AFV 1/48th F-5E/F Triple Build: VFA-127 gets some love!

[Dutch]

Great save on #46 Fred.  F-5F is also looking great.

[f5guy]

Hi guys!

     I got the basic pattern down on #31. There is still a LOT of touch up and pattern adjustments to be made though. Having very few photographs to work from, especially for the top and bottom patterns, and the fact that the scheme changed quite a bit in a short amount of time, makes it quite tricky. No 100% accuracy guarantee's here, but I'm doing what I can 🤣 I'm hoping to have it done in a few weeks, and then move onto #20 and finish out this build by the end of the year.

     As a little teaser, I've decided that my next project thread will likely be to build an F-5E/F from each of the four USAF aggressor units that flew them: the 64th, and 65th at Nellis, the 527th at Alconbury UK, and the 26th AS at Clark in The Phillipines. See pic below. I'm keeping the paint scheme that I plan to model each kit in open for the moment, except the F, as no doubt it will change over time. You'll notice that there are five kits pictured, not four. Well.... my original plan was to build four F-5E's, but then I came across a pic of a 65th AS F-5F in an overall ADC Gray scheme that really caught my eye. I've always thought that the F-5E/F looked so sexy in that scheme! I had originally planned on doing an E in this scheme, but have a surplus F kit, so I decided to build it instead of the E. However, some preliminary work had already been done on the E, so I decided to just keep working on it, and if I have the motivation to build a fifth kit, I'll keep going. Maybe I'll end up doing it as another Navy jet. We'll see.... I'm not going to start a build thread until it actually gets going in case something changes. I don't want to make you guys suffer through another one of my years long build threads! Thanks for looking, Fred.

 

 

[Mr.Happy]

Looking sharp!

 

Best of luck on your project.

 

Mr. Happy

[f5guy]

On 11/19/2025 at 7:02 AM, Mr.Happy said:

Looking sharp!

 

Best of luck on your project.

 

Mr. Happy

 

Thanks! The F-5F will be finished tonight. I'll post some pics later. Fred.

 

 

[Night Owl Models]

Thanks for sharing your tripple threat love to see all those schemes definitely add as many as you can. I was addicted for a while to the Topgun TA-4Js still have two kits and all the paint and research photos in a box. 

 

[f5guy]

Hi everyone,

     Well here's #31 finished. I had planned on having it done a few days ago, but accidently damaged the rear canopy, and had to completely redo another one. Thankfully these kits come with two different styles of rear canopy, and I've built up a stash of extra's! Number 20 is next. You may notice that I changed up the tan color that I originally sprayed. After seeing it painted up, I felt that the original tan was too light, so I resprayed the model with FS 30140 (Mr. Color 526) instead. Judging colors from pics is always difficult, but I'm happy with my choice. See next post. Regards, Fred.

 

 

Edited November 24, 2025 by f5guy

[f5guy]

This guy is next 👍 Fred.

[A-10 LOADER]

Nice work on #31 Fred, she looks really good.

Steve

[f5guy]

17 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

Nice work on #31 Fred, she looks really good.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve! I hope to be adding the brown to #20 within the next day or two. Regards, Fred.

 

[ST0RM]

Keep those F-5s coming, Fred. Great work on them. 
-Jeff

[Geoff M]

Your F-5s are inspiring.  Great work.

 

[f5guy]

Hello again everyone! I hope that the new year is treating you well 👍

I've made some progress on #20 recently. Basically I'm just looking for a little time to get a wash on it, and finish it off. I had hoped to have it done before the end of the year, but no luck. I'll post more pics when it's done. Fred.

 

 

[A-10 LOADER]

Looks great Fred, very nice. Looking forward to the final pics.

Steve

[Thadeus]

Great Tigers. All of them. 

[f5guy]

Thanks Steve & Thadeus!

 

Okay, I am calling this build done! Not bad for me.... three 48th scale Tigers in only 5 months. That must be some sort of record 🤣

 

I used Model Master's Radom Tan FS33613, and Brown FS30140, for which Mr. Color #526 is dead on. One thing that I've noticed with the Mr. Color brown, now that I've used it a couple of times, is that when you apply it, and through the gloss coating process, it's pretty brown! But once you get a flat coat on it, it takes on a bit of a slightly reddish shade, and loses the darker brown shade, and looks much more accurate to FS30140 than when originally sprayed. You can really see it when you compare the pics below, to the pic a few posts above, when it was gloss coated.

The problem with these "reverse negative" paint schemes, where the markings are painted up in the opposite camo color, is that getting the paint to match the decals provided is next to impossible. Masks for the major part of a specific marking, with the fine print done by decal, is the best available option at the moment, but literally no one does that. So your best bet is to try to match the paint to the decal. The Radom Tan paint was very close to the decals. The brown.... a bit less so. The original test applications that I did looked good, but once dry you could see the variation. Oh well, it's still not awful! I think the 30140 lightened up with a touch of very light gray would have done the trick.

I'm still debating on doing the build thread that I mentioned several posts above of five F-5E/F's in USAF colors. In fact, one of the kits is already getting close to paint, although I still haven't decided which scheme to do. However, I'm going to take a break from the F-5's at the moment, and get another project or two done before jumping back in. So thanks for playing along! Regards, Fred.

 

 

Edited January 8 by f5guy

[A-10 LOADER]

Very nice work Fred.

Steve

[Niels]

Nice!