1/48 Revell (Germany) F-5A 

Freedom Fighter 

by Robert T. Rio

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Hello ARC'ers everywhere, here is another submission fresh out of my workshop. This time it is one of our very own Philippine Air Force F5A 'Freedom Fighter'. The F5A was the leading tactical fighter during it's time equal to the Mig-21. It was the guardian of our Philippine skies for 20 or so years.  However, the pull-out of the U.S. bases from our country saw also the demise of this aircraft from our Air Force arsenal.  Presently the only existing F5's are in our air force museum. The markings and insignia depicts the 6th Tactical Fighter Squadron (cobra) based in the Northern Luzon area. This unit flew the F5A's and B's.

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The model came from a 1/48 Revell (Germany) F5E Tigershark kit. As this kit is not readily available here, I had to order it through the internet, it was a bit expensive as compared to local prices, but well worth it.  I had to convert the 'E' model into the 'A' model by cutting some of the extensions in the leading edges of the wing roots.  I also did a lot of scratch building with the cockpit and the landing gear details (thanks to the ARC walk-around pictures). The main decals for the insignias were printed from my computer's printer as Philippine Air Force decals are not available anywhere. I used all-Tamiya enamel colors as these are the only readily available locally.  Flat aluminum was used for the finishing coats some panels were given a tint of blue for the weathering effects. This is my first attempt at air brushing an entire model.

The over-all build and fit was good (minimal sanding and filling) as this was a level 3 kit however the details were not so involved and probably lacking for the more demanding modellers, but a good challenge for scratch building. 

Panel lines were not recessed and sparse. The out of the box decals were really high in quality. Overall I'd give the kit an 80 percent rating.  Hope you like this one... Salamat (thanks). 

Robert

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Photos and text © by Robert T. Rio