Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

Well, this kit has been a challenge of my PSR skills... almost as much as sculpting the F-16's DSI out of Tamiya putty...
The Monogram kit's molds are showing their age and have quite a few sink marks and the fit was bad on almost every seam but i've finally got that issue out of the way.
Only have to rescribe some lost panel lines and on with the show. Although i suck at panel line engraving/rescribing, i'm glad i decided to remove the raised detail and engrave it cause with the amount of plastic i had to sand out of the kit, no detail would be left anyway.









Although it's been giving me a lot of work, i'm enjoying this build. It's one of my favorite planes, it's my first 1/48 scale jet fighter build and it'll also be a first regarding the display. When i decided it would be better to put it on its wheels, i also decided to leave the canopies open and throw in a couple of figures for the dio display. I've never done that so let's see how that works out...
Concerning the decals, i think i've solved the issue, the Freedom models 1/48 F-20B/N's decals have the markings i'm after so, after a quick bank account check, i've ordered that kit from a Portuguese modelling shop. That's a kit i've wanted since it came out along with the F-20C, which i already have in the stash.
Gonna keep on working on the Spitfire too, finish cleaning up all the seams and mask the canopy are the next tasks... It's also an older Monogram kit so, you can say i'm in the old school vibe...

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, so i didn't do my research properly before i began building the f-5F and to do the bird in the scheme provided by Revel in this box,  the kit needs some surgery besides all the seam and gap work needed. From all the pics i've seen of the airframe 840456, it has the larger LERX and the "Platypus" nose. This is one of the F-5s bought by the US navy for the "FrankenTiger" conversion from E to F variant.
It's hard to say from some angles but close up shots show the nose pretty well and the bigger LERXs too... so, decision to make, should i make the mods or forget the whole initial idea of the real world build and go for a whif? First build in the new home would then be the first whif in the new home so that does appeal to me and the missus seems like she's willing to accept the change... 

Did some more work the F-5F but i'm starting to think about what whif i wanna build next, all i have at the moment are RW builds so, besides the Phantom which is almost finished, i need another whif on the bench... Time to go through the stash... 

[DogfighterZen]

Ah!! The F-5F will be the next whif... The real F-5F for which these decals are, has the extended LERX and platypus nose and this kit is the old F-5F so, i'm not goig to bother with tmore work on this kit, i already have the updates on the other F-5 kits in the stash so this one will become the "almost was" fighter of the PoAF of the eighties.
Both the F-5 and Spitfire are Monogram molds and both are nearly ready for paint... maybe next weekend.

[TheChronicOne]

It's almost a blessing when builds go wrong.

"OH, DARN, now I get to make it a what-if!" 


I've had a couple go like that. It's like unloading a monkey off your back. 

[DogfighterZen]

It's almost a blessing when builds go wrong.

"OH, DARN, now I get to make it a what-if!" 


I've had a couple go like that. It's like unloading a monkey off your back. 

So true.. It wasn't that I didn't wanna build it as the real one but it's work that I don't wanna do at this stage. To further justify my lazyness, it'll be the only pointy nose of the F-5 family in my stash... 
I'd already built one F-5 for the PoAF but in 1/72 with a two color camo, this one will be wearing a SEA camo, as it was released in the Republic's diary in 1980. Thinking of finishing the Phantom and the Tiger.

[DogfighterZen]

So, after deciding that the F-5 would be a whif, i've regained the motivation to finish the kit so that's a positive thing. Although i'm getting home later than i was used to and very tired from heavy duty digging at work, i've been anxious to get home and work on some models. 
The F-5 has had the gun and ram air intake drilled with a 0.5mm drill...



Then i masked the canopies and fixed them in place with some patafix and it was ready for paint...



Before i started painting, i was thinking about weapons and decided to put all pylons on so, here it is, with some nato black, looking like it's going to become a Mig-28...



Now, regarding the Phantom, i'm going to leave the weathering as is and move on with the build. I'd like to finish both the F-5 and the Phantom together for a double whif roll out to upset Portuguese JMNs twice as much...

[Old Wombat]

 

[DogfighterZen]

Not much to report regarding progress on models but i did put the PoAF's 301st "Jaguares" Squadron's badge on the vert stab and apply AK's panel liner wash to the Phantom's elevators and tail hook before gluing them on... I still need to get working on the missiles, they're the only parts left to paint, all the other parts are ready to be assembled before a last coat of varnish is applied.



Can't really make out the words on the badge because of the crappy pic...

