Kittyhawk 1/32 F-5F Tiger II

Looking good.  That should be a striking airplane in those markings.   
Fun doing big F5s!

tempestjohnny

Post

looks awesome!

That's very odd. I quoted TJ's IP comment and got that in the box

plasticjunkie

That's very odd. I quoted TJ's IP comment and got that in the box

 

let's see if it happens again. I actually went back up and looked at tempest's post again, and went,  huh weird 

Thanks for the props on the IP guys! I'm going to have to make the canopies removeable so they an be seen. Kittyhawks's canopies aren't exactly clear even after future. It looks like they are molded around an octagon. I mean, what is a curve anyway but a sequence of really short straight lines butted together lol

Beautiful work on the IPs, Mongoose.

TheMongoose

I'm going to have to make the canopies removeable so they an be seen.

Absolutely - hiding those would be a real shame!

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This is coming together! Of all things KittyHawk switched the design and only included 1 open gun door AND one gun! The other side has a blank. Of all things i need 2 guns for the RSAF. That’s what has taken so long for an update. I fashioned a mount for the gun and replicated the internal supports. Then had to bore the hole for the gun. That’s rather tough to do at the sharp angle they exit the fuselage.

While I’ve been waiting at different stages i put the fuel tank together. This is one of the highlights  of the kit. Beautiful joint that hasn’t required any putty or superglue so far to clean up the join. I’ve also started using the Flory wash to test the seams. Washes right out when done and so far is saving me from priming and then having to sand off primer to do the repairs. A real time saver.

what’s currently slowing down the build are the seamless intakes. The entry section is good and can be made to match up well. Getting the solid tube to go over the gear bay is another story though. I’ve stopped here and ordered some flexible tube to see if a hybrid can be created. 

the other headache is all the sanding. Dremel, HEPA filter mask and doing everything in my paintbooth with the fan on because of so much sanding. These have to be really thin at the entrance and paper thin along the length to clear the sides of the fuselage.

 
all this has to be sanded down

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It’s frustating when one is crusing and grooving along with a build and a brick wall comes out of nowhere bringing you to a full complete stop. Hopefully you will solve the intake trunking issue.

​No, sorry I’m not at paint yet  getting very close to primer though. This model is a ‘Tale of two cities’ for sure. There are things i like, things that make me go hmmmmm, and things I spend time on to straighten out.

Check out this wing joint, just a trim on the outer most radius and it fit beautiful

then you look at the intake ramps and think hmmmm, not even the C team was on this. Dang it’s taken me 4x to CA and sand this to get them all smooth and invisible 

And last a teaser for what is to come hopefully this weekend...

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Reached a grand milestone today, the fuselage is together  After 3 F-5 builds I’ve gotten the best seams ever. Same approach here as my E, the 3 fuselage pieces and both intakes go together all at the same time, CA the shoulder on top of the fuselage to tack it together, then roll it over and tack the bottom. Once everything is aligned the Tamiya extra thin is applied to all the joints. 

heres a peek inside. I created a hybrid of the seamless intakes. The section that went over the engines was awkward to say the least. The other issue is that way way way too much sanding is required. The instructions say alot is required but it turned out ridiculous. The tubing allows for flexibility and a little misalignment so that the intakes can be glued on squarely.

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Today was primer for the F. With all the black on this one i decided to go over the underside of the fuselage again before a coat of black. That paid off well as there’s very little to do now. 
my yin and yang is to rescribe or not to rescribe lol

i have to figure out the horizon line for the top yet. My 1st mask print in paper showed to be undersized. Rather than rush it I just worked on the front and bottom of fuselage. Should be able to erase the join pretty easy on this now as it’s faint in black.

 

​Well once i got to paint I had to pick one or the other to focus on. With the F-5E nearly finished it’s time to start the Blackite again! It’s a horribly cold and rainy day here in Cincinnati. Definitely time to stay in and paint. To kick things off I’ve got all the primer on now and will start on the masking this afternoon. Getting my motivation up so here are a few shots of progress in completing the primer...

