F-5 kit listing

[Nev]

This is by no means definative, but is collated from comments on the various F-5 kits out there. I thought it might be of help to anyone contemplating entering, but not sure about which kit is the "best" for them. Anyone who has anything to add, feel free

it's by no means a complete list, but if anyone wants to do a 1/144 entry, I can vouch for the LS/Arii F-20 and The DML/Shanghai Dragon F-5E. However, AVOID at ALL COSTS the Airfix F-20. Also, if you want to do a 1/116.5 F-5A from Arii, please do. Just don't expect one in 1/144 from them.

The dragon offering is fairly common on ebay, and the Arii F-5A shows up only occasionally, sometimes bundled with a silly little factory diorama. Greatmodels lists the F-20, but I waited two weeks on backorder with them, so I gave up. Discount Trains Online had them and delivered quite quickly, but their flat $6.95US shipping rate is rather high given small orders.

The Hase 1/72 F-20 is also very nice, if a bit sparse where the cockpit is concerned. The fit and quality of the plastic is great, but maybe that's just a proud Hasegawa tradition. It's common at every place I know of, and cheap too (~$7.00US). It's 1/48 counterpart from Monogram is apparently very nice and reasonably frequent on ebay too, but there's a 50/50 split between practically stealing one or getting reamed for it.

And I've seen enough reviews of the 1/72 Revell/Trumpeter F-5E to know that it's a good'n, even though the former has raised lines.

The Italeri F-5E/F are arguably the best kits of the F-5E/F in 1:72 even with raised panel lines (not that they bother me anyway), while the Tumpeter/Mini-hobby F-5E kit is a copy of the Italeri kit with recessed panel lines.

Esci/Italeri early series F-5A/B are excellent kits as well.

I have heard the Esci/Italeri F-5's in 1:48 are pretty average. The Monogram F-5E/F & F-20 kits are very nice but need work to produce a nice model.

Hasegawa makes a fine T-38/F-20 and X-29 in 1:72

Stay away from Fujimi F-5's and T-38's. They are 1:50 not 1:48

For a 1:48 T-38 Talon, I would recommend the Sword multimedia kit and of course the Classic Airframes F-5A/B kits are available and build up rather well.

Hasagawa produce a lovely F-5E kit in 1:32 with the sharknose style of radome. I believe the Revell kit is a reboxing of the Hase kit. (I have both and IMHO they are indistinguishable in the box).

There's a lot of kits out there, but here's my vote for the best in scale....

1/144:

F-5E: Revell, (I haven't seen the Dragon kit yet, so I dunno...unless the Revell is a rebox of it)

1/72:

F-5A/B: ex-Esci or Esci reboxes (Italeri-A, Revell-. In fact I'd venture to say these are the best A/B kits in ANY scale!

And if you can find an original Esci kit, even better, as it has a good decal sheet.

F-5E/F: Italeri/Testors

1/48

F-5E/F: Monogram

F-5A/B: Classic Airframes

F-20: Monogram

T-38: Sword

1/32:

F-5E: Hasegawa

Edited March 1, 2005 by Habu

[Nev]

Okay, here is a relatively comprehensive list of available F-5 variants and scales. Not all are currently available, but perhaps this might open up some possibilities for those of you lurkers that might have one of the lesser known kits on their shelves.

F-5A/B (and T-38)

1/144

Arii. Actually, more like 1/130 or so and kind of crude. Bachmann also did a T-38 in about this scale in the Miniplanes line back in the 1970s assuming you find one and want to turn it into a true model.

1/72

Hasegawa. The "T-38" is actually more like an F-5B then a true T-38, unless the intakes have been modified since the last version I got (still has other more specific F-5 features in the kit). The Hasegawa "T-38" has also been offered with Thunderbirds decals over the years and Superscale also makes a sheet. Both kits are older with crude lack of cockpits and raised panel lines.

