I was woundering if anyone knew of any 1/48 or 1/32 T-38 kits out there? Most of the 1/48 kits I have seen have been discontinued [:(]. I was hoping to build a 1/48 or larger T-38 in NASA markings.
A few years ago I built the Testors T 38. It said on the box it was 1/48th, but given the age and simplicity of the kit I did wonder. It’s very basic but cleanly moulded, as a Testors kit it probably originated somewhere else, but who made it first I don’t know. Funnily enough I built it as a NASA plane, using markings from a U2 model which may also have been a Testors kit, I can’t remember, sorry.
For old kits for sale, try a UK company, modelsforsale.com, Good Luck.
IIRC, the Testors 1:48 T-38 is the old Fujimi kit. I believe they (Fuje) also had an F-5A.
FITTER
Caine
Collect-Aire Resin Models offers a 1/32 T-38A for sale. But it is spendy. They want 2 bills for it. Hope this helps.
Jazz
I have bought several 1/48 scale T-38’s off EBAY. They are not always listed and you may have to search over a period of time. There is one up for bidding right now that ends in 2 days, 15May03. Make sure you vary your searches,
T-38, T-38A, or Talon. This goes for most models sold on ebay, make sure you dont give up after one search
Squadron has a 1/48 scale T-38 made by Sword available for preorder but it is $41.47, YIKES! Here is the link if you are interested:
http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=kps48004
The Czech manufacturer Sword recently announced an all new limited run release of a T-38 in 1/48. Squadron has it listed as a pre-order. Sword kits aint exactly Tamiya quality but should be better than the ooold Testors/Fujimi kit.
Rick
The Sword kit has to be better than the old Testors re-popo of the Fujimi kit…
IIRC the Testors/Fujimi kit was actually an F-5B that measured out to 1/50 scale. Off the top of my head the other problems were:
Nose too pointy
Windscreen round front; should be squared because of a fairing (missing on kit)over the instrument panel
Cockpit and seats nonexistent
Wheel wells too shallow or nonexistent
Intake lip incorrect
Box-like fairing under trailing edge of vert fin that was not on the T-38
The kit would require a HUGE amount of scratchbuiling to make it a correct T-38. You might try “backdating” the Mono F-5F but that too would require a great deal of modification.
Mongo