What if

Picture Post => Current and Finished Projects => Aircraft => Topic started by: DogfighterZen on July 25, 2021, 06:04:21 AM

Title: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on July 25, 2021, 06:04:21 AM
"The Royal Moroccan AF operated 2 RF-5A airframes, which were both lost in the early 1980s, during the Western Sahara war so, when the acquisition of 16 F-5E and 4 F-5F was made, another 2 RF-5E Tigereye airframes were also purchased to replace the lost aircraft."

So, i'm going to give this GB a shot by building the AFV 1/48 RF-5E in Moroccan markings following the scenario i described in the short text above. The Moroccan F-5s have a nice desert camo scheme so, that's what i'm going with. I already have the necessary markings in the Chilean F-5E Tiger III box so, this shouldn't give me too much trouble.

(https://i.imgur.com/AA6X3EF.jpg)

I have a few of the AFV F-5 kits in my stash but, when i bought the Saeqeh-80 kit, i bought it without the notion that it didn't come with the sprue that had the flat Platypus style nose neither the extended LERX parts in that box and i want to include those to make it a whiff version of my own, on top of it being for a different operator.

I already had the Swiss F-5E edition for a normal version with different markings, the Chilean Tiger III edition, which comes with both the flat and the pointy nose types and early and late type LERX parts so, i went through the available reviews and decided that, instead of buying another normal F-5E kit and then steal the parts i want for the Saeqeh, i'd buy one more but of a version that i'd probably not want to build for a long time.
That was the solution for the problem i had, allowing me to build the Saeqeh exactly like i want to.
This tradeoff would leave me with a donor kit that i wouldn't mind building with the minor difference of the early LERX parts so, it was worth it because now, i have a good kit to build in this GB, for which i didn't even vote.

The early style LERX parts and a different antenna from the Saeqeh-80 kit...

(https://i.imgur.com/cmPjWsq.jpg)

It took me a while to decide between Iranian and Moroccan but seeing that the Iranians would've had a very hard time buying more F-5s after the 1979 revolution, i chose the Moroccan markings because they also have a nice camo scheme and it's a more plausible idea.
Work on the kit will probably begin today after lunch.

 :cheers:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: kitbasher on July 25, 2021, 08:43:26 AM
Oooh, interesting  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on July 25, 2021, 02:53:50 PM
Quote from: kitbasher on July 25, 2021, 08:43:26 AM
Oooh, interesting  :thumbsup:

:thumbsup:

Well, i started the build today but only got as far as assembling the ejection seat and spraying some dark sea grey onto it but i get a feeling this is going to be an enjoyable build. The seat's parts almost didn't need glue, the fit is that tight.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: ChernayaAkula on July 25, 2021, 06:27:19 PM
More Tigereyes = more better!  :mellow:

Quote from: DogfighterZen on July 25, 2021, 06:04:21 AM
<...> seeing that the Iranians would've had a very hard time buying more F-5s after the 1979 revolution,  <...>

It certainly didn't stop them from trying! They tried to buy Tigers and spare parts from lots and lots of operators. Apparently they managed to get spare parts from South Korea (who also supplied some F-4 parts), Taiwan and Singapore. All three were license-producing their own Tigers and had spare spare parts. Pressure from the US put an end to that. The Iranians did get some actual Tigers from Ethiopia (also under a US arms embargo at that time), a handful of F-5Es and a dozen F-5As (including an RF-5A). The Ethiopians were keen to get rid of them because the were unserviceable due to lack of spares (although I think they loved them when they were still in running order). The Tai AF was interested, but turned them down upon inspecting them. The CIA then tried to get them off the market and offered the Ethiopians cash. The Iranian offer via an Israeli arms dealer was much better, though. This all from Middle East@War 4 - Iranian Tigers at War by Babak Taghvaee.

Not saying you shouldn't built a Moroccan Tigereye (you should! Its gonna look great!), but there's definitely a spy thriller backstory worth a novel in  Iranian quest for the "acquisition" of some Tigereyes. Think Jack Higgins' "Exocet".
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on July 26, 2021, 12:38:56 AM
Hum... That's very interesting, Moritz.  :thumbsup:
You're right, there's space for a very good story there but I'll stick to the Moroccan one. They also used a very cool camo scheme on their F-5s so I think it'll look good.  :mellow:

Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Dizzyfugu on July 26, 2021, 12:40:10 AM
That's a nice and plausible idea.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 12, 2021, 05:35:49 PM
Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 26, 2021, 12:40:10 AM
That's a nice and plausible idea.  :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: I thought so, too. When i was reading about the Western Sahara war, it was easy to find a scenario where the Moroccans could've bought the RF-5E to replace the 2 RF-5As lost in combat. ;)
Besides, it's a good opportunity for me to do something for a different air force and not another PoAF bird. :rolleyes:

Well, regarding the build, all i've done was paint and assemble some cockpit parts...

(https://i.imgur.com/gU1BY6y.jpg)

Sincerely, the kit looks so good in terms of detail on the outside that i almost feel obligated to do some scratchbuilding on the seat or else, buy a resin seat or put a pilot in the seat... :unsure:
Not in the mood to spend money so i'll probably add some scratched-up details on the seat and see if i have a suitable pilot for the Tiger in the stash.

:cheers:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on September 13, 2021, 03:11:41 PM
Work has been done on the cockpit parts but no scratch built details. I don't wanna get bogged down with details on this build so i just paintes everything and dug out a pilot from a Hasegawa US pilot and ground crew set to cover the simple seat.

(https://i.imgur.com/QIip0zr.jpg)

I'll have to do something about the pilot... Now, i must say that i'm a bit disappointed with the pilot cause i really don't understand why Hasegawa molded the oxygen hose connected to the poor pilot's neck... maybe some secret technology of direct oxygen transfer into the pilot's airways through the neck instead of the nose? :unsure: :rolleyes:

(https://i.imgur.com/mV6WD4c.jpg)

Anyway, i'll drill and carve that excess plastic around the neck and oxygen hose to separate everything that shouldn't be attached to the pilot's body.

An interesting fact is that last night i turned on my compressor to spray some nato black in the camera compartment  and found out that there's a big leak on the pressure gauge, which is making the compressor turn on quicker than it should... Worst part is that i don't have a wrench of the right size and width to fit in the space available to unscrew the gauge and try to put some Teflon sealing tape in the thread to see if it stops the leak...
Will have to deal with this soon or i'll be painting the RF-5E the old fashioned way... something i'm not looking forward to cause i really suck at brush painting... :banghead:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 08, 2021, 05:57:28 PM
Well, failed another GB deadline and this was even worse than the previous fail, only got as far as modifying the pilot and painting it so i'd like to ask if the mods can move this one to the current/finished projects.
It will be finished, i just don't know when. :banghead:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: NARSES2 on October 09, 2021, 05:43:15 AM
Moved as per request
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 09, 2021, 07:58:32 AM
Thanks, Chris.  :thumbsup:

This is where i'm at with this build, got the pilot fixed by drilling a hole between the oxygen hose and the pilot's neck so i could get in with the tip of a blade and take out what was not supposed to be there.
The pilot's arms were configured to depict the "hands up" position, which i believe is to show the ground crew that his hands are off the controls so, i had to adjust them to the controls by cutting the arms at the elbows and then gluing them back on and filling the resulting gaps with sprue goo.