Esci/AMT-Ertl/Italeri/Revell. The Esci F-5A and F-5B kits have been reissued (F-5A by Italeri and F-5B by Revell respectively). They are jewels in 1/72 and the best to start with (recessed panels). FSM November 1988 issue also has a nice conversion article for doing up an Esci F-5B as a T-38.

Airfix (F-5A only). Raised panel lines, a somewhat respectiable kit, but probably better left to collectors since this one hasn't been out for years.

Matchbox. The Matchbox F-5A is not a bad model for its age and comparable to the Hasegawa F-5s (maybe a little better in spots but still lacks a full cockpit and has raised panel lines) and a pretty easy build. The F-5B is probably best avoided as the nose is rather odd.

PM Model (Pegasus). These kits amount to little more then crude copies of the Hasegawa kits. Only one that might be worth getting would be the NF-5A Turkish Stars issue as it has the only set of decals that I know of for this display team in 1/72. Looking at the parts for the NF-5A, it looks buildable and they sell for very cheap prices ($5.00 in my case). So if the decals work, this might be a bargain aftermarket decal source for an Esci kit.

1/48

Fujimi (1/50 scale or so actually). Probably best left as a parts donor kit. The decals in the last issue of the T-38 might be worth getting for a Thunderbirds plane as they look nice. Although there could be some fit problems with adapting them to a Sword kit. BTW, Minicraft/Academy did do a copy of the Fujimi F-5B in the early days and it should be avoided like the plague as it is even worse then the Fujimi kit.

Hawk/Testors. For the longest time, the only game in town. Buildable, but crude in spots. Still, they can be had for cheap prices these days.

Classic Airframes (Sword for the T-38). Expensive, but worth it. These are state of the art with beautiful resin pieces. The Sword kit and the CA F-5B practically look like twins of one another in terms of parts layout.

1/32

Belcher Bits (conversion kit). Well, for the masochists that want to do an F-5A from the Hasegawa kit, this is what you need to do it. Practically the entire center fuselage needs to be replaced in the conversion though. Still needs a lot of work to pull off, even with the resin, but you get a good starting point to do it with.

F-5E/F

1/144

Dragon and Revell. Presumeably, these are the same kit. I have examples of both, but not in the same place. The F-5F just uses a different nose section from the F-5E kit. Very nice for the size and correctly scaled.

1/72

Airfix/MPC. Crude, but good outline. If you have one in the stash, it can be done up as a nice F-5E

Italeri/Testors. Offered for years and still the best F-5E/F variants on the market. Raised panel lines, but excellent parts otherwise.

Trumpeter/Mini Hobby. Italeri kit copy with recessed panels, but I still think the Italeri kit is the better option as the copy work is crude.

1/48

Esci/Italeri. Comparable quality to Monogram, but suffers from poorer fit and a cockpit with flat decal panel instruments and made up elements (typical gripe against Italeri kits today). Nice decal options offered though with many different choices of users.

Monogram. Typical 1980s Monogram quality with good accuracy and reasonably good fit. RF-5E camera nose included in F-5E offering. The F-5F can be a bit difficult to locate and its the only F-5F in 1/48 scale.

1/32

Hasegawa. Excellent quality. I believe that the Revell issue in Patroulle Swisse markings is simply the Hasegawa kit reboxed.

F-20 Tigershark

1/144

LS/Arii. Beautiful little kit in 1/144 scale. The Arii kit is the LS kit reissued.

Airfix/Heller (and some chinese company). All of these are the same mold and are a crude copy of the LS kit. Best left avoided as the LS kit is much better.

1/100

Takara (and I believe reissued by Revell of Germany at one time). Not a bad kit and in Area 88 markings. Not quite Hasegawa 1/72 quality, but not bad.

1/72

Hasegawa. 1980s Hasegawa quality shows in this mold. Offered in gray and the red and white F-20 markings. A limited issue Area 88 version with markings for Shin's Tigershark has also been offered recently.

