Kitty Hawk 1/32 F5-E Tiger....

[BarryW]

Well I have never approached a build with lower expectations. My first Kitty Hawk was their OV-10 Bronco and I found it to be the worse kit that I have ever attempted. They got everything wrong, it is a sloppily produced kit that gave no pleasure or enjoyment in the build, so I binned it....

I would not be building another Kitty Hawk even if I was paid to do so. But, I have this in the stash and I might as well get it over with..... Besides, they are supposed to be producing a 1/32 Sepcat Jaguar and I really want one of those so Kitty Hawk get this one chance. This is a later kit than the Bronco and perhaps they are getting better, we shall see because if this kit does not redeem Kitty Hawk then I will never buy another, Jaguar or not.

The box


I have this also


I won’t be buying any resin seats as I just will not risk throwing good money after bad.

It does come with this resin... not bothered by the pilot but the tail pipes are a good addition.


This is the likely schems

But I may change my mind to do this



At first glance it looks as if a slightly better quality of plastic is used. The sprue gates look small and neat this time.

The sprues are actually identified, that is a step up...


We will soon see if they, and the parts, are actually labelled correctly..

But they clearly have not learned how to sensibly position extractor pins. Ouch, that looks uncomfortable on that seat...



It was not difficult to clean up but,looking, there will be plenty more of these.



Now the fun and games start.... this problem has been highlighted on a number of reviews. The seat cushion in the wrong place.



Looking at photos the instructions are definitely wrong and the cushion part is curved to fit the back of the seat, not the bottom. I needed to sand it flat and cement in place.



Now, in putting the seat together I found Kitty Hawk are still up to the old tricks of giving you location points but no pins for them.... in the case of the seat, one location pin for two holes!



You therefore have to judge by eye the right angle for the seat sides. I am hoping I got it right!

Other than that the fit so far is OK.

Kitty Hawk are still up to many of their tricks but my sanity and the kit have at least survived the first session.

For the next exciting instalment of ‘will it get built, or binned’ you will have to wait a bit as I am off Saturday morning with the missus for a five days in the New Forest...

[Guest]

On the plus side, your expectations are now low enough that it won’t catch you by surprise like the OV-10 did

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Well so far, so good - well at least so far, not too bad. I hope it doesn't end up in the bin.
Have a nice break. No where more beautiful at this time of year than the New Forest.
Jim

[flyjoe180]

Hoping this one survives the build!

[Ian M]

Been looking on the web and just about every seat I have seen are different.
Would it not be easier to make a new cushion?

[BarryW]

Well I am back and have had some time at the bench. Good progress

A test fit of the seat


I cut the front wheel axles enough so I can fit the wheel after painting by springing it between the two legs. I will glue into place.








Some parts in the cannon bays don’t fit at all well but as I am covering these up I did not worry about it and left them off.

A test fit of the cockpit


A test fit of the canopy. Pretty good that.


Well.... so far so good.
This is better than the OV 10 but there is still a lot of evidence of Kitty Hawks careless and shoddy production.

[BarryW]

I have primed and then sprayed Dark Gull Grey interior, Olive Drab seat cushions, metallic front wheel well and leg. I decided that it is easier to masks the seat cushions than the rest of the seat so I will have another Dark Gull Grey session shortly.

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In the instructions there are no store options for one of the pylons each side. Any suggestions? I have marked my initial store selections.
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[Guest]

This should be the official options for the real F-5E:

[ATTACH]358385[/ATTACH]

Note that this is just what each station can carry, not what’s allowed there for actual missions. Luckily, the sheet tells you where to find that (more or less), so I did a little more digging. This page has the manual referenced by the sheet above and if you turn to pages 229 and 230 there (they’re numbered 5-11 and 5-12 on the pages themselves) you can work out combinations that would be allowed in the real world.

[boatman]

WELL so far so good on this build Barry but if you go for their jag in 1/32 I only hope its better than the 1/48 jag like I built :crying:
chris

[BarryW]

WELL so far so good on this build Barry but if you go for their jag in 1/32 I only hope its better than the 1/48 jag like I built :crying:
chris

Indeed. If it is just an upscale it won’t be worth getting. I am yet to make a judgement on whether I will ever get a Kitty Hawk again. While this is a better kit than the OV-10 I am not sure that it is not more luck than judgement. Kitty Hawk carelessness and sloppiness is still very much evident with the F5.

[BarryW]

This should be the official options for the real F-5E:

[ATTACH]358385[/ATTACH]

Note that this is just what each station can carry, not what’s allowed there for actual missions. Luckily, the sheet tells you where to find that (more or less), so I did a little more digging. This page has the manual referenced by the sheet above and if you turn to pages 229 and 230 there (they’re numbered 5-11 and 5-12 on the pages themselves) you can work out combinations that would be allowed in the real world.

Thank you. I will study this on a larger screen when I am ilin the office.

[BarryW]

In the horrible weather I have spent some more time at the bench.

There are two nice engines that won’t be seen but no internal trunking. I decided to paint the interior black where the trunking would be as the easiest solution.
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I closed the upper and lower halves. Fit not too bad but it does need some care and patience.

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I will get on with the cockpit interior detailing and weathering Monday and the following few days.

[BarryW]

Working on the pit. Decals over raised detail are never good news but one good thing to say is that Kitty Hawks decals are very resilient and do not break or splinter. So far anyway.

The internal decal application is not mentioned in the instructions. For all I know there may be some decals for the seat but they are not obvious. Those that I can find are for the i.p. and side consoles.

I used Mr Mark Setter first having cut the large decals into smaller ones for applying. With a bit of patience they went on OK.

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Here are the ip ones in place before so e final adjustment and the application of copious amounts of Mr Mark Softener.
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I will check them tonight and may find that more Softener is needed.

When I am happy with them I will be spraying a semi gloss coat over the pit interior to seal the decals and to prep for pin washes.

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Glad the main body went together ok. Instrument decals look good. When decals have to fit over raised detail do you sand back the raised detail slightly? I have not used the Mr Mark Softener. Do you prefer it to MiroSol?
Jim

[boatman]

HI Barry could you put up a pic of that mr softener please as ive never seen it as remember im only just comin back into platic aircraft kits an does this softener make the decals more plyible to set into dimples an such
chris