Subject: Re: F-5A Submission
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 12:37:12 -0800

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
ARC Air - Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.arcair.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: [email-masked] 
  To: Aircraft Resource Center 
  Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2014 1:41 AM
  Subject: Fwd: F-5A Submission

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  From: "burt gustafson" <[email-masked]>
  To: "Aircraft Resource Center" <[email-masked]>
  Sent: Monday, December 30, 2013 4:05:08 AM
  Subject: F-5A Submission

  "1/48 Scale Kinetic F-5A Freedom Fighter" 

  by "Burt Gustafson"

  Please include your ARC Discussion Forum Name with your submission 
  -------------------- 

        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 01.jpg here 

  For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my 1/48 scale Kinetic F-5A Freedom Fighter. Designed in the 1950s, and built by Northrop, the F-5A/B Freedom Fighter and the F-5E/F Tiger II are part of a family of widely used light supersonic fighter aircraft. The F-5 was less complex than some contemporary aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom, and it was much cheaper to buy and operate, thus the F-5 became a popular aircraft on the export market.

   The F-5A first flew in 1959 and entered service in the 1960s. It was perhaps the most effective air-to-air fighter the U.S. had in the 1960s and early 1970s. Strengths included the aircraft's compact size, a high level of maneuverability, favorable flying qualities and a low accident rate. It also had a high sortie generation rate. Standard armament includes 2 M39 20 mm cannons, with additional pods or missiles of up to 62,000lbs on 5 hardpoints and 2 wing tips. During the Cold War, over 800 were produced through 1972 for U.S. allies. While the USAF had no acknowledged need for a light fighter, it procured roughly 1,200 trainer aircraft of an F-5 derivative. The USAF, the Marine Corp, and the U.S. Navy have all used the F-5 as an aggressor aircraft to teach pilots air-to-air combat.

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 03.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 03.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 04.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 04.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 05.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 05.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 06.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 06.jpg 

  Construction

  The first thing to note when you start building this kit is that the instruction guide is a whopping 34 pages, much of which is for the 16 marking options. To begin construction you must decide which version of the F-5A you wish to build. I choose to build the F-5A version. Note also that the kit is designed in a modular fashion with various inserts to support the differences in F-5As built for some countries. I found that when building the modules, the parts fit was pretty good. However, when connecting the modules together, the parts fit was not so good. A good deal of sanding and gap filling was required.

   Take notice that when building the cockpit, the canopy mechanism is molded in the open position. If you want it closed, pieces need to be cut away. Additionally, there are no decals for the instrument panels, just raised detail. But, with careful painting you can have a cockpit that looks fairly real. The ejection seat came without seat belts, so I added some PE seat belts. I also added a lead weight to the nose cone. Late in the construction I noticed that the tail was warped. I don't know if it came that way or if I caused it when installing the rudder.

   Following the illustrated construction guide, the kit goes together without too many hassles. I did a lot of test fitting, filling and sanding to obtain a good looking model.

         
        Steve Bamford will insert full sized version of photo 02.jpg here 

  Painting

  My model here depicts USAF F-5A 63-8381 before its delivery to Greece. For the most part this aircraft had a bare metal finish. Once the model was built I primed it with a coat of Model Masters Gloss Black and let it dry and cure for 48 hours. I airbrushed the engine area and the exhaust nozzles with Alclad Pale Burnt Metal. To achieve a shiny bare metal finish I airbrushed the rest of the model with Alclad II Polished Aluminum. I followed the recommended airbrushing method, 12 to 15 PSI air pressure and kept the airbrush close to the model surface while painting. The result was a very nice shiny bare metal finish.

  Decals

  The kit decal sheets provide markings for 16 different aircraft. I choose to use the decals for USAF aircraft 63-8381 which are superb. They behaved well, settling nicely onto two coats of Future. I used a few touches of Solvaset on each decal to ensure the decal snuggled down to the model surface.

  Comments

  To sum up, this was a very enjoyable kit to build. Kinetic has done a nice job with this kit. It is reasonably well detailed out of the box, has some fit problems, but the finished model is a good looking model.

  "Burt Gustafson"

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 07.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 07.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 08.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 08.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 09.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 09.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 10.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 10.jpg 

  Just delete any of the boxes below you don't need.....it's not important to include them.....they are there to give you an idea of the finished article.  It is best to limit your article to no more than 60 or so photos, so the finished webpage won't take too long to open.

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 11.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 11.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 12.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 12.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 13.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 13.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 14.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 14.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 15.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 15.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 16.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 16.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 17.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 17.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 18.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 18.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 19.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 19.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 20.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 20.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 21.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 21.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 22.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 22.jpg 

        Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 23.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 23.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 24.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 24.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 25.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 25.jpg Steve Bamford will insert a click-able smaller version of photo 26.jpg here.  Clicking on that photo will bring up the full sized version of photo 26.jpg 

         Photos and text © by "Burt Gustafson"