Northrop F-5A by Kinetic

1/48 scale
Kit No. K48020
Retail: $40.00
Decals: By Cartograf for 16 different versions – USAF (3), Canadian Air Force (3), Netherlands Air Force (2), Royal Norwegian Air Force (2), Greek Air Force (5), and South Vietnamese Air Force (1)
Comments: Engraved panel lines; highly detailed cockpit and wheel wells; trademark F-5A wing-tip fuel tanks; ordnance includes two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, two Mk. 82 500 lb. general purpose bombs; two rocket pods; optional position canopy with boarding ladder; center line and wing mounted drop tanks; photo-etched details and separately molded control surfaces

History

During the 1950’s Northrop, a company with a history of innovative designs culminating in the YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber, submitted various designs for a light fighter to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy — but during the era of “bigger, better, faster” which saw the emergence of the F-100 and F-105, Northrop’s designs met with little interest. However, the Air Force did have a requirement for a jet trainer to replace the Lockheed T-33, and in 1956 selected a version of Northrop’s seminal N-156T design, a two-seater which became the T-38 Talon.

Northrop continued to refine the N-156 as a private venture prototype, the N-156F, which flew for the first time in July 1959. This aircraft was almost made to order for the needs of the U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP), designed to bolster the armed forces of U.S. allies and to counter the military aid being pumped into countries aligned with the Soviet Union. In 1962, Northrop’s new design, now called the F-5A Freedom Fighter, was chosen for the MAP. The first production aircraft flew in October 1963.

The F-5A and its two-seat counterpart, the F-5B, featured two General Electric J85 engines with afterburners, and “area-ruled” fuselage giving it a coke bottle shape and supersonic speed, and a pointed nose with an oval cross-section. Its main armament of two 20mm cannon were aimed with a simple gun sight as it had no fire control radar. It was usually fitted with wingtip fuel tanks, and had one center line pylon and two pylons on each wing for additional fuel tanks, bombs, rockets, gun pods or missiles ranging from the air-to-air AIM-9 Sidewinder to the AGM-12 air-to-ground Bullpup.

Despite its acceptance into the Military Assistance Program, the U.S. military initially had no interest in the F-5, as it was clearly a tactical fighter. It shared many capabilities with the F-100 but for one critical difference: being significantly smaller, it lacked endurance. But as the Vietnam War heated up, it became evident that there was a shortage of tactical fighters, and this led to an experimental program called “Skoshi Tiger” in which a dozen F-5A’s and F-5B’s were deployed for close-support missions over South Vietnam in October 1965.

What is less well known is that earlier that year, the Air Force, which initially turned up its nose at the F-5, suddenly requested 200 aircraft for Southeast Asia. This was due to the unexpected high attrition rate of tactical aircraft in Vietnam, combined with the likelihood that significant numbers of F-5’s could be available in relatively short order. The Defense Department denied the request, and soon thereafter received a USAF request for combat evaluation of the F-5 in Southeast Asia, which was approved in July 1965 and led directly to Skoshi Tiger. The Skoshi Tiger Program was originally known as the Sparrow Hawk Program. Project Sparrow Hawk at Eglin AFB, Florida had proven that the F-5 was a capable fighter-bomber.

The F-5A flew its first strike in October 1965, when the USAF borrowed 12 combat-ready F-5As from MAP supplies (5 F-5A-15s and seven F-5A-20s) and turned them over to the 4503rd Tactical Fighter Wing for operational service trials. The 4503rd TFS had been formed on July 29, 1965 to conduct the evaluation. It was an all-volunteer group with pilots and ground crew selected from Project Sparrow Hawk at Eglin AFB. The pilots underwent training at Williams AFB while Northrop modified the aircraft for duty in Southeast Asia, the primary modifications being the addition of an in-flight refueling probe and the replacement addition of a lead computing gunsight to the F-5C.

Between 1965 and 1966, USAF Tactical Air Warfare Center personnel performed the combat evaluation of the F-5 in Vietnam, known as Skoshi Tiger, an “experiment” involving 3500 sorties. The Center conducted this evaluation to determine if a simple, inexpensive fighter would be beneficial in brushfire wars and smaller counterinsurgency conflicts such as in Southeast Asia.

The F-5 carried most of the weapons commonly used in Vietnam. Compared to other aircraft, the bomb aiming and delivery system of the F-5 was relatively unsophisticated. Most weapons deliveries were made from a shallow dive, with the pilot judging the range by using the new lead computing gunsight. A 150-gallon drop tank was usually carried on the centerline pylon, with an additional 150-gallon tank carried on each of the inboard underwing pylons.