Anyway, i've ordered a set of Hataka acrylic colors for the modern PoAF aircraft, 8x17 ml of the colors used for the SEA camo and all the grays i need for F-16s and all other PoAF aircraft. I just hope i don't get disappointed like i was with Vallejo model air colors... 
I'm safe with Tamiya acrylics but their range doesn't have the specific colors i need for the PoAF RW birds so i decided to bite the bullet and spend almost 27€ on this brand's set.
I bought them cause i know that the Phantom's colors are off as i didn't bother to make my own mix and the reason for that is the fact that i have a lot of builds in mind that will be wearing the SEA camo and i want the correct colors for them, the F-5F is one of them.
Still in the subject of correct colors, i still have to check Paint4models.com for the correct colors for the RW Spitfire i'm building...

[zenrat]

The NMF parts of the tail feathers looks great 

[DogfighterZen]

Thanks, mate! 
I've used Tamiya XF-16 and 11 and changed a few bits with a pencil I had laying around to change the metallic tone a bit.

[NARSES2]

Anyway, i've ordered a set of Hataka acrylic colors for the modern PoAF aircraft, 8x17 ml of the colors used for the SEA camo and all the grays i need for F-16s and all other PoAF aircraft. I just hope i don't get disappointed like i was with Vallejo model air colors... 

I've quite a few of the Hataka sets, mainly WWII and 1930's colours, and so far I am very happy with them. Indeed they are now my "go to" brand. I try to get their Blue Line where I can as it's optimised for brushes, but have a couple of their Red Line and it just requires a couple of more coats as it's optimised for airbrush.

I'm going to order a couple more sets to pick up at Telford 

[DogfighterZen]

Good to know that you like them, Chris, thanks for the info! I've been afraid of spending money on other paint brands other than Tamiya because of the disappointment with the Vallejo model air colors i bought a couple of years ago. I used their Dark Yellow with their acrylic thinner and even IPA and nothing worked, it clogged up my airbrush and was a PITA to spray so i never used any other color of that set again.
I'm not sure if their red line will need any thinning for the airbrush but if they do, i'm not really sure if i should use something like IPA or even Tamiya's X-20A but i guess i'll just test them before using.

Took the day off to compensate for working extra hours so i spent a good hour researching about the F-5F's weapons loads. Good thing i already have a good selection of 1/48 weapons from the other kits i have of that scale. I dug up a pair of AGM-65G Mavericks, GBU-12 LGBs and AIM-9P missiles from the Freedom models F-20C kit cause i know i won't be using them on that kit anyway so, his older brother gets them.
Now it's clean up and assembly time...



Also ready to start painting the F-4F's missiles too...

[NARSES2]

I'm not sure if their red line will need any thinning for the airbrush but if they do, i'm not really sure if i should use something like IPA or even Tamiya's X-20A but i guess i'll just test them before using.

I'm told their Red Line airbrushes straight from the bottle. It certainly appears to be very thin, but as you say, best to test it first.

One of the things I like about Hataka is that the number of bottles is not fixed in their sets unlike other brands. Most have 6 or 8 for sure but some, like the Polish 1939 set, only has 4 - and 2 of them are the two different shades of Khaki the Poles used. So you don't get so many paints included that you are unlikely to use, unlike other brands.

Chris

[DogfighterZen]

I'm not sure if their red line will need any thinning for the airbrush but if they do, i'm not really sure if i should use something like IPA or even Tamiya's X-20A but i guess i'll just test them before using.

I'm told their Red Line airbrushes straight from the bottle. It certainly appears to be very thin, but as you say, best to test it first.

One of the things I like about Hataka is that the number of bottles is not fixed in their sets unlike other brands. Most have 6 or 8 for sure but some, like the Polish 1939 set, only has 4 - and 2 of them are the two different shades of Khaki the Poles used. So you don't get so many paints included that you are unlikely to use, unlike other brands.

Chris

Last night I spoke to another Portuguese modeller who's sponsored by Hataka and he said that all of the colors need thinning although they're optimized for airbrushing but he says that Tamiya's X-20A works just fine on these paints so i won't have to worry about buying the Hataka thinner.

You're right about their sets, i've ordered their PoAF modern aircraft set cause they're all colors I'll be using for sure. They make quite a nice selection of sets. 

[TheChronicOne]

I love the paint on the phantom but I had to admit to wanting to see the F-5 more.  It's difficult, they're both two of my favorite jets.