Northrop F-5E Po.A.F. "What if?" - Completed
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I always had a soft spot for the "Tiger II"and its unmistakable dart-like clean lines. I knew that I simply had to build one, eventually.
The Portuguese Air Force never operated the F-5E, albeit its supply was the subject of talks with the U.S.A. The SEA-type scheme was even oficialized by the Portuguese Air Force, but would become a mere paper tiger (pun intended!).
The A-7 Corsair II was chosen instead and the rest is history.
For this build I chose the magnificent AFV Club 1/48 kit. Loved every stage of the build, even with some mold over-engineering, to make different variants. My only criticism is the vague (and sometimes incorrect) colors information included. Keep your references handy.
I added a KASL hobby cockpit set because, why not?! The detail is exquisite and will greatly reward a patient and dedicated modeller. However I would *not* recommend it for the less experienced.
The Master turned brass set replaced the equivalent plastic parts and brought another level of realism (also, the pitot in the nose stung me a couple of times, so this might be a "Hornet" instead of a "Tiger" - The jury is still out to deliberate on that).
Having splashed the budget in the KASL and Master sets, decided to use the supplied AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. Pretty decent and look the part, after detailing and painting.
I wanted a clean look, so I chose to include only the wing tip Sidewinders and no other ordnance. However, I decided to add the ventral drop tank and paint it with the wavy demarcation line similar to the A-7P Corsair II, which was delivered exactly with its drop tanks in the same scheme.