Although the load-carrying capability of the F-5 was not equal to the F-4 Phantom and the F-105 Thunderchief, the Northrop fighter was fast and agile, making it ideal for dodging ground fire during attack runs. It actually proved to be the least vulnerable jet aircraft in the war zone.

On the down side, the takeoff roll of a heavily-laden F-5 was excessively long, and the range was considered to be inadequate — hence the addition of the refueling probe. Difficulties were encountered with the dropping of 750-pound napalm tanks, which sometimes failed to separate cleanly, striking the underside of the wing. The guns of the F-5 tended to “smoke up” the windshield during firing runs, particularly in rainy conditions.

After six months of combat the Air Force brass determined that the F-5 was very capable and requested that they remain in Vietnam as part of the build-up in 1966. The F-5’s had done so well in combat that the Air Force delayed conversion of the F-5 into the South Vietnamese Air Force. When compared to it’s closest rival, the F-100, the F-5 was found to be just as capable.

Construction

This is a beautiful and highly detailed kit, but some parts of it are over-engineered and a bit more complex than they need to be, in this modeler’s opinion. The cockpit is richly detailed with a three-part ejection seat and ample raised detail on its main and side instrument panels, with the latter molded into the cockpit tub. The instructions provide clear guidance on the parts to be altered should you decide to depict the canopy closed rather than open.

Construction quickly switches from the cockpit to the forward landing gear and wheel well, as well as the rear jet exhaust assemblies. The former is then incorporated with the cockpit into the nose assembly, which includes separate exterior panels to be cemented onto this portion of the fuselage to enhance the detail of the finished product. The rear fuselage is a separate assembly consisting of three parts for the fuselage itself, with additional parts for the rudder, rear air intake scoops, and two exterior panels.

The main factor that earns the kit its “over-engineered” label is the fact the fuselage is split up into five main parts forming the respective nose and tail assemblies. These can be cemented together without too much difficulty, but their fit leaves something to be desired, leaving a highly visible seam requiring significant putty and sanding. The challenge here is that if you opt to paint the kit in one of the all natural metal schemes, you have no margin for error in creating a flawlessly smooth surface along this seam, which does not appear on the actual aircraft. Surface defects tend to be magnified with all-metal paint schemes. Luckily I chose to paint the kit in a camouflage scheme involving Blue Grey and two different shades of Grey, employed by both the U.S. and Greek Air Forces. This scheme gave me a little wiggle room in hiding the seam, which was easier since at least one of the colors was fairly dark.

The fairly small, thin wings are very nicely done, with separately mounted rear flaps and leading edge slats. At this stage it is important to choose your cement carefully, and subsequently handle the wings with care, even after they are cemented to the fuselage, since they can be broken off with ease. The good news is that the trailing edge flaps can be positioned as you wish it you are willing to remove the tabs connecting them to the wing, which place them at a downward angle.

The kit includes intake trunking with small parts for the compressor blades of the engines, over which the intakes are cemented. Options are provided for a variety of armament, starting with either wing tip fuel tanks or AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on wing tip rails, as well as an assortment of underwing stores including rocket launchers, fuel tanks and Mk 82 500 lb. bombs. There is also a center line fuel tank.

Painting

The F-5A was airbrushed in a wrap-around camouflage scheme with Tamiya and MRP paints. Tamiya’s Dark Ghost Gray, LP-36, a lacquer; Tamiya’s Medium Blue, XF-18, an acrylic; and MRP’s Dark Grey, MRP-366, corresponding to Federal Standard 36076. The engine exhausts were airbrushed in Model Master Titanium, a buffing metallizer, and the bombs on the under wing hard points were airbrushed in Tamiya Olive Drab.

Markings

The F-5A depicted is an aircraft of the 113th Combat Wing of the Greek Air Force, based at Mikra AFB, circa 1996. I used a mix of the kit decals for the generic markings and the Icarus Decals Set (No. 48019) for Hellenic Air Force Freedom Fighters for the national and tail markings. The Icarus markings and the kit decals by Cartograf are both excellent; I was drawn to the Icarus markings as they had a somewhat darker shade of blue for the national markings that contrasted better with the paint scheme.

Conclusion

A superb kit of an exceptional lightweight fighter. Highly recommended – despite its overly complex fuselage.

References

• Jet Fighters Inside Out by Jim Winchester; Copyright 2010, Amber Books, Ltd., London.
• www.globalsecurity.org
• Combat Aircraft Since 1945 by Stewart Wilson, Copyright 2000 by Aerospace Publications; Fyshwick, Australia.