(https://i.imgur.com/bWyGHVe.jpg)

Then it was just a matter of painting it and giving it a bit of a wash with some AK paneliner to enhance the detail.

(https://i.imgur.com/Q0zUX8L.jpg)

After i took the last pic i brushed on a bit of matte varnish to kill the sheen on the clothes.
As it's obvious, i haven't been doing much modelling lately because of real life affairs which have been draining my mojo once again but, hopefully these issues have recently been solved and i'll be getting back at the bench more regularly.

Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 10, 2021, 05:05:26 AM
Well, i am feeding off of Brad's R-29 for this build and seeing the beautiful nose job he did on it, i decided to get some work done on this fella's nose section too.

I have to say that i'm a bit disappointed by the kit as there are several sink marks and mold defects on the nose parts... too many to do anything to try to get rid of them... This kit is expensive and by what i'd read in the reviews, this wasn't mentioned and shouldn't be seen on a kit of this price range. :banghead:
I'm not sure if it's just the RF version's nose section or if it's something i'll find on the other 3 AFV Club F-5 kits i have in the stash.

Maybe not clearly visible on these pics but they're obvious when i run my finger over them...

(https://i.imgur.com/eWi9wN5.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/bF5rCAc.jpg)

The sink marks aren't too bad and i guess i could get away by calling it "stressed skin" effect but i was under the impression that the AFV Club kits were of a better quality, seeing that the details like panel lines and rivets are beautifully done... :-\ Can't do much about it now so i might as well shut up and just do my best. I won't be trying to fix these sink marks because i'm almost sure i'd end up erasing a bunch of panel lines and rivets and i don't feel that confident with my resribing skills. I think it'd be more work than it's worth so i'll just let it be.

With that said, in the pics you can see that i've closed up the tub in the fuselage halves and also got the gun bay doors and underside of this section glued on.
Fit is not perfect but not bad either so i'll just have to do some clean up on the seams and maybe a bit of light rescribing of the panel lines.

May be getting a bit too ambitious but if i don't get too distracted by real life, i might even have a complete airframe by the end of the day but there's no way i could ever finish this before the GB's deadline... unless there was another 14 day extension period... :rolleyes: ;D
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 17, 2021, 05:38:37 PM
Well, this one has been progressing a bit.
After dealing with the problems of the nose section, which included a bit of sanding to tone down the sink marks and to engrave the lost panel lines and rivets, i have to say that i'm starting to think that the biggest issues of this kit are behind me now as the rest of the parts i've used so far have only needed a quick clean up and they just dropped in place without need for putty or extreme sanding like the wings, LERX and rear fuselage section.
Air intakes on the F-5 kits are normally a problematic area but on this kit, while it took a bit of dry fitting and minor adjustment, the parts went together very well.
The PE parts are very thin but easy to work with and so, today i added the grills on the intake splitter plates and then proceeded to assemble the intakes.

(https://i.imgur.com/gsmcQAw.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/piLu6RG.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/qFQal2P.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/nnn8s7k.jpg)

Now i'm starting to really enjoy this build. :mellow:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: NARSES2 on October 18, 2021, 06:14:56 AM
Quote from: DogfighterZen on October 17, 2021, 05:38:37 PM

Now i'm starting to really enjoy this build. :mellow:

And that's what it's all meant to be about  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 18, 2021, 03:44:18 PM
Quote from: NARSES2 on October 18, 2021, 06:14:56 AM
Quote from: DogfighterZen on October 17, 2021, 05:38:37 PM

Now i'm starting to really enjoy this build. :mellow:

And that's what it's all meant to be about  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Sure is!  :thumbsup:
And because i'm having fun, although i didn't have much time for the bench today, i did glue the nose section to the main fuselage.

(https://i.imgur.com/obdcVQS.jpg)

Gonna need some work on that seam but should be too hard to get it to look good.

:cheers:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on October 24, 2021, 06:24:39 PM
And so, after a good weekend of rest and modelling, this is where the TigerEye stands...

(https://i.imgur.com/e7LPWIX.jpg)

Painted the afterburner section with some Tamiya Nato black and Buff, drybrushed them with some XF-66 and the interior of the nozzles was painted with dark sea gray.
Then i smudged everything with some AK burnt jet engine and Humbrol dark earth pigments to get the look i saw in pics on google. May not be perfect but it's close enough for me.

(https://i.imgur.com/v9so5di.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/FCqewoP.jpg)

Also painted the LG bays and the NMF area and nozzles...

(https://i.imgur.com/YhWoLu6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/gULnYCh.jpg)

Next is clear parts masking and attachment and it should be ready for the camo scheme soon.

I have to say that i'm really enjoying this kit and that although the molds show a bit of wear, most of the detail is gorgeous and the only real thing that i think is missing in this kit are the air intake ducts, and the full depth engine afterburner section.
Both of these details wouldn't really be very visible anyway so, this doesn't really bother me but i am considering buying some aftermarket goodies for at least one of the other 3 AFV Club F-5s i have in the stash.
These things and the cockpit are, IMHO, the weakest areas of this kit, the rest is very good in my book. :mellow:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on November 15, 2021, 04:41:19 PM
So, life's been busy but i finally got this painted... :mellow:

(https://i.imgur.com/rwaU4Hk.jpg)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Old Wombat on November 15, 2021, 06:48:26 PM
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Dizzyfugu on November 16, 2021, 12:17:10 AM
Pretty, classsic scheme. Subtle.  :lol:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on November 16, 2021, 10:49:34 AM
Quote from: Dizzyfugu on November 16, 2021, 12:17:10 AM
Pretty, classsic scheme. Subtle.  :lol:

Indeed it is, Thomas.  :thumbsup:
I don't have many recce birds in my stash and i wasn't planning on building this kit at this stage but, when i looked at my options for the GB, the fact that i have the decals for the Moroccan F-5E in another kit made me take a closer look and the scheme was the thing that made me choose this as my build.
It was my best option although i knew it would be hard for me to finish it before the Gb's deadline (which proved to be true :banghead: ), but i certainly wouldn't have time for a conversion of another kit into a recce bird. :rolleyes:

