Howdy Y'all

I am wondering if anyone knows what year the 1/48 Monogram F-5E Freedom Fighter originaly came out? My club is having a contest for "classic" Monogram kits manufactured before 1980. The model instructions I have are copyrighted 1981 so I am hoping someone will know if there was a prior release. My copy has box art with a photo of the silver US Air Force model and a cloudy sky background.

I know the AFV and possibly Academy kits are going to be released soon so I want to build this for the practice. I also want to enter it into the "Aluminum" campaign. Your input is appreciated.

Thank you,
Don "Lakota"

The F-5E in my stash has a date of 1978 on the destrutions.

Thanks Brent! I'm going to use your email for my documentation. Does anyone else have any info on this kit? It's not that great but I'm having fun building it.

Y'all take care now,
Don "Lakota"

I could scan and email the front of the instructions if needed.

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/rm/kit_rm_5407.shtml link to review

The "Freedom Fighter" release you have was issued in 1981. The release prior to that, marked as the "F-5E Tiger II" IIRC, was 1978, as Brent stated. Monogram reissued the kit again in 1991 as a High-Tech kit with Model Technologies PE parts for the canopy mechanism, engine fans and a few other miscellaneous bits.

This kit has been around a while, but it's still one of my all time faves, raised panel lines and all. There is a bunch of aftermarket stuff available for it, in case you want to build an accurate Navy or Air Force Aggressor. The base kit isn't really all that bad, considering it is 32 years old. The finished model is a fairly accurate and good looking representation of the real plane.

I'm looking forward to the new AFV Club kit. Unless I've missed something, though, Academy has cancelled theirs.

-YL

Thanks for the info. The last time I tried to buy an OOP Black Box cockpit for the F-5E it was way out of my price range and I couldn't find the TwoBobs a.m. decal sheet. I can't wait to get my hands on the AFV kit. It suprises me nobody else did an update of the F-5E until now.

I didn't know Academy cancelled their release.

Y'all take care,
Don "Lakota"

Don,

The TwoBobs sheets for the Aggressor F-5s (#48-014 VFC-13 Desert Cats and #48-015 VFC-13 Blue Gray Saints) are listed on their website as "Sold Out", and have been for a while. According to the website, items listed as "Sold Out" are no longer available and will most likely never be reprinted. I guess that means OOP to the rest of us, but with the release of the AFVC Tiger, I wouldn't be surprised to see them back again at some point.

I also wouldn't be surprised for some other decal manufacturers to produce a bunch of cool schemes to go with the new kit. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The old Black Box stuff was picked up by MMD Squadron. IIRC, they started releasing some of the kits under the Avionix name, but I don't think the F-5 cockpit has been repopped at this time. To be honest, the Tiger cockpit is not all that complicated, and with a little patience and some scratchbuilding, you could probably work some magic on the Monogram kit. You can find some good detail shots of the IP and cockpit interior at Prime Portal.

I've seen some pics of the new AFVC cockpit, and it looks really good OOB. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if some company - Eduard perhaps - releases a bunch of PE for it in short order.

I'm mostly sure that Academy canned their F-5 plans, but I honestly can't remember where I read it.

In the meantime, I'm really tempted to bust one of the Monogram kits out of the stash and take a trip down memory lane.

-YL

i've got one of these kits as well but i'm waiting for the afv release...

paul

Howdy Y'all
I'm enjoying building this Monogram kit, feel like I'm a kid again.
I would suggest y'all bust those kits out and build them now. They're gong to be obsolete so let's have some fun with them. I'm building mine for the "Aluminum" campaign.

Take care,
Don "Lakota"

One thing to keep in mind, is that the Monogram F-5E is a lot more accurate in shape-profile than the AFV kit. Even after 30 years, the Monogram F-5E is the most accurate F-5E.

Aside from the shape inaccuracies of teh AFV kit, it sure does have some nice detail.

Mike V