Revell (ESCI) 1/72 F-5A Freedom Fighter

This is the 1986 Revell reboxing of the original 1983 ESCI mold, which, by all means, is a nice kit that can solidly hold its own today. The specific kit was a gift from good Dutch friend John vd Biggelaar, as he knows I have an affection for old classic kits and for a look at its contents you may read its preview found in the ever growing MM archives.

I started by trapping the nice cockpit tub between the front fuselage halves. Basic cockpit color was Hu140 Gull Gray, while the stick grip, throttle quadrant and top anti-glare area were painted black. I used the very nice instrument decals for the instrument panel and side consoles. The equally nice four piece seat was also assembled. Its frame was painted the same cockpit gray, its head cushion red, its lower cushions a medium green and its ejection handles yellow with black stripes. The only thing I added were seat belts from masking tape and, in fact, I was quite satisfied with how this 40 year old cockpit turned out practically out of the box.

The rear fuselage was next assembled and attached to the front part. Esci had molded their F-5A with separate front and rear fuselage sections, to allow for all versions with as many common sprues as possible. Low point of this is the inevitable seam between the two sections, which, at least, can easily be dealt with some care during construction.

 The wings had their slats glued in neutral position (you can pose them extended should you wish) and attached to the fuselage, followed by the tail planes, which are to be attached with a slight anhedral (the head-on view provided at the instructions proved very handy there).

The well made but delicate 2-piece intakes were next assembled and attached. Their innards were painted silver and their ends matt black, to enhance the sense of depth. Having the basic model almost complete, I could figure out the amount of weight needed to avoid tail sitting and only then did I attach the three piece nose, essentially filling its rear section with fishing weights.

This concluded basic assembly. Overall fit was in most places quite good, with the most challenging area being the front/rear fuselage joint. The small front nose section could also have been molded as one piece, instead of left and right. Nevertheless, fit did not disappoint, requiring normal amounts of filler at the expected places (like the wing roots and the fuselage joints).

I decided to add the distinctively shaped tip tanks, which were assembled and attached. The four wing pylons were also glued underneath. The wing tanks were also assembled but were left off, to be attached at later stages. As a note, later F-5A versions might feature a number of additional air inlets which are provided by the kit, so you have to figure out which ones are applicable for your version.

 Since I was opting for an early overall silver bird and, where all landing gear parts, bays, door innards and airbrake housing were also silver for my example, I decided, apart from the main wheels, to attach all above in position, so they could be painted together. After a final sanding, I took the bird to the paint shop!

I gave the complete model, together with the wing tanks and doors, a coat of Hu11 Silver, which I lightly buffed with a soft cloth upon drying, to add some extra shine. I then painted the top part of the vertical stabilizer off-white (from an aged Hu130 tin) and the front anti-glare area Hu85 black). The pylons’ sway braces were painted gunmetal. Though glossy, I took no risks in damaging the always sensitive silver paint and coated everything with Future, to prepare for decaling.

I used Greek insignia from an old generic “Plastimodellismo” decal sheet. Apart from some off-registering, decals went on nicely. For the rest, I used the kit decals, which, albeit exhibiting some yellowing, they otherwise looked usable. That sheet was dated back in 1986 and, if I recall well, Revel decals of that era did not age too well, as at times they were disintegrating upon being submerged to water. Deciding to take no risks, I coated the complete sheet with Microscale liquid decal gent and the decals behaved well, easily detaching from their backing paper and succumbing nicely to all contours, with the yellowing not being that apparent.  A coat of Future sealed them. 

 The main wheels were attached, followed by the dragged doors. The wing tanks could not be attached at the correct angle, as they were too close to the main doors, so I decided to leave them off. The exhausts were painted Mr Hobby Burned Iron and attached in position. Their shallow inner ends were painted matt black, to add a sense of depth.

I decided to add some weathering, consisting of a black wash to accentuate all engraved panel lines, followed by dark brown and dark dry pastels to somewhat tone down the NMF shine at a few areas where light amounts of dirt or grime would reside. A heavier black wash was applied at all landing gear parts, bays, door innards  and airbrake housing, nicely enhancing the molded-on details, with a satin coat giving the bird its final hue.

 The transparencies had their well defined frames hand painted and attached in position, with fit being quite nice. The seat’s rear framing sat too high (possibly operator error) so I had to trim it down, in order for the canopy to fit. Nevertheless, the trimmed area is below the non transparent part of the canopy, so it is not that noticeable.

 The nice looking pitot was  attached in position, with its tip painted Testors Burned Metal and its body painted silver (a number of pitot bodies were often seen painted with red stripes, but I was too lazy to commit and, for the same reason, I did not paint the intake lips red). Though provided by the kit and looking good, I decided to represent the front guns with stretched sprue (painted Testors Burned Metal) for a more scale appearance.

The correct for my version top mounted IFF and underside UHF antennas were painted black and attached. Blobs of red and green clear paints represented the various wing tip and fin mounted anti collision lights, before calling the early Hellenic Freedom Fighter done!

Though more than four decades old (as of 2024), this is still a fine kit of the iconic F-5A: general shape looks correct, molding is crisp, panel lines are finely recessed and at the correct places, detail is very good for the scale (the key areas of the cockpit and landing gear included), fit is good, transparencies are nicely done, instructions are great and decals, despite their age, behaved satisfactorily after some coating with liquid decal film.

 Though not totally shake and bake, its relatively uncomplicated construction deems this kit suitable even for the inexperienced modeler. Out of the box, a very nice F-5A can be built, with a good amount of aftermarket being available in order to enhance it.

It is quite noteworthy that Esci came up with such a fine product back in 1983, which can easily hold its own today. The kit was recently reissued by Italeri with a very nice decal sheet (and also, to my understanding, with properly maintained molds, so molding is expected to be clean and crisp). If you have one or come across one at a reasonable price, get it and build it. After a pleasant build, a great Freedom Fighter will emerge!

Happy Modeling!

Spiros Pendedekas

October 2024