Well, bench time tonight will be dedicated to painting small details and, if i have the time, give it a good gloss coat to protect the paint job.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 11, 2022, 09:40:13 AM
Ok... i was having a hard time finding this one and didn't think it'd been that long since the last update but anyway...
Seems like i don't have that much to show after all this time but i'm finally getting my modelling groove back on so here's what's been done since last year...  :rolleyes:

Obvious in the pics is that the decals are on. These were taken from the other AFV F-5E kit that had the Moroccan option for normal F-5Es.
Also not very obvious in the crappy pics is that i finally gave oil paints a go. I wanted to fade the colors down a bit, so i've given the model a few dots of a few different colors and tried to cut the homogenous look of the underlying camo colors. Can't say it came out exactly like i imagined but i didn't want to push it and, in the end, i think it didn't come out too bad. All i know is that i had more fun than i ever thought i would with this process. I feel like i'll be using these techniques more in the future.
After that, the AK panel line wash for brown and green camo. I'm not a fan of heavy panel line shade or wash and i'm always scared that a wash will not work as i want it to, but this wash seems to be of a very light shade so it doesn't make the lines overly pronounced, which is just how i like them. :thumbsup:

(https://i.imgur.com/UQCcOHW.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/oWx8Ukm.jpg)

I had a bit of fun with the centre line drop tank cause i'm really starting to enjoy doing this type of stuff... ;D
(https://i.imgur.com/yY1FDqi.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/USUfiqR.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/q7D1E6A.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/AA0qB6P.jpg)

It's obviously not perfect but i think it's good enough for me, maybe next time it comes out better. :mellow:
Now, moving on to the landing gear, most of it is still on the sprue so painting and assembly are next.
The two AIM-9P for the wingtip stations also have to be finished.

:cheers:

P.S.: Just realized that i forgot the underside pic...

(https://i.imgur.com/j8idwBi.jpg)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on August 11, 2022, 11:44:29 AM
Looking pretty damn good from this side of the planet mate  ;D
Once ya get used to oils its a entirely new ball game and if your not happy with it..just wipe it off and start again..thats bloody hard with enamel washes as they dry quite quickly compared to oils.
Ammo has a great slection of oils now and dude i love em  :lol:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 11, 2022, 12:10:33 PM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on August 11, 2022, 11:44:29 AM
Looking pretty damn good from this side of the planet mate  ;D
Once ya get used to oils its a entirely new ball game and if your not happy with it..just wipe it off and start again..thats bloody hard with enamel washes as they dry quite quickly compared to oils.
Ammo has a great slection of oils now and dude i love em  :lol:

Thanks, mate!  :thumbsup:
Yes, it's a very forgiving technique and it seems like it's a matter of getting used to how the materials work together and practicing the control you can exert on them to get what you want. I enjoy the way that it changes the look of the model and i think it helps to make it a bit more interesting to look at.
Regarding the Ammo stuff, i have to try those, i only have a free sample of their oilbrushers that they threw in the box of an order i've made a few months ago. and it's a color i haven't really needed so far(red tile) but, it does look like good stuff. :thumbsup:
Guess i'll have to make another order from them soon... :mellow:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on August 11, 2022, 05:22:35 PM
Oh matey your in for a treat..the Oilbrushers are sweet to use and ya dont have to puth the oil on card or paper to dry them out ..just use it.
Ive scored the holder for them and it was cheap even here which surprised me and it holds 21 tubes..ive only got 3 spaces left  ;D
The great thing with oils is you can just usr for fine detailing..or as a thinned out wash and Ammo have just released a new line of weathering tubes but i dont remember what their called but youve seen the results ..its well worth the effort as my planes have never looked better and now ive got 2 more to build..they gonna get used again  &lt;_&lt;
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Old Wombat on August 11, 2022, 06:11:25 PM
Weathering is both my greatest fear & greatest joy in modelling! :unsure:

Greatest fear because, if you get it wrong, it stuffs up the whole build. :-\

Greatest joy because, if you get it right, it brings the model to life in a way you don't get with pristine builds. ;D


It's one of the reasons I prefer to build armour, you can just go to town & have a ball throwing weathering on AFV's! :thumbsup:


The F-5 looks pretty damned good to me! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on August 11, 2022, 11:12:45 PM
Totally agree with you Guy..its dead easy to build a tank which looks brand new ..totally different story to make it look used and abused..i still cant weather aircraft for crap ..glad im better with armour  and ive got plenty of it on my dio build  ;D
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 12, 2022, 02:26:08 AM
Quote from: Old Wombat on August 11, 2022, 06:11:25 PM
Weathering is both my greatest fear & greatest joy in modelling! :unsure:

Greatest fear because, if you get it wrong, it stuffs up the whole build. :-\

Greatest joy because, if you get it right, it brings the model to life in a way you don't get with pristine builds. ;D


It's one of the reasons I prefer to build armour, you can just go to town & have a ball throwing weathering on AFV's! :thumbsup:


The F-5 looks pretty damned good to me! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks!  :thumbsup:
Those are the exact same reasons why most of my builds don't have any weathering at all but i really wanted to learn some stuff and i have to admit that i'm becoming a fan. :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: NARSES2 on August 12, 2022, 05:47:54 AM
Quote from: Old Wombat on August 11, 2022, 06:11:25 PM

The F-5 looks pretty damned good to me! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

It certainly is  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 12, 2022, 04:41:29 PM
Quote from: NARSES2 on August 12, 2022, 05:47:54 AM
Quote from: Old Wombat on August 11, 2022, 06:11:25 PM

The F-5 looks pretty damned good to me! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

It certainly is  :thumbsup:

Thanks, Chris!  :thumbsup:
Nothing done today, maybe during the weekend, if nothing family-related comes up, that is... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 15, 2022, 04:49:42 PM
Ok, we're getting somewhere... :mellow:
Finished decals on the missiles, painted the landing gear and wheels and cleared everything to prepare for a wash.

(https://i.imgur.com/12i087w.jpg)

Hope to be able to do more tomorrow... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 25, 2022, 03:52:22 PM
Not much has progressed with this build but the TigerEye is on its wheels...

(https://i.imgur.com/ucYUbWz.jpg)

 :cheers:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on August 25, 2022, 07:39:43 PM
Its looking pretty good for what i can see of it matey..pics a wee bit dark but the paint looks flat and clean..strange how im not a huge fan of these aircraft and your the same with the 104  :lol:
Still tho..dont takr away from a sweet build  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on August 26, 2022, 01:50:57 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on August 25, 2022, 07:39:43 PMIts looking pretty good for what i can see of it matey..pics a wee bit dark but the paint looks flat and clean..strange how im not a huge fan of these aircraft and your the same with the 104  :lol:
Still tho..dont takr away from a sweet build  :thumbsup:

Thanks, mate!  :thumbsup:
I didn't mind taking a better pic on purpose, better pics will come when it's finished...  ;)
It hasn't had a flat coat on yet, i still have some stuff i wanna do to it before the final coat goes on.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on August 26, 2022, 02:45:49 AM
Its the same old story matey..there's always something more to do  ;D
Still tho i am looking forward to seeing this..a good build is a good build no matter if i like the actual subject or not . ;D
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 14, 2022, 11:44:30 AM
Well, time for a small update on this build...
The last major part in need of paint was the arrestor hook so that was sprayed with some Tamiya XF-2 Flat White and then i used the kit's decal for the stripes. As you can see in the pic below, i only used the black stripes, which had to be separated from the white ones because the white on the decal didn't match the white sprayed on the part so, this took care of that issue.

