The release in 1978 of this 1/48th Monogram F-5E produced the first decent injection mould kit of this nimble fighter. The kit would be considered rather simple and ill-fitting by today's standard, however it wasn't really bested for about three decades.
Notable Kit Features:
Simple kit with relatively few parts
Cockpit features raised details and dials
Option for Open or Closed canopy
Speed brakes can be open or closed
Decent detail in landing gear
Optional RF nose provided (in some boxings)
Stores provided include: 2 x LGB, 2x SUU-16/A Gun Pods, 2 x Sidewinders and a centre-line tank
Standing pilot and boarding ladder included
Raised panel lines with recessed details (such as control surfaces)
Build Inspiration:
Maybe you have seen this Vietnam war movie called Apocalypse Now..? It was released a year after this Monogram kit was and in one of the main scenes an O-2A FAC (Forward Air Controller) leads a finger-four of F-5s in for a napalm strike on a treeline the group is taking fire from... after which Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) utters the movie's most quoted line "You smell that? Do you smell that?... Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of napalm in the morning." I think those F-5s were the A model however I picked up several of these 1/48th Monogram F-5E kits and had a group of them hanging in my room after that display. Later, when I got interested in the Red Flag operations, I repainted the kits in 64th Aggressor Squadron camouflage, although one of the four was written off in a LOC-I (Loss of control - In flight) accident, prior to repaint.
Heads-Up Report:
I mentioned the kit was simple, I didn't say it would be an easy build
Cockpit is not up to Monogram's usual high-standard and ejection seat is moulded into the pit (Making replacement a bigger challenge)
Main assembly has the upper fuselage with attached wing and horizontal tails merge with lower fuselage, which seems quick until you start in on cleaning up the rather poor seams along the underside
Pylons have larger rectangular slots to plug into - so if you don't want these installed, you have some more filling and sanding to do
Ejector pin markings were present on many parts
Intakes have shallow see-through trunks into the fuselage and do not fit well - more sanding required
Exhausts have little interior depth and no detail
Canopy in closed position does not fit well at all and will require a gap fill
Why the weapons include 2x LGBs and Gun Pods are a mystery as I don't believe either were ever carried operationally
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Installed seated pilots borrowed from other 1/48th Monogram models
Sanded off remaining raised panel lines
Filled in underside wing pylon mounting slots (Aggressors typically kept the centre pylon)
Replaced plastic nose guns with hypodermic needles
Closed up all the gear doors and airbrakes
Cut off ends of exhaust to simulate more engine depth
Replaced pitot tube with steel pin
Used Third-Party decals for the Aggressors (Microscale?)
Finishing:
The Aggressor paint jobs were selected from the various ones available from the decal sheet. I went for a variety, depicting three of the 64th FITS, 57th FWW, F-5E "Adversaries" at Nellis AFB, NV, circa 1980 with "Snake" FS 33531 / FS 30118; "Lizard" FS 34258 / FS 33531 / FS 30118 and "Blues" FS 35164 / FS 35237 / FS 36307. Many of these paints were custom mixes given the availability of colours back in the 80s (remember this was before the Internet where you could just search the world and order from anywhere ;) From there on it was gloss decal, dull coat and then put the delicate parts on.
The After-Build Report:
It does seem a bit odd with the interest in Red Flag / Top Gun that this late 70s 1/48th Monogram F-5E kit was the best available model of this aircraft until the 2010 release of the 1/48th AFV Club kit. While this kit will look the part if you just want an inexpensive option, it requires a bit of work. The AFV kit looks much nicer but was not easy to find (for me in Canada) and rather an expensive kit when I did see one.
Completed build #31-32-33 - December 1986 using the 1/48th scale Monogram #5407 kit. Refinished in 64th Squadron Aggressor markings in March 1988
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers
Comments