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Wonderful build thread so far, now for the fun and pretty stuff 

Hey drums01 I'm getting to the fun and pretty stuff for sure now!

​Dang these stripes really tax your eyes  the flat surfaces went well. The spine has taken more than 3 days on and off after work to get right. I ended up splicing together a couple pieces at different angles to get it all sorted. I scanned pictures and side view drawings to get the different views and angles I needed. then did the splice on the plane from what i scaled and printed out on paper. Last I scanned the spliced piece into the Silhouette design software, modified the points along the lines to sharpen them up, and printed on Tamiya masking. Given all the family stuff going on this weekend it looks like the next round of painting will be tomorrow.

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Another 4hrs got me thru the dark gull gray stripes. All the major work is done now. Later next week I’ll get to sanding down the edges and doing a few touchups it needs. I think it will need a wash and maybe even a filter to blend things together. The difference in the gray shades seems kind of bold. Let me know what you guys think?

 

 

 

Ambitious project!  I think it's going to look sharp.

Very VERY cool scheme going on this bird. Nice!!!

​Thanks Jeaton, thanks mustang1989! Glad to hear you're enjoying the build 

mostly working on little stuff right now. Painted pilots tonight, primed canopies, glued some small stuff on the fuselage. 

now here’s the carazy part! I spent an afternoon researching the refueling probe, location, shape, even pulled out the one from my F-100 and made a mold of the probe itself to use...fast forward to today. I’m looking at pilots in prep for paint and realize KH put it in the box in resin with the pilots and the ladder. WTH! Checked the instructions tonight and nope, not even shown in there. So it wasn’t me being forgetful, they just aren’t mentioned!

 

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She’s come a long way. Plus she’s been stalled by my deck repair project for a few weeks. Got the pilots in, canopies installed, and a satin clear on the bottom. That has brought out just a touch of faded paint, perfect I think for a plane kept in clean. This weekend I’ll do the decals and the tiger up top and then show you all how that’s looking. The satin coat brought the bottom together nicely...hope you’re all enjoying the build and another crazy paint scheme!

 

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 A real big moment here! Check out the tiger. Looking fierce. Now the pressures on to finish the missiles and all the other bits and bobs as my friends in the Midlands say 

 

 

I would say overall these are fine decals. No issues with the big kitty. He was resilient tho…took 5-6 applications of solvaset slowly over 2 days to get it to lay down around everything. There are 2 fine creases in it. Nothing you can see till you get within 6” of it. However if anyone has some suggestions on how to alleviate them I’m up for it as I’d like it to be as close to perfect as i can get. I tried a pin already Nd the solvaset following that. Rolled the creases out while they were soaking to try and get the air out. Should finish it up and do an unveiling later this week or on the weekend at the latest i think…unless the aim-9’s give me some problems. Given that I’m modifying the kit parts this isn’t out of the question lol

Just caught up with this thread, Mongoose, and - wow!  Those tiger stripes are a show-stopper!  Can't wait to see the end result.  By the way, that was a handy tip about using washes to check seams instead of primer, I'm just reaching that stage with one of my builds, so I'll try it out.

Thanks hutch! And glad you found the tip helpful 

Changed the color of the numbers on the front fuselage. I’m much happier now lol. My father’s day weekend is all about model building  spent last night and today finishing up the missiles, the refueling probe, satin clear coat, and the guns. A pretty fine result overall I think. 

 

 

 

 

It’s pretty crummy in Cincinnati today, and even for the next couple days apparently. Once we get some sun I’ll grab some good pics. This baby is long and much heavier than I expected. Tomorrow I’ll have to change the angle of the mount on the base so that it will balance nicely. Without that clay on it the base is balanced on a hair! 

 

With some better resolution you’ll be able to see the backseater waving at you ​​​​​​​