(https://i.imgur.com/Yx6xpTX.jpg)

These are all the small parts left to put on the model...

(https://i.imgur.com/DjLoO29.jpg)

Besides these, it's just the wingtip missiles and centerline drop tank. The next step is to glue the main gear doors to the struts and the arrestor hook in place.
The pitot and AoA and air speed sensors also go on at this stage, dab a bit of paint on those and finally, i can spray a matte clear coat on everything.
After that, i just have to paint the navigation lights, attach the clear lens in the front camera window and remove masks!  Also, i still have to decide if i'm gonna leave the canopy open or closed but i'm leaning more towards open because the canopy doesn't really fit very well and it sits higher than the fuselage in the top aft section, resulting in a small step when it's closed.
It's nothing dramatic but it annoys me when i look at it... :rolleyes:
Again, there's not much left to do, it's just a matter of me being able to sit and do stuff at the bench instead of procrastinating... :banghead:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Captain Canada on December 14, 2022, 05:49:59 PM
Very nice. The F-5, in all her guises, is one of my faves. Such a sexy little machine, but she packs a punch !
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on December 14, 2022, 06:34:46 PM
It's getting there Zen mate  ;D
The final model should look epic  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Old Wombat on December 15, 2022, 05:03:27 AM
 :thumbsup:


17 months, so far ... But who's counting? ;)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 15, 2022, 05:50:55 AM
Quote from: Captain Canada on December 14, 2022, 05:49:59 PMVery nice. The F-5, in all her guises, is one of my faves. Such a sexy little machine, but she packs a punch !

Thanks, Captain!  :thumbsup:
Yep, the F-5 is a beauty indeed, it's one of my favorite fighter jets. A small and very versatile fighter, still being used today by more than one country, that alone says something, right?

Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 14, 2022, 06:34:46 PMIt's getting there Zen mate  ;D
The final model should look epic  :thumbsup:

Thanks, mate!  :thumbsup:
Let's see if i don't do something to mess it up before it's all done...

Quote from: Old Wombat on December 15, 2022, 05:03:27 AM:thumbsup:


17 months, so far ... But who's counting? ;)

I noticed that yesterday when i brought the thread back from the dead...
It's been way too long... and it's been even longer with my second F-16W, that one was started in  May... of 2020!!!
Today i have the afternoon for myself so i will try my hardest to finish it today but we all know how it goes... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on December 15, 2022, 09:37:32 AM
Same plans I had yesterday Zen..under coat the Spad and then get some colour on it..did that happen ? ..nope :angry:
RL got in the way ..bugger it.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 17, 2022, 08:44:04 AM
Well, as always, the plan to finish it went down the drain when my sister-in-law made a surprise visit with her mother... :rolleyes:

Anyway, today i finally got to do something but i have to say this... I HATE painting navigation lights!!!
Made a perfect mess of the lights on the wings and now i have to clean up the mess and do some careful touch-ups... I'm almost certain these mistakes will be visible when it's done so, lessons should be learned.
Next time, no detail painting while holding the model in one hand and the paint brush on the other... :banghead:
Still, i may be able to get this finished today as i only have those bits to take care of, and then it's just the missiles, nose window, pitot tube and AOA sensor...
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 18, 2022, 06:50:44 PM
Finally done!!! :party:
Feels good to actually finish a build... I know there's stuff i could still try to improve but i feel it's time to call it done before i do something stupid and mess it up beyond repair so, i'll try to get some better pics and write up the backstory tomorrow,

(https://i.imgur.com/0h3e70Y.jpg)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on December 18, 2022, 08:50:14 PM
Zen mate that's a damn good looking F-5...and yes..many more much better pics  thank you very much   :wacko:
Lovely stuff  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Old Wombat on December 19, 2022, 01:20:46 AM
Ni-ice! :thumbsup:

Yep, more pic's are a must! ;)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: NARSES2 on December 19, 2022, 05:44:25 AM
Quote from: Old Wombat on December 19, 2022, 01:20:46 AMNi-ice! :thumbsup:

Yep, more pic's are a must! ;)

Concur with both of the Hon Gentleman's opinions  ;)
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 19, 2022, 09:40:11 PM
No success with the photo shoot, guys... i did take a few pics with my wife's cannon DSLR cam but i haven't used it before and didn't get the settings right so the pics came out crappy.
Today i have stuff to do that will keep me busy for most of the day so the pics will have to wait...
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on December 19, 2022, 11:38:50 PM
Nope ..not a good enough excuse mate..learn that camera..YouTube will help ..take epic pics and we will all be happy  ;D  :wacko:   :wacko:
Don't it suck trying to figure out a new camera?? Had the same problem with my Fuji fine pix s ..you'll get there buddy  ;)
Does it have a auto function Zen mate ? That would make your life hell easy .
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 20, 2022, 06:38:50 PM
RF-5 TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force

"After liberation from colonial rule in 1956, the country of Morocco  it's independence and reunify. This led to a period of growth and prosperity which would expand in several areas of development of the country.
The Moroccan air force was formed on 14 May 1956 as the Sherifian Royal Aviation (Aviation Royale Chérifienne).
Its modern installations and bases were inherited from France (Meknes, Rabat in tandem with the United States, Marrakech, Kenitra, Ben Guerir, Boulhault, Nouasseur, and Sidi Slimane), and later Spain (Laayoune).
The first aircraft of this newly formed air force were 16 Morane-Saulnier Alcyons, 5 Max Holste MH.1521 Broussard transport aircraft, 1 Aérospatiale Alouette II, and 1 Bell H-13 Sioux.
In 1961, it obtained 12 MiG-17 fighters, two MiG-15UTI trainers and either 2 or 4 Ilyushin Il-28 bombers from the Soviet Union, but these aircraft would be grounded after the Sand war with Algeria in 1963.
It became known that Algeria was receiving support from the USSR during the conflict with Morocco, so the Moroccan government sought assistance from the USA.