1/48

Monogram. Typical 80s Monogram quality. Accuracy is good and fit is okay (could be better). In addition to Monogram packaging, Hasegawa has also offered it for the Japanese market and this version might be available though HLJ.com.

I finally had a chance to dig my 1/144 Revell F-5E out of storage and compare it with the DML kit. They are totally different. The Revell fuselage is one piece and looks bloody nice. The seperate wings feature the larger leading edge wing extensions like an F-20 as opposed to the smaller leading edges found on the DML kit. The nose also looks like a correct F-20 style nose as used on the Swiss machines. As an added touch, Revell even added open air bleed doors on the aft fuselage. Needless to say, this kit is a beauty and the best F-5E in 1/144 right now.

[Nev]

I had some lull time and decided to pull out the 48th ESCI/Italeri & Monogram F-5E's to see how they stacked up.

I'll just refer to the ESCI/AMT/Italeri kit as ESCI, since that was the original company responsible for its tooling.

COCKPIT:

--Monogram:

---Both kits suffer from poor cockpits. While Monogram tried to get it all in 3-4 pieces, the tub and side consoles wind up short. The seat is ok, but the head rest has to be reshaped. Also, being molded as part of the tub makes it look overly wide, as there's no side wall separation. The instro panel is adequately detailed if on the flat side but the HUD structure is crude.

--ESCI:

---The tub here is well laid out having adequate proportions, but void any useful detail! Instro panel and console details comprise of cheesy flat faced decals. The seat is just flat out inaccurate as you can get. It's a multi piece affair with general detail.

CANOPY:

-Monogram & ESCI's canopies is are not distortion free and would benefit from some meshing and the future treatment. Front canopies break down quite differently. While Monogram kept it simple and molded the for windshield separate, ESCI molded it as part of the forward upper fuselage. In doing this, the de-icing faring is molded with the front windscreen and is quite bad. Monogram's is molded as part of the fuselage and looks right as is.

Monogram's main canopy is separate from the canopy framing which is a bad design as we pay the price in trying not to get any goober marks from assembling. ESCI had the right idea finally, by molding the whole main canopy frame and canopy as one piece. However, the ESCI canopies are to narrow. See nest section.

FUSELAGE:

-One thing I noticed right off, was that the cockpit/forward fuselage section of the ESCI kit is way to narrow. I looked back at one I had built some 18 years ago, and the whole area, especially the canopy looks real odd. The narrow profile does to the F-5E look as does the 48th Otaki F-16 canopy to the Viper's look.

ESCI's coke bottle taper is off. Looking aft, about where the flaps are, the bulge out starts to early. This give it a larger cross section, giving a fatter look in that area. Monogram's proportions are fine overall. Both kits aft ends (nozzle area) measure up quite well.

--Intakes:

---ESCI's intake profile is a bit wide and the mouth outboard side and lower area are not shaped right. You'll have to get some good pics to shape them properly. I do like that they are thinly molded though. While Monogram has the intake mouth profile right, they are overly thick and fit real bad. Also note that you will have to shim the right intake "inboard" splitter plate with a thin piece of sheet stock. There's step there that can't sanded out without sanding away the whole inboard plate. You will also be spending some time shaving and sanding the inside of the intake mouth to properly get the "scale thickness" correct.

WINGS:

-Both kits wings look proportionally ok, but the ESCI kit suffers worse sink holes and trenches compared to Monogram's, which aren't that great to begin with. The ESCI kit have heavy LEF, Aileron, and flap separations, but at least they are present where as Monogram's only has the ailerons scribed!

MLG:

-The landing gear is nicely detailed for both kits. Monogram's MLG wheels & brakes are more accurate than the ESCI, but the ESCI kit has a better NLG wheel/tire. Both NLG struts have solid torque links, which is a wrong depiction . F-5E's have dual over/dual bar torque links hinged behind the strut for max extension of the 2 position strut.

