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Hi.

I've read several times that the best 1/72 F-5E kit is the Italeri one but it's quite difficult to find now contrarily to the Airfix kit. What about the later ? What's wrong with it ? Less detailed probably but what about the overall shape accuracy ?

Laurent

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I found a couple of reviews of the Airfix F-5E via Google, but I don't think the Testors/Italeri kit is all the difficult to find. I see it at IPMS shows quite often, and there are about four or five on eBay at the moment. You might also look for the Trumpeter 1/72 scale kit, as it's the same kit only with engraved detail!

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but I don't think the Testors/Italeri kit is all the difficult to find. I see it at IPMS shows quite often, and there are about four or five on eBay at the moment.

It is if you look for reasonable prices on my side of the Atlantic.

As far as I know, Trumpeter does not have a F-5 typ kit listed in 1:72, not even in their HobbyBoss subsidary company.

It was sold under the Mini Hobby brand.

Edited by Laurent
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The Mini Hobby kit appears to be a copy of the Italeri kit - however it's not as "delicate" and the fin doesn't fit very well at all... For an F-5E the Italeri is the best out there, although it has raised panel lines.

The Airfix/Heller kit can be built, but it is nowhere near as nice as the Italeri kit.

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Ok but what's wrong with it ?

It has slightly heavier surface detail than the Italeri kit, but when finished looks like an F-5E.

Besides, the current Italeri mold has been retooled with a sharknose and the enlarged LERX's, so if you want an original configuration Tiger II the Airfix kit (also reboxed by Heller) provides just that.

Cheers,

Andre

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The MiniHobby F-5E was first issued by Trumpeter many years back but is no longer in their catalog. It is based on the Italeri kit but it is not an exact copy. It does have recessed panel lines and while they are not as fine as the F-5A from ESCI / Italeri, theyñ€ℱre no Matchbox either, more in line with the recessed ones you find in the Italeri Kfir kit. The main difference is the way they do the wings, instead of being molded as part of the upper fuselage half they are separate pieces with tabs to align them, unfortunately the tabs aligns the front of the wing extensions with the lip of the intake, fine if you are talking LEX extensions on an F-20 but this is a normal F-5E wing and you will have to modify the tab to move the wings back to the correct location. Also the tabs as they are molded give the wings a very pronounced anhedral and when trying to straighten them both broke off, plus the fit is not all that great and will require some putty. The cockpit is a copy of the Italeri pit with raised detail on the side consoles & instrument panel; unfortunately they also split the ejection seat right down the middle and the control stick is not as accurate as the one in the Italeri kit. There is a pilot figured included that is not in the Italeri kit but heñ€ℱs more of a lump, looking like he was in a Transporter accident during a Star Trek episode. The canopy is in two pieces just as in the Italeri kit and the back section looks to be a copy of that kit but does not have the frame outline etched in, the front section is different then the Italeri kit being shorter and rounder which gives it a squatty look that to me is inaccurate. Besides the canopy there are a number of other areas that are sub-par when compared to the Italeri kit, one is the horizontal stabilizer which is the same shape as the Italeri one, but it is very thick and will need a good bit of sanding to get it down to where it should be (this will wipe out the recessed panel line). When the two fuselage halves are glued together there is a large gap at the very back in the middle of the engine bay where the exhaust nozzles go that will need a plug. There are two prominent sink marks on each side of the engine bay that need to be filled and the area of the fuselage that has the coke bottle shape has, instead of a gentle curve in the middle, a small ñ€Ɠvñ€ notch on each side that will have to be flared in. The last area that will need the putty is the top of the intakes, instead of a long continuous slightly curving line to the tip of the inlet, when you attach the inlet parts to the fuselage (after a lot of clean up) a dip is formed that will have to be filled in. The large centerline drop tank also has a problem; when looking from the side it has the right profile but shift to the plan view and it is way too narrow at the front giving the tank a wedge shape front end that is just plain wrong, another problem with the tank is where the horizontal fins blend into the body they are clipped off instead of coming to a point and they are way too thick. None of these problems are encountered on the Italeri kit. There is also a small problem with the center pylon, the protrusion (Bracing?) that is located at the top and in the middle is undersize in the Italeri kit but not even on the MiniHobby one. The two Sidewinders are, at least to me, completely unusable being way too ñ€Ɠfatñ€, but they are the same ones as in the Italeri kit, also many of the smaller parts such as the pitot tube and various ñ€Ɠbumpñ€ are not as crisp and are slightly bigger then their counterparts in the Italeri kit. The decals are for a USAF Aggressor and a Swiss aircraft, the ñ€Ɠstar & barñ€ USAF insignia color is a very light blue that is unusable and will have to be replaced.

Regards

Jim Barr

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It has slightly heavier surface detail than the Italeri kit, but when finished looks like an F-5E.

Besides, the current Italeri mold has been retooled with a sharknose and the enlarged LERX's, so if you want an original configuration Tiger II the Airfix kit (also reboxed by Heller) provides just that.

Thank you Andre. I want to do a F-5EM so no shark nose. I have the Duarte conversion. The Airfix or old Italeri boxings would do I guess.

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Thank you Andre. I want to do a F-5EM so no shark nose. I have the Duarte conversion. The Airfix or old Italeri boxings would do I guess.

If you can find the initial Italeri F-5E issue (US, Malaysian and Swiss markings, if memory serves) I'd go with that, but these are becoming quite rare. If not, the Airfix/Heller will do just fine.

The Trumpeter engraved Italeri copy suffers from some mold imperfections - review here.

HTH,

Andre

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Airfix F-5E builds up reasonable accurate but fit is VERY poor, surface detail is raised and sparse and the canopy needs completely replacing.... however a little bit of TLC results in a nice little facsimile.

HTH's...........Simon

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