(https://i.imgur.com/Qb01Hvo.jpg)

The USA officials were contacted in order to obtain new fighters and in January of 1966, an arrangement was approved for 8 MAP supplied F-5A (USD 5m) and 2 F-5A, 2 F-5B and support equipment supplied under credit (USD 6m) to equip one Squadron based at Meknès-Kénitra AB.
First 6 of 15 pilots completed their conversion at Williams AFB in in May 1966 and handover of the first 2 single-seat and 2 double-seaters took place on 27-10-66 in the USA.
AIM-9B Sidewinders were also supplied. A USAF Military Assistance and Advisory Group was also stationed at Meknès to help with the integration and familiarization of these weapon systems in the RMAF.
Delivery was originally planned to be completed in 1966, but by 1967 only the first 3 (4 according to some sources) single-seaters were delivered, followed by another 5 single seat and 1 double-seater received in 1968, although this information differs from what is found in the USAF Historical Office: 4 Northrop F-5A/B were operational in September 1966, with a fifth entering service in June of 1967.

(https://i.imgur.com/t9tzEUl.jpg)

According to an official US list, funding from the Security Assistance Program in FY 1966 was for 1 RF-5A, 2 F-5A, 7 F-5B.
Additional to the first lot of 12 aircraft, 6 new F-5A, 1 former USAF F-5A, 2 RF-5A reconnaissance aircraft and 2 additional F-5B followed till 1971.
Iran supplied 6 F-5A, authorisation given by the US in April 1976, after their air force was re-equipped with F-5Es. Some more single-seaters were bought, according to other sources, 5 F-5A and 2 reconnaissance RF-5A, were also received
from Iran.

(https://i.imgur.com/JjmdZee.jpg)

The first aircraft were delivered in natural metal colour, which was kept till ca 1973, followed by later deliveries in camouflaged colours. Conversion training of F-5A pilots during mid-70s also took place in Iran.
War in former Spanish Sahara broke out in 1974, when Spain was ready to leave its colony. Morocco occupied two thirds (Northern region) and Mauritania one third (Southern region, around Dakhla) of the country.
Local Polisario Liberation Front, with the help of Algeria, continued its fight for independence after having started fighting against Spain since May 1973.

(https://i.imgur.com/U1d39Sf.jpg)

Fouga Magisters (based at Laayoune) and North American T-6 (based at Ad Dhakla) were initially used for ground forces support, but these were insufficent to combat the heavily armed Front and F-5As were used since 1976.
Several aircraft (probably most of the Squadron) were deployed to Laayoune (formerly El Aiun) to shorten the enormous distance to the operations theater. The initial Moroccan main objective was to create a controlled/safe area around Laayoune, Smara and the phosphate rich field of Bu Craa. At least 5 F-5A were stationed at Laayoune in 1978.

(https://i.imgur.com/UmuN0AX.jpg)

An offer for 20 Northrop F-5E and 4 F-5F Tiger was requested in August 1975 by the Moroccan government to strengthen the ground-attack/air defence capability and a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the value of USD 120m was submitted to the USA in March 1976. This included training, support equipment and spares, all to be paid by Foreign Military Sales credits. Deliveries could have started in 1977 but the offer was not taken-up, just as was a second Letter of Offer in that same year. Morocco at this point requested the supply of Tigers under the US Military Assistance Plan, which was denied by the USA.
An order was instead placed in 1975 for 30 Dassault Mirage F1.CH (interceptors with ground attack capability), followed by additional 14 Mirage F.1EH and 6 Mirage F.1EH-2000 (fighter-bombers). Deliveries started in February 1978, ending in 1980 and these aircraft became the main ground attack aircraft of the RMAF.

(https://i.imgur.com/PH5v6m2.jpg)

Polisario introduced in its arsenal the SA-7 Strela short-range, shoulder mounted, surface-to-air missile in 1976 to counter Moroccan fighter-bombers, succeeding in shooting down one RF-5A on 21-01-76.
During 1977 and 1978 Freedom Fighters were used in a limited extent; they flew only an average of 100 hours a month.
Use of Freedom Fighters in the Sahara region posed a problem as early USA armament use was limited by the US Arms Control Act, which authorized the use of the weapons only for internal security and self-defence.
Still, during a US congressional hearing in March 1978. the State Department stated that their use was not a "substantial violation" of US law.
This opened the doors for an order of spare parts that were procured from the USA in 1979. A sum of USD 2m for the Northrop F-5 and Lockheed C-130 fleet and ammunition for USD 3.0m, including bombs and rockets.

(https://i.imgur.com/7ynOeMC.jpg)

Finally, after approval in October 1979 by the US government and with the financial help of Saudi Arabia, 16 F-5E, 4 F-5F and 2 RF-5E were ordered at a cost of USD 172m. Another 6 single-seat F-5E ordered by Morocco were not taken-up and transferred to Singapore.
In flight delivery via Canada, Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom of the first 10 F-5E and 4 F-5F started in January and was completed by August 1981.
Aero Maroc Industries was established in October if 1981 at Casablanca to support, overhaul, modify and repair Moroccan military aircraft including Freedom Fighters and Tigers.

(https://i.imgur.com/TUqRqgJ.jpg)

To help alleviate the F-5's short range, insufficient to conduct operations deep into the desert, Aero Maroc Industries fitted an F-5B with an in-flight refuelling probe as a prototype installation for operational trials with a newly bought Boeing B.707-138B fitted with Beech hose units at the wingtips for refuelling of the F-5s.
To further reinforce this plan, 2 Lockheed KC-130H were also bought and delivered in the beginning of 1982.
The remaining 6 F-5E, which were newly built aircraft, equipped with in-flight refuelling probes, followed in January 1983. The local aviation company Aero Maroc Industries later installed the probe on most of the remaining aircraft in Morocco.

(https://i.imgur.com/HE6KzYJ.jpg)

Only the RF-5E airframes were left out of the program as these were not being used due to lack of qualified pilots and crews to operate these recce dedicated aircraft. The real reason for this was due to a shortage of qualified pilots for the F-5E/F/RF-5E fleet in the RMAF, which was caused by an event that took place much earlier, in 1972. This event was to influence the development of F-5 operations for a long time in this country.
When returning home from a visit to France, King Hassan II's Boeing 727 was attacked by 3 of the 6 RMAF F-5 fighters (5 F-5As and 1 F-5B) that were escorting the king's plane.
The King was not hit and the damaged Boeing managed to land at Rabat where the airport was strafed by the same rebel aircraft. One of these rebel fighters was lost due to fuel shortage, when the pilot tried to escape. Later that day, 4 F-5As strafed the Royal Palace, again without results.
Hussan II was not hurt and a massive purge of Air Force personnel/pilots followed, depleting the ranks of many experienced pilots and ground crews.

