Saints roll! VFC-13 F-5E's taking off. 1/48th.

[f5guy]

Hi everyone,

     Well now that my long term "Adversary Twins" build thread is complete, I've decided to tackle two more adversaries: two VFC-13 Saints F-5Es. To make things a bit more interesting, They're going to be configured for take off, and placed on a very cool base that my buddy Tony made for me last year. Here's a pic of the base with two of my previously finished Saints F-5s on it. The base is a copy of the take off end of NAS Fallon's runway 31L, which is the main runway there. I had wanted to build a pair of the AFV Tiger kits in take off mode for some time, but I had originally planned on doing a pair of Air Force aggressors taking off at Nellis AFB. While talking one day, Tony proposed the idea of doing runway 31 at Fallon, since he had some good pics of it. I was all for it, but making bases isn't really my thing. However, Tony loves to build them, so he volunteered. Who am I to say no?! So he finished it up, and last May he and his wife drove out to Utah from California to deliver it, and hang out for a long weekend. The base has been staring at me since, so now is the time to get this project done 👍

 

     Obviously the aircraft wouldn't be that close together on take off in real life, but space limitations dictated that the scene had to be compressed a bit. More to come.  Fred.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by f5guy

[f5guy]

So here's the first kit that I'll be using in this build. I have actually already started both kits last year, so the kits pictured are from my stash. This is just to give you an idea of what I'm starting with. The first kit is the Sundowners version, which has the duckbill nose cone, and wing root leading edge extensions (LEXs) of a later built or upgraded F-5E (pic 1). All of the first two groups of Navy F-5Es and Fs had the round nose cone and no wing root LEXs when first delivered in the mid-70's, but upon going through depot level maintenance in the early 1980's, all came back with the duckbill nose cone and extended LEXs, which improved their flight handling.

    

There are a couple of Navy F-5Es that I have singled out as ones that I'd like to build in every aggressor paint scheme that they've ever worn. F-5E BuNo 162307 is one of those Tigers. It was originally built for the South Vietnamese Air Force, but with the fall of that country, it, and about 40 other undelivered F-5Es were delivered to the USAF to use as aggressors instead. BuNo 162307 was originally USAF serial number 74-1533, and was delivered to the 527th Aggressor Squadron at Alconbury AFB in the UK, where it was their #33. After several years of service, it was selected to be transferred to the Naval Fighter Weapons School (NFWS) aka Topgun at NAS Miramar as an attrition replacement. It has the distinction of being the only former USAF F-5E airframe to be delivered as an attrition replacement to the Navy. All other former USAF Tigers that were later delivered to the Navy and Marine Corps kept their USAF serial numbers, but this one got a Navy BuNo.

 

At Topgun it flew as their #41 for a number of years, and I have fond memories of photographing it many times as a teenager. When NFWS upgraded to Hornets and Vipers, their F-5Es were sent to VF-126, also at Miramar. After a brief stay with 126, it was sent to VF-43 at NAS Oceana. There it stayed until being sent to VFA-127 at NAS Fallon. When VFA-127 was disestablished on March 23rd 1996, VFC-13 took it on charge, along with all of the remaining original USN F-5Es and Fs. In the course of its career it wore at least six different paint schemes. The airframe stayed with the Saints until the mid 2000's, but decades of dogfighting finally caught up with all of these Tigers, and they were retired and replaced by former Swiss Air Force F-5E's, commonly called F-5Ns.

 

This aircraft now resides at the Empire State Aero Sciences Museum in Schenectady N.Y. I took the ramp pic at NAS Fallon back in 2004, shortly before the aircraft was retired. (pic 2)

 

I've never been a fan of these black "Top Gun" movie paint jobs. I always thought that they looked pretty dumb, and you probably couldn't pick a worse color for a camo job. But, since I want to do all of paint schemes that BuNo 162307 wore, and after the complexity of the scheme on my next build, I wanted an easy scheme, so here I go! The decals are from Fightertown sheet 48051 "Desert Bogeys". More to follow, Fred.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by f5guy

[RichB63]

Fred…great conceptual project. Eager to see this one unfold! 👍

 

Rich

[f5guy]

So here's kit number two: This one is going to be built using one of the now very old Twobobs sheets that I helped provide references for some 20 years ago. That's how long I've had this Tiger on my "to build" list 🤣 Having most of the landing gear doors closed, and airbrakes tucked up into the fuselage for take off will help simplify the complex masking job that awaits me on this build.