EXHAUST:

-No winners here. Both kits have nozzles void of any interior detail. ESCI does provide under scaled turbine/flame holder parts, but no real exhaust pipe.

Overall, Monogram's shape is much more accurate and is a better choice as a baseline for a super detail build. Add a Black box pit, detail out the wheels wells, fix NLG strut, rescribe, and spruce up the exhaust, and you can turn out a nice F-5E. Both kits are going to be some real work to construct cleanly.

[Old72s]

There's also a Minicraft F-5A in 1/72. Don't know if it's a reboxing of someone -- raised panel lines, comes with Sidewinders and Bullpups.

[jbrundt]

What about the RoG F-5E Sharknose in 1/32?

Jeff

[Old72s]

Academy/Minicraft reboxing Airfix? Never heard of it. Parts breakdown and the pilot do not look like Airfix either. (edit) Found sprue shots of the Airfix kit here: http://miarroba.com/foros/ver.php?temaid=1...8&foroid=353326. The Academy/Minicraft kit is quite different.

Aside from the absent cockpit, the model fits well and looks good in outline.

Edited March 22, 2005 by Old72s

[Old72s]

Yeah, odd Habu. I cannot find anything on that kit.

[Iron Eagle]

Does the Italeri 1/72 F-5E Swiss Tiger kit contain the old nose so I can make an USAF version?

[Iron Eagle]

... cuz the boxart kinda shows the kit as having the shark nose, just like the one entry in the Gallery. Why are there two different styles anyways?

[Jim Barr]

  Does the Italeri 1/72 F-5E Swiss Tiger kit contain the old nose so I can make an USAF version?

No, the "Shark nose is part of the body, not a separate part, the same for the "big" LEX extensions, all molded as part of the body.

As for the reason, the Shark nose gives the F-5E a little bit better aerodynamics and so it goes on the birds with no radar (Navy) or that have one of the physically smaller radar units as some counties do .

Regards

Jim Barr

Edited March 30, 2005 by Jim Barr

[Iron Eagle]

Thanks guys. So that means that particular kit is not suited for an Air Force aircraft?

Edited March 30, 2005 by Iron Eagle

[Jim Barr]

Thanks guys. So that means that particular kit is not suited for an Air Force aircraft?

That is correct, I seem to remember that some of the AF birds that were turned over to the Navy might have had their radome replaced with a Shark nose, but would not swear to it.

Regardless, no airframe should have the shark nose if it is carrying Air Force markings, would be happy to be proven wrong thought as that would make for a unique aircraft.

Regards

Jim Barr

[Iron Eagle]

Thanks again! ;)

[Dr Fester]

Hi all,

Not sure if this link has been given yet but looks like good reference material for you guys.

F-5 Kit List

Forgive me if this link is common knowledge here .

Take it easy.

Doc

[UKPonchoMan]

OK guys ...

So where do we get a decent cockpit??? :lol:

I'm planning on scratchbuilding using the Black Box 1/32nd cockpit as a guide.

Help wanted!

Chris St Clair

[torchf4]

Thanks guys. So that means that particular kit is not suited for an Air Force aircraft?

That is correct, I seem to remember that some of the AF birds that were turned over to the Navy might have had their radome replaced with a Shark nose, but would not swear to it.

Regardless, no airframe should have the shark nose if it is carrying Air Force markings, would be happy to be proven wrong thought as that would make for a unique aircraft.

Regards

Jim Barr

Yeah you're right Jim. All the USAF birds were early blocks so no sharknose and -6 LERXes. Don't think any of the birds that went to the Navy were modded with the sharknose as that requires a LERX change as well. You can't just change the radome.

The radar is the same whether you have a normal or sharknose. The flattened tip do not affect the operation of the radar dish.

The new nose and larger LERXes were the result of the F-20 program. The new radome increased stability at higher AOAs and reduced departure tendencies while the larger LERXes increased lift and turn rate.