(https://i.imgur.com/02Errm2.jpg)

During the years that followed, the RMAF's priority was to train new and loyal personnel because with the shortage of experienced crews, most of the best remaining staff were transferred to Mirage F.1 squadrons, leaving almost no qualified personnel in the F-5 squadrons.
Training for the F-5E/F/RF-5Es took around 3 years to give pilots their initial operational capability so it would take quite some time to build up a sufficient number of qualified crews for the RMAF to resume normal combat operations with these squadrons. By 1986, only 6 pilots were qualified for the F-5E variants but were not qualified to operate in areas covered by enemy air defenses like the SA-6 Gainful, employed on the front lines in 1981 by Polisario forces so, most of these new airframes saw very little use during most of the decade.

(https://i.imgur.com/C3SPiu6.jpg)

With the signing of a cease fire by the warring parties in 1988 (something that actually only came into effect in 1991), the fighting would gradually slow down to a halt during the next 3 years.
The RMAF suffered losses of a few F-5 airframes during the Sahara war with the last aircraft, an F-5E, being shot down by Polisario forces in September of 1991 near Tifariti.
The retirement of the RF-5As would begin in 1996, due to a change of the reconnaissance mission's requirements in the digital technology era that was just starting to be implemented in almost every military branch throughout the world and, the obsolescence of the platforms for these new requirements.
The last flight of the RF-5E in service with the RMAF was in July of 1998, right after the upgrade of older F-5A/B airframes to F-5E tiger II standards was finished. The RF-5E airframes were stored to be cannibalized for spare parts for the remaining F-5E/F airframes that were being kept in service."
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 20, 2022, 07:29:48 PM
So, finally it's all done...  got a break today and all the things i had planned to do all had to be postponed so, i had time for the pics and editing and writing.
I do admit that i didn't write most of the stuff, it was taken from the RMAF's page on the F-5 enthusiast site and simply corrected the typos and syntax, and added the bits pertaining to my model. It was something that i didn't wanna loos too much time with and still, took me quite a while to tune the text up because of constant interruptions...  :rolleyes:

Wardukw, you're right, i have to learn how to use the cams but i'll have to study and test them on another occasion.
Had a hard time to get those blurry pics but i just got to a point where i just gave up and didn't wanna loose more time with this matter. One of the things that isn't helping for sure is the lack of decent lighting... and the fact that i don't know how to take decent photos or work with the cameras i have available! :banghead:
 
Anyway, despite the fact that it took me 17 months to build this, i did enjoy it a lot! :thumbsup:
The kit is good, probably not a Tamiya type in regard to the fitment of some parts but, i still think it's a good kit.
Learned some new things and got to practice others a bit more... i guess i could've gone a bit heavier on the weathering with the oils but i didn't wanna thrash the kit so i preferred to play it safe. I think it was a good call cause i now have a bit more experience using the oils and i'm a bit more confident to use them on future builds.
Above all, i can say i'm very happy with how some things came out on this build and not so much with others but, overall, i think it's one of my best builds so far, if not the best...  :mellow:
I also found it hard to find good info on the Moroccan air force, especially about the RF-5As they used. Couldn't find a date of retirement for the type so i had to use a bit of creative license to twist that bit of history to suit my needs...

Hope you guys like it, if you can see anything properly in the crappy pics, that is... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force
Post by: Wardukw on December 20, 2022, 08:30:36 PM
 ;D  :lol: dude don't beat yourself up ..those are pretty good pics mate ..their clear enough to see without any hassles..ya did pretty good Zen .
Told ya oils can be good once ya get used to em  ;D
Like I said before...I think..im not a big fan of the F5 family..no my type of jet..but when one is build extremely well I don't matter if I don't like the plane ...a bloody good build is a bloody good build  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:
This is mate  ;D
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 21, 2022, 03:43:11 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 20, 2022, 08:30:36 PM;D  :lol: dude don't beat yourself up ..those are pretty good pics mate ..their clear enough to see without any hassles..ya did pretty good Zen .
Told ya oils can be good once ya get used to em  ;D
Like I said before...I think..im not a big fan of the F5 family..no my type of jet..but when one is build extremely well I don't matter if I don't like the plane ...a bloody good build is a bloody good build  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:
This is mate  ;D

Well, thank you very much, mate! Glad you like the build! :cheers:
The pics came out worse than some i've managed to take with the same camera in the past but yesterday i just wasn't able to get the results i wanted... i guess i need to study and test this camera more.
But i also need some more light, that's for sure. I had to edit all the pics to brighten them up a bit and sharpen the outlines. And it's something i've managed to avoid with previous pics so i must be doing something different or the camera's settings are too different from when i used it before. This is my wife's cam and she'd been using it recently for an online photography course she took earlier this year so that's probably it, i just have to get the settings back to how they were for previous photo sessions.
Yeah, oils are cool stuff to work with, i enjoyed it and will use them more in the future, that i can say.
Re the F-5 family, i'm sorry you don't like it but that's the beauty of it, right? We all get to choose what we prefer and that's how it's supposed to be. :mellow:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: NARSES2 on December 21, 2022, 05:27:54 AM
That's come out really well  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Pellson on December 21, 2022, 05:52:28 AM
Really nice job, mate!!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 21, 2022, 06:07:50 AM
Quote from: NARSES2 on December 21, 2022, 05:27:54 AMThat's come out really well  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:

Quote from: Pellson on December 21, 2022, 05:52:28 AMReally nice job, mate!!  :thumbsup:

Glad you like the outcome, gentlemen! Thank you!  :cheers:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Old Wombat on December 21, 2022, 06:32:50 AM
Well, all I can say is: "I like it!" :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 21, 2022, 08:34:46 AM
Quote from: DogfighterZen on December 21, 2022, 03:43:11 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 20, 2022, 08:30:36 PM;D  :lol: dude don't beat yourself up ..those are pretty good pics mate ..their clear enough to see without any hassles..ya did pretty good Zen .
Told ya oils can be good once ya get used to em  ;D
Like I said before...I think..im not a big fan of the F5 family..no my type of jet..but when one is build extremely well I don't matter if I don't like the plane ...a bloody good build is a bloody good build  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:
This is mate  ;D

Well, thank you very much, mate! Glad you like the build! :cheers:
The pics came out worse than some i've managed to take with the same camera in the past but yesterday i just wasn't able to get the results i wanted... i guess i need to study and test this camera more.
But i also need some more light, that's for sure. I had to edit all the pics to brighten them up a bit and sharpen the outlines. And it's something i've managed to avoid with previous pics so i must be doing something different or the camera's settings are too different from when i used it before. This is my wife's cam and she'd been using it recently for an online photography course she took earlier this year so that's probably it, i just have to get the settings back to how they were for previous photo sessions.
Yeah, oils are cool stuff to work with, i enjoyed it and will use them more in the future, that i can say.
Re the F-5 family, i'm sorry you don't like it but that's the beauty of it, right? We all get to choose what we prefer and that's how it's supposed to be. :mellow:

