I just love these jets. There are so many wild schemes that you can do for a couple dozen countries! As much as I love the aggressor schemes I lost it over this one, the Blackites, an elite Republic of Singapore unit.
So we’ve all seen alot of these KittyHawk kits BUT who’s checked out the Tiger decal all by itself in the F-5F boxing?
Exciting isn’t it! So I’m almost done with my AH-1Z Viper build so while some paint was drying I spent a night researching this one. My plan is to do 144 Squadron from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, complete with all tiger striping. Their mascot is a Black Kite, which looks a lot like a falcon. Definitely a bird of prey.
My only aftermarket here is the seemless intakes from Phase Hangar Resins and I have 1 seat left from Harold at AMS Resin. This one will be all about the final paint. Will probably post a few updates as i go along knowing we’ve all seen the many kit builds done. Will pick up the pace once it’s time to tame the Tiger … striping
here’s a few glamor shots for reference to this cool scheme
Well slower progress last weekend then i expected. I feel like i got the repop of these F-5 kits. There are half broken runners all thru them. On the nose gear it almost looks like it has 3…axels lol
So far the side panels are on, the IP is soaking in MicroSol, the seats and cockpit tubs are painted up ready for decals and some pin point painting.
Hoping to find some pilots out there no one has used. For now I primered the REO but will hold off till I see if anyone responds to my request for spares.
Not too bad me thinks for using the kit decals. The one really bad thing was that they were missing a color. These didn’t have the gray printed on them. What a pain. If my cockpit were going to be open I’d have sourced new ones. Given the horrible clear parts these will look the part lol
Looking good. That should be a striking airplane in those markings.
Fun doing big F5s!
I am stunned on how good those IP look
That’s very odd. I quoted TJ’s IP comment and got that in the box[*-)]
let’s see if it happens again. I actually went back up and looked at tempest’s post again, and went, huh weird [:^)]
Thanks for the props on the IP guys! I’m going to have to make the canopies removeable so they an be seen. Kittyhawks’s canopies aren’t exactly clear even after future. It looks like they are molded around an octagon. I mean, what is a curve anyway but a sequence of really short straight lines butted together lol
Beautiful work on the IPs, Mongoose.
Absolutely - hiding those would be a real shame!
This is coming together! Of all things KittyHawk switched the design and only included 1 open gun door AND one gun! The other side has a blank. Of all things i need 2 guns for the RSAF. That’s what has taken so long for an update. I fashioned a mount for the gun and replicated the internal supports. Then had to bore the hole for the gun. That’s rather tough to do at the sharp angle they exit the fuselage.
While I’ve been waiting at different stages i put the fuel tank together. This is one of the highlights of the kit. Beautiful joint that hasn’t required any putty or superglue so far to clean up the join. I’ve also started using the Flory wash to test the seams. Washes right out when done and so far is saving me from priming and then having to sand off primer to do the repairs. A real time saver.
what’s currently slowing down the build are the seamless intakes. The entry section is good and can be made to match up well. Getting the solid tube to go over the gear bay is another story though. I’ve stopped here and ordered some flexible tube to see if a hybrid can be created.
the other headache is all the sanding. Dremel, HEPA filter mask and doing everything in my paintbooth with the fan on because of so much sanding. These have to be really thin at the entrance and paper thin along the length to clear the sides of the fuselage.
all this has to be sanded down
It’s frustating when one is crusing and grooving along with a build and a brick wall comes out of nowhere bringing you to a full complete stop. Hopefully you will solve the intake trunking issue.
No, sorry I’m not at paint yet 
getting very close to primer though. This model is a ‘Tale of two cities’ for sure. There are things i like, things that make me go hmmmmm, and things I spend time on to straighten out.
Check out this wing joint, just a trim on the outer most radius and it fit beautiful
then you look at the intake ramps and think hmmmm, not even the C team was on this. Dang it’s taken me 4x to CA and sand this to get them all smooth and invisible
And last a teaser for what is to come hopefully this weekend…
Reached a grand milestone today, the fuselage is together 
After 3 F-5 builds I’ve gotten the best seams ever. Same approach here as my E, the 3 fuselage pieces and both intakes go together all at the same time, CA the shoulder on top of the fuselage to tack it together, then roll it over and tack the bottom. Once everything is aligned the Tamiya extra thin is applied to all the joints.
heres a peek inside. I created a hybrid of the seamless intakes. The section that went over the engines was awkward to say the least. The other issue is that way way way too much sanding is required. The instructions say alot is required but it turned out ridiculous. The tubing allows for flexibility and a little misalignment so that the intakes can be glued on squarely.
Today was primer for the F. With all the black on this one i decided to go over the underside of the fuselage again before a coat of black. That paid off well as there’s very little to do now.
my yin and yang is to rescribe or not to rescribe lol
i have to figure out the horizon line for the top yet. My 1st mask print in paper showed to be undersized. Rather than rush it I just worked on the front and bottom of fuselage. Should be able to erase the join pretty easy on this now as it’s faint in black.
Well once i got to paint I had to pick one or the other to focus on. With the F-5E nearly finished it’s time to start the Blackite again! It’s a horribly cold and rainy day here in Cincinnati. Definitely time to stay in and paint. To kick things off I’ve got all the primer on now and will start on the masking this afternoon. Getting my motivation up so here are a few shots of progress in completing the primer…
Wonderful build thread so far, now for the fun and pretty stuff [:D]
Hey drums01 I’m getting to the fun and pretty stuff for sure now!
Dang these stripes really tax your eyes 
the flat surfaces went well. The spine has taken more than 3 days on and off after work to get right. I ended up splicing together a couple pieces at different angles to get it all sorted. I scanned pictures and side view drawings to get the different views and angles I needed. then did the splice on the plane from what i scaled and printed out on paper. Last I scanned the spliced piece into the Silhouette design software, modified the points along the lines to sharpen them up, and printed on Tamiya masking. Given all the family stuff going on this weekend it looks like the next round of painting will be tomorrow.
Another 4hrs got me thru the dark gull gray stripes. All the major work is done now. Later next week I’ll get to sanding down the edges and doing a few touchups it needs. I think it will need a wash and maybe even a filter to blend things together. The difference in the gray shades seems kind of bold. Let me know what you guys think?
Ambitious project! I think it’s going to look sharp.
Very VERY cool scheme going on this bird. Nice!!! [Y]
Thanks Jeaton, thanks mustang1989! Glad to hear you’re enjoying the build [H]
mostly working on little stuff right now. Painted pilots tonight, primed canopies, glued some small stuff on the fuselage.
now here’s the carazy part! I spent an afternoon researching the refueling probe, location, shape, even pulled out the one from my F-100 and made a mold of the probe itself to use…fast forward to today. I’m looking at pilots in prep for paint and realize KH put it in the box in resin with the pilots and the ladder. WTH! Checked the instructions tonight and nope, not even shown in there. So it wasn’t me being forgetful, they just aren’t mentioned!