 

This version of the AFV F-5E is a great version to pick up if you can find it. You can build any version of the E from this kit, except for a few minor cockpit variations. Externally it has everything that you need to build any version. It includes both the round nose/no LEX parts for an early E, and the duckbill/shark nose nose cone and extended LEXs of the later/upgraded E. And as you can see on the box art, it features the extended tail strake version found on many export Tigers, but also has the original non-strake tail too, making it perfect for an aggressor. It also has the refueling probe and MFD screen updates for the cockpit. If you're unsure of which kit to get, or want to keep all options open, this is the one you want. (pic 1).

 

The airframe in question is 741536. It is a former USAF aggressor that was one of many that were transferred to the USN when the Air Force shut down all of it's F-5 units in 1989. The aircraft flew for a few years with VFA-127 as their #45 before being turned over to the Saints and renumbered 04. In the early 2000's it was one of a handful of Tigers that got one of the Saints super cool "tiger/splinter" schemes. Numbers 04 and 06, and F-5F 30 were the only E/Fs to get the two gray version. Later, after the F-5Ns arrived, a couple of those got variations of this scheme as well. It was retired with the rest of the Navy F-5Es around 2005. I could not find any information regarding the disposition of this aircraft online. I photographed it in the early 2000's on Fallons ramp. (pic 2). All for now, Fred.

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by f5guy

[f5guy]

33 minutes ago, RichB63 said:

Fred…great conceptual project. Eager to see this one unfold! 👍

 

Rich

 

Thanks Rich! It should be a fun build 😉

[f5guy]

Here's the aftermarket that I'll be using on these builds (pic 1). I will replace the heads of the resin Aerobunus seated pilots with those from a Hasegawa F-16, as the Aerobunus figures show the faces of the pilots, and for jets about to launch from a hot and sunny runway, they need their visors down. Admittedly I don't know much about helmets, and the time frames that they were used. I'm assuming that the heads supplied with the Hasegawa F-16 kit would be correct for a 2005 era Tiger? Does anyone know for sure? 

 

I'll also be using the Quickboost auxiliary air intakes. The kits come with open intakes too, but the QB set is much nicer, and the inlet vanes are separate, which will make painting them much easier. In the kit, the open vanes are molded in place, making for a very difficult masking job. And while were talking about this, here's a bit of info: these intakes are only open when the engines are running! So unless you're going to model your Tiger with a pilot or engine mechanic in the cockpit, use the closed vane insert provided in the kit. Then again, modeling is supposed to be fun, so if you want them open, and no one in the cockpit, go for it! You can paint the aircraft pink if you like too 😆 

 

In the pic below, you can see what an F-5 looks like in take off configuration (pic 2): nose gear leg hiked up, landing lights down, auxiliary engine doors open, main nose gear door closed, and fuselage main gear doors closed. Fortunately, all of these options are thoughtfully supplied in the AFV kit. Hats of to you AFV!

 

The last item can be seen in the pic as well.... the AN/ASQ-T50 (V)1 instrumentation pod. Mine came from Flight Line Resin. On the other wingtip the Saints usually had a dummy AIM-9M round, so that's what I'll do too.

 

I'll post a pic of the decals in the next post. Fred.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by f5guy

[f5guy]

Another pic, but closer. Fred.

[A-10 LOADER]

Looking forward to watching this one unfold. Your buddy did a nice job on the base.

Steve

[Thadeus]

Lovelly project. Very nice scheme options.

[ST0RM]

Awesome project plan, Fred. And always a bonus being F-5s. 
I'm sure it will turn out well. The base turned out great. He gave you the perfect start. 

 

-Jeff

P.S. Here's a great short vid to keep the mojo flowing. VMFT-401, but F-5s nonetheless

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by ST0RM

[f5guy]

4 hours ago, ST0RM said:

Awesome project plan, Fred. And always a bonus being F-5s. 
I'm sure it will turn out well. The base turned out great. He gave you the perfect start. 

 

-Jeff

P.S. Here's a great short vid to keep the mojo flowing. VMFT-401, but F-5s nonetheless

 

 

Cool video Jeff, thanks! Some good ref's on helmet colors too. Thanks, Fred.

 

[f5guy]

4 hours ago, Thadeus said:

Lovelly project. Very nice scheme options.

 

Thanks Thadeus! That kit goes together so well that I should have the first one ready for paint in a few days 👍. Regards, Fred.

[lgl007]

Goody ... goody ... goody... this is gonna be fun 🙂

 

-Greg

[f5guy]

So here's the decals that I'll be using. Fred.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by f5guy

[f5guy]

Awhile back I had Greg at Gatorzmask cut some masks for me using the Twobobs instruction sheet as a pattern. Two of the three masks are show in the pic. The last time I looked at his site, it was for sale, so I don't think he's in business anymore.