OH your welcome mate...but yeah the setting would have changed for sure ..wifey would be trying many different things with her course ..my mate Jonno did a similar thing with his super flashy camera..used setting he didn't even know about  ;D
I'll bet when you used it before it was the perfect storm..everything was just right and mate that will never happen again  :lol:
Get some cheap desk lamps ..great for extra directional light or rediscover the perfect storm again  :wacko:
Mate I'm still messing with oils and I've been using them a awhile now and still not close to great with em..it's a time thing learning and I'll get there ..you will to ..but with your build speed it will take you yrs  ;D  ;D
No your right man..we all gotta have our own favs with wings ..can you imagine all of us loving the same thing and only that..christ that would be boring.
To be honest there's alot of planes on here I am not a fan off but the quality of the builds is superb and you gotta respect that and there's blokes on here which can out build my arse nine ways from Sunday and I love that.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 21, 2022, 03:39:33 PM
Quote from: Old Wombat on December 21, 2022, 06:32:50 AMWell, all I can say is: "I like it!" :thumbsup:
And i say: "Hey , yeah yeah hey, hey..."  ... :unsure:  hum... no more green stuff for this brother today... ;D

Seriously now, glad you like it, Guy!  :cheers: 

Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 21, 2022, 08:34:46 AMOH your welcome mate...but yeah the setting would have changed for sure ..wifey would be trying many different things with her course ..my mate Jonno did a similar thing with his super flashy camera..used setting he didn't even know about  ;D
I'll bet when you used it before it was the perfect storm..everything was just right and mate that will never happen again  :lol:
Get some cheap desk lamps ..great for extra directional light or rediscover the perfect storm again  :wacko:
Mate I'm still messing with oils and I've been using them a awhile now and still not close to great with em..it's a time thing learning and I'll get there ..you will to ..but with your build speed it will take you yrs  ;D  ;D
No your right man..we all gotta have our own favs with wings ..can you imagine all of us loving the same thing and only that..christ that would be boring.
To be honest there's alot of planes on here I am not a fan off but the quality of the builds is superb and you gotta respect that and there's blokes on here which can out build my arse nine ways from Sunday and I love that.

Yeah, she had to go through most of the cam's modes and features so she changed everything i'd set up last time i used it but yesterday i just didn't remember nor did i have the patience to go over everything again. It took a bit to set it up the last time because i took photos to test what i was changing. Still, i didn't get close to understanding how everything works but i did learn something.
It's also something to be practiced and that is something i only do when i grab the cams to take pics of the models... :rolleyes:
Anyway, you're totally correct, i have to buy a couple of extra lamps for this but if i'm gonna spend money on that, i'd rather get some photography dedicated lights with filters for the light. I have to wrap napkins around some of the bulbs so they don't cause glaring on the clear parts and any other shiny surface. I have enough crappy lamps as it is so, why not invest just a bit more but get a ready to use, specific type of tool for the job, right? I've been eyeing up a few sets on ebay just to have an idea and a basic setup isn't very expensive. ;)
Regarding the oils... yep, you're right. At this pace, i'll probably die before i learn how to properly use them... ;D

Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 21, 2022, 07:51:53 PM
I've watched some instructional vids and tried to read info on my own camera and I'm like ..what? ...huh??..hang on ..I do what to get this t..  bugger it im just sticking to what I've got figured out ..they speck in terms I've never heard bout gizmos to reduce this percentage of light to pick up the gaseous heat from a goose fart ..well they might  as well be speaking like that.
What annoys me really is they speck to you like you already know this stuff and not to a person who's a dumb arse when comes to using cameras ie me.
Your wife is clearly smarter than either of us because she remembers the settings .
It's good the light set up you have in mind has a no so nasty price ..I do wonder if there's something on youi tube about making your own on the cheap and how to do it...come to think of it with your build speed..just buy em matey  ;D
You can't do that with oils tho..sorry mate..no buying there ..ya gotta learn  :wacko:  :angel:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 22, 2022, 03:15:33 AM
Yeah, same thing happened to me watching those vids about the cams... ;D
Patricia is a smart cookie, she knows quite a bit about the cams she owns, and she likes to experiment with them to test their limits.
Re lights, i think LEDs will be the cheapest option and if i build a DIY light setup, that's what i'll use for sure.
I already have a bunch of oil paints of several colors and i believe i have enough variety for what i need but i still have to learn how to properly use them. One thing i found when using them on this build was that oils are simple to use but to get them to do exactly what we want is another story... Still, i found it a very interesting process and will definitely use them more from now on.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: zenrat on December 22, 2022, 03:25:43 AM
Nice build mate.

I light my model pics with four led down lights fitted into a piece of thin ply which i mount directly above the model.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 22, 2022, 04:15:20 AM
Quote from: zenrat on December 22, 2022, 03:25:43 AMNice build mate.

I light my model pics with four led down lights fitted into a piece of thin ply which i mount directly above the model.


Glad you like it, Fred, Thank you!  :drink:
Yeah, that's the type of setup i'm thinking of for my bench. I was imagining a simple structure so i'm thinking of buying LED strips but i'm not sure of what material i want to use to support it. I have seen some pre made LED workbench lamps selling on the web so if i find one at a good price, maybe i'll save myself the work... ;D
I'm divided between a movable structure and a fixed one so i still have some thinking to do, to be able to choose the ideal setup for my bench.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 22, 2022, 09:25:13 AM
LEDs are where it's at but not strips..they only give out a soft non directional light which ain't what you need Zen..direct light from 4 directions so they over lap .
When strips are used in homes it's for that nice soft light they give out..no good for photography at all..LED lamps matey  :thumbsup:
As for making it a permanent or removable..if ya have the space make it permanent..why the hell not and I do wonder how long it will be for its covered in crap ..just like my permanent band saw table  ;D ..it's not permanent anymore  ;)
Ya know your wife is alot like my sister..when my sis gets her teeth into something she won't stop until she's got a really good idea about what ever the hell she's doing..like awhile ago she started researching my dad's family..well her being her she's gone back over 3000 yrs ..it's taking her yrs of work but god ya gotta love Italian history  :thumbsup:
My mum is German..she's having a harder time with that one  :lol: but it's very possible that my mums family at some point beat up my dad's family  ;D🤣
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 22, 2022, 09:32:05 AM
Oh to make ya life real good with your oils get yourself a few Ammo 3/0 synthetic  liner brushes...they hold a great amount of paint and you can paint long panel lines in one hit..cheap too..they are less than $7nz ..well worth the money mate.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 22, 2022, 11:14:36 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 22, 2022, 09:25:13 AMLEDs are where it's at but not strips..they only give out a soft non directional light which ain't what you need Zen..direct light from 4 directions so they over lap .
When strips are used in homes it's for that nice soft light they give out..no good for photography at all..LED lamps matey  :thumbsup:
As for making it a permanent or removable..if ya have the space make it permanent..why the hell not and I do wonder how long it will be for its covered in crap ..just like my permanent band saw table  ;D ..it's not permanent anymore  ;)
Ya know your wife is alot like my sister..when my sis gets her teeth into something she won't stop until she's got a really good idea about what ever the hell she's doing..like awhile ago she started researching my dad's family..well her being her she's gone back over 3000 yrs ..it's taking her yrs of work but god ya gotta love Italian history  :thumbsup:
My mum is German..she's having a harder time with that one  :lol: but it's very possible that my mums family at some point beat up my dad's family  ;D🤣

