

So it's best-of-a-bad-job time, now, I'm afraid......

[Weaver]

It's finished, and looking a hell of a lot better than it has any right to, the little %$*&£*)!!!! 

Pictures after supper......

[Weaver]

Gah - bloody ISP server has crashed me out THREE times in the middle of trying to bulk-upload pics....

Going to put up a finished thread with one pic then add more as and when.....

[Weaver]

In parallel with the development of the Tiger II, Northrop began, in the early 1970s, a series of studies of alternative uses of the F-5 series tooling. There were number of motivations for this. Partly, it was a desire to expand the aircraft's ground attack and rough-field capabilities, and this was boosted by NATO adoption of the Flexible Response strategy. This change of emphasis, to a prolonged conventional war in Germany, brought about a much greater need for CAS aircraft, motivated the switch of the Jaguar programme from "mostly trainer" to "mostly strike" and genrated a series of Operational Requirements (such as the UK's AST.396, for example) for light attack aircraft, which the F-5 was well-placed to address.

Another motivation was competition. The Jaguar and Corsair were demonstrating that a sophisticated light strike aircraft was both possible and affordable, and the Skyhawk was demonstrating that a market existed. Furthermore, the Lightweight Fighter competition was looming, the winner might well eclipse the F-5E, and if Northrop didn't win, they'd be left severely short of work.

The design that emerged used the F-5B airframe in order to gain more volume for electronics, the latter being fitted in a faired over rear cockpit in similar style to the later Mitsubishi F1. As a result of the N300-A5 study the wing was moved to the shoulder position, allowing wider and longer stores to be carried without ground clearance/rotate issues, and fuselage-mounted, rearwards-retracting undercarriage with large, low-pressure tires, was fitted. Electronics were customer specified, with a wide range of nav/attack and targetting systems being offered (at a price).

The FA-5K, as it was eventually designated, sold reasonably well, but perhaps not to the level Northrop hoped for. Some smaller NATO nations, who couldn't afford as many F-16s as they'd like, bought it, as did some of the larger Third World nations who could afford separate fighter and strike fleets. However, much of the FA-5K's thunder was stolen by the larger, longer ranged and more powerful Jaguar and AMX. Northrop discovered that a much greater percentage of the cost of this class of aircraft is accounted for by avionics than in the basic F-5: at the end of the day, if you want to fly Jaguar missions, you've got to pay for Jaguar black boxes.

This aircraft is one of 40 FA-5Ks bought by Norway in the mid 1980s to replace their F-5As and supplement their F-16s. These aircraft carry a Ferranti LRMTS sensor in an undernose fairing, but lack the terrain-following radar seen on some other FA-5Ks. Two Alkan decoy flare launchers are mounted on the rear fuselage. Like the F-5As that preceded them, Norway's FA-5Ks have an arrestor hook for safe landings on icy runways.

The aircraft is carrying two Saab-Bofors Rb-05L laser-guided ASMs and a Thomson-CSF ATLIS-NG Modulaire laser-designator pod on the centreline to guide them. Self defence against surface threats is provided by a PEAB Loki ECM pod and a Wallop Industries Super Masquerade countermeasures dispenser on the remaining two underwing pylons. Since the FA-5K has no gun, air-to-air defence falls to two AIM-9P(N) Sidewinders. These missiles and the dispenser are built under licence in Norway by A/S Kongsberg.


Gill Bunston
AIR Interchangeable magazine, July 1990  
















Kit: Matchbox CF-116/F-5B

Mods: Wings moved to shoulder position, underwing "pallet" angled downwards and faired into sheet styrene panel to make new undercarriage bay, with main gear and arrestor hook from Airfix F-5E. Nose angled downwards. Laser pod from Hasegawa Hind fitted under nose. Scratchbuilt RWR fairing. Seat and cockpit tub nicked from Airfix F-5E. Flare pods from Minitanks 1/87th M60A2 smoke dischargers.

Stores: Sidewinders and centreline pylon from Airfix F-5E. Two extra wing pylons from another Matchbox F-5B. Rb-05 missiles from Airfix Viggen with laser noses from 1/87th traffic cones set. ECM pod scratchbuilt from hexagonal sprue & sheet. Laser targetting pod turned from sprue in drill. Chaff pod nose from Airfix Phantom 1000lb bomb, rest of body, cartridge rails and big cartridges scratchbuilt from various styrene sections, small cartridges are Minitanks 1/87th gun simlators.

Paint: "Norwegian Splinter" inspired by Skjold FAC. Car primer white, Humbrol Stone and Humbrol Light grey. Kit decals.

Good bits: all the actual Whif stuff went well.

Bad bits: all caused by the poor original kit or bad materials (canopy didn't fit, masking tape screwed paint up etc..)

Effects of 1-week time limit: a) it got done, which would have been highly unlikely otherwise, b) ventral strakes, elaborate u/c, custom decals & better laser-nose all got canned for lack of time, c) had to call time on fixing screwed-up finish.

Mistakes: plenty.......






Lastly, the refined gentleman's modelling desk:



Somehow, I always imagine BdB working in a setup like this....

[Ed S]

LOOKS GOOD!

A clever change on a common a/c.

Ed

[AeroplaneDriver]

Well I think it looks great!! Love those colors, and the weapons fit looks great too.   

[sotoolslinger]

Well I was going to tell you how good the model is, because it is great, especially with what you had to overcome to get her done,but after seeing your modeling desk I have come to the conclusion that no one that neat can be completely sane.

[Weaver]

Well I was going to tell you how good the model is, because it is great, especially with what you had to overcome to get her done,but after seeing your modeling desk I have come to the conclusion that no one that neat can be completely sane.

Careful - the neat-looking modelling desk might simply be there to illustrate the folly of believing what you see in photographs.......

[Chap]

Very nice work Weaver, I really like the camo!

~Steve

[Brian da Basher]

Very well done, Weaver! Your FA-5K looks as Norwegian as Lutefisk!

Brian da Basher