 

However, an alternative can be found here: http://www.advmodprds.com/am48-319.html  I just picked up a bunch of these masks from owner Jim yesterday, who just happens to live only a few miles away. How handy is that?! All for now, Fred.

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by f5guy

[SERNAK]

On 5/1/2023 at 4:01 PM, ST0RM said:

Awesome project plan, Fred. And always a bonus being F-5s. 
I'm sure it will turn out well. The base turned out great. He gave you the perfect start. 

 

-Jeff

P.S. Here's a great short vid to keep the mojo flowing. VMFT-401, but F-5s nonetheless

 

@Fred: Another great topic Fred!!! Thank you for keeping us motivated to finally start building our own collections of Adversaries!!!

 

@Jeff: Now that you mentioned VMFT-401, it would be nice if FINALLY somebody would produce some decals for the early F-5s of the squadron. You know the ones with the narrowed nose numbers.

 

Keep them coming Fred!!!

 

-Bill

Edited May 9, 2023 by SERNAK

[f5guy]

Hi everyone,

      Well after dropping the ball on this build almost two years ago now, it's back on. Recently I wanted to build a couple of USAF aggressor F-5Es, and made myself promise to drag these two along in the process, so here I go!

      As you can see, the build of #04 has progressed well, and is now just about to the painting stage. The only issues that I've encountered with the kit all revolve around putting a pilot into the tub. First of all, once installed, the canopy lifting mechanism doesn't really let the canopy sit flat on the airframe. The bottom of the mechanism parts need to be trimmed down, and the little rectangular alignment pin for the canopy on top of the "U" shaped part that sits inside of the canopy needs to be removed. Once this is done the canopy will sit flat on the cockpit side frame. 

     The other problem has been the Aerobonus pilot/seat itself. The head provided for the pilot shows him with his visor up. Since these jets are about to roll, I want the visor down. I ended up substituting the heads from a Hasegawa F-18 pilot, which fit perfectly with a little adjustment to the oxygen hose. The pilot itself has two issues.... both relating to whoever carved the masters. Apparently they never checked to see if things line up. Simply put, the pilots hands don't get close to the throttle or control stick, and there's no way to get them there. This must be one of those upgraded "hands off launch" F-5s 🤣 Hopefully it won't be too noticeable once the lid is on. When I get to #25 I'll check if using the arms from the Hasegawa F-18 solves the problem. 

     Tonight I will get the glass on and get it ready for paint. Hopefully I can get the Euro One gray down in the coming week. Thanks for being patient with me. Fred K.

 

Edited January 28 by f5guy

[f5guy]

As a teaser, here's another AFV kit finished up as a USAF aggressor. I selected this jet because it later became VFC-13 #03, which I plan to build at some point. I think it's neat to see the history of the airframe during different time frames. All for now, Fred.

 

 

Edited January 28 by f5guy

[Drifterdon]

Awesome project Fred.   I am a huge fan of your F-5 builds.   Can't get enough of them.

[f5guy]

3 hours ago, Drifterdon said:

Awesome project Fred.   I am a huge fan of your F-5 builds.   Can't get enough of them.

 

Thanks Don! I'm on an F-5E kick at the moment. Hopefully I can keep it going as I have a couple of aggressor F-16s and an F-15 in the works as well. I'm hoping to keep the mojo flowing long enough to put a dent in all of these projects 🤣 Fred.

[A-10 LOADER]

Glad to see you get back on this one Fred.

Steve

[BastianD]

Interesting project to follow.

I have a brush painted Navy F-5 from Monogram, which I intend to renovate and airbrush into a nice new camo.

Will follow your builds!

[f5guy]

Thanks for your kind comments Steve and BastianD 👍

 

Okay, the Euro One gray (FS 36081) for #04 is on! As you can see in the pic, the paint used is my much trusted and missed, Model Master brand. Tomorrow (Tuesday), I will give it a coat of Future to seal the dark gray. Wednesday I hope to start masking. 

 

Speaking of which.... I've decided to use the set of masks that I got from Aeromask, instead of the ones that I had made by Gatorzmask. I like the yellow tape style masks of Aeromasks better than the plastic film style used by Gatorzmask. Aeromask seems to adhere better. More to follow. Fred.

 

 

[A-10 LOADER]

She looks good Fred, LOVE my MM !

Steve

[Thadeus]

Hey, if You get back at a project it doesn't matter how long it had to take. Great to see You back at it.