Well, i can see that i'm gonna lose some time to find out what's best for my needs...  :rolleyes:

Wow... 3000 years... don't know how that's possible other than by DNA tests and stuff... I can't even get past 2 generations before mine... My dad doesn't even know his grandfather's complete name and i'd have to go to the national archives to find out... I know, that's weird but it's a very long story and just so you can have an idea, my dad had to run away from his home after his mom died when he was 9 and lived on the streets till his uncle found him and took him in when he was 14.
Family genealogy wasn't on his priority list and i can understand why. I guess i'll never know who were my oldest ancestors... it wouldn't change a thing in my life but i would like to know.

Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 22, 2022, 09:32:05 AMOh to make ya life real good with your oils get yourself a few Ammo 3/0 synthetic  liner brushes...they hold a great amount of paint and you can paint long panel lines in one hit..cheap too..they are less than $7nz ..well worth the money mate.

That's a good tip, Thanks!  :thumbsup:
What do you think about the oil brushers from ammo by mig? Ever tried those? I've been thinking of buying a few of those...
https://www.migjimenez.com/en/home/875-20-oilbrushers-collection-vol-1.html
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 22, 2022, 01:42:47 PM
My sister is one nosey bitch..her words not mine  :lol: .and I can be quoted ..she's brilliant  ;D
One thing Wendy discovered is that dad's family was not that hard to track down ..as your probably aware Italian history goes back a heap and sis was able to make contact with a large amount of dads relatives and they added more info and so on and so forth..what really helped was one member sis made contact with already had a huge amount of info ..it's bloody fascinating mate and still haven't read it all ...turns out we have family bloody near everywhere  :lol:
Next yr sis and my niece are heading over to Italy and Sicily to hook up with dad's family...she's gonna have a great time .

I have 17 oil brushes mate and they are cheap and man do they last..I brought 2 black ones and still haven't finished one yet..one thing I do is use the brush to take the oil out and then I thin it in a mixing tray..works much better and with that brush oh it's so good mate you wonder why you waited so long to try it  ;D
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Firefox on December 22, 2022, 02:42:54 PM
One heck of a great build!  :thumbsup: Very nicely done.
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 22, 2022, 05:57:47 PM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 22, 2022, 01:42:47 PMMy sister is one nosey bitch..her words not mine  :lol: .and I can be quoted ..she's brilliant  ;D
One thing Wendy discovered is that dad's family was not that hard to track down ..as your probably aware Italian history goes back a heap and sis was able to make contact with a large amount of dads relatives and they added more info and so on and so forth..what really helped was one member sis made contact with already had a huge amount of info ..it's bloody fascinating mate and still haven't read it all ...turns out we have family bloody near everywhere  :lol:
Next yr sis and my niece are heading over to Italy and Sicily to hook up with dad's family...she's gonna have a great time .

I have 17 oil brushes mate and they are cheap and man do they last..I brought 2 black ones and still haven't finished one yet..one thing I do is use the brush to take the oil out and then I thin it in a mixing tray..works much better and with that brush oh it's so good mate you wonder why you waited so long to try it  ;D

You crack me up... ;D Your sis seems like a very determined person.  :thumbsup:
That must be quite a read for you guys, getting to know where your ancestors have been and were doing. Great stuff! Like i said, for me it's not a priority but if it wasn't so hard to research these things in Portugal, i'd like to know about my ancestors too.

I've only used cheap oil paints so far cause i didn't wanna spend the nomey without knowing what i'd be getting into but now i've been thinking about getting some better products with finer pigment, which i believe, is one of the things that really make a difference when using them on models. And again, thanks for the tips! I'll take all the help i can get to learn how to use these materials.
No rush, though. I'll also take a good look and read some more articles before i spend my coins. :thumbsup:


Quote from: Firefox on December 22, 2022, 02:42:54 PMOne heck of a great build!  :thumbsup: Very nicely done.

Thank you very much, my friend!  :thumbsup:  Although it took so long to finish, i did have fun with this build and learned a bit more so, i'm pretty happy with the outcome. :mellow:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: Wardukw on December 22, 2022, 06:20:54 PM
Zen mate your most welcome  ;D
Hell that's all part of the wiffy family of nutters mate..these guys have helped out massively and they regrew my passion for building again things I hadn't built in decades..cars and aircraft which I regret because with the planes and the cars I had to put up another shelf today for the boxes of those 5 planes I scored  :lol:  :lol:
AND the 5 tanks I scored too and the boxes they'll come with...I am lost as to where there going to go  ;D
Freakin love a challenge Zen  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: comrade harps on December 22, 2022, 10:02:36 PM
17 months well spent. That's superb :wub:
Title: Re: RF-5E TigerEye of the Royal Moroccan Air Force -FINISHED- Pics on Pag. 4
Post by: DogfighterZen on December 23, 2022, 04:08:01 AM
Quote from: Wardukw-NZ on December 22, 2022, 06:20:54 PMZen mate your most welcome  ;D
Hell that's all part of the wiffy family of nutters mate..these guys have helped out massively and they regrew my passion for building again things I hadn't built in decades..cars and aircraft which I regret because with the planes and the cars I had to put up another shelf today for the boxes of those 5 planes I scored  :lol:  :lol:
AND the 5 tanks I scored too and the boxes they'll come with...I am lost as to where there going to go  ;D
Freakin love a challenge Zen  :thumbsup:

Yep, i've also learned a lot with everyone on this forum, it's a fine group of people!  :drink:
I understand the storage space problem... that's why i prefer to keep my stash in boxes, my stash isn't the biggest but still, i don't want them on shelves gathering dust and they'd surely take up more space.

(https://i.imgur.com/37loQeJ.jpg)

Can't use the opposite wall, that's where my music bench is and although it hasn't been used much lately, i wanna keep it ready to go for whenever i feel the need to scream and spank the guitars...  ;D 

Quote from: comrade harps on December 22, 2022, 10:02:36 PM17 months well spent. That's superb :wub:

Comrade, thank you!! Glad you like it, mate!  :thumbsup: