PM 1/72 Northrop NF-5A Turkish Stars

PM 1:72 NORTHROP NF-5A "TURKISH STARS"

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 13 May 2004

Aircraft History:

The NF-5A is a conversion of F-5A Freedom Fighters from the Royal Netherlands Air Force which were sent to the Turkey Air Force as a deal which allowed the NATO member to have relatively cheap but efficient fighter aircraft in frontline service. Turkey then went ahead and formed the Turkish Stars aerobatic team with the type which differed to many other aerobatic teams in that the aircraft were single seat fighters rather than two seat trainers.

The Kit:

Recently bought out another modeller’s stash and the crumpled box of this kit was amongst them. Not having much previous experience with PM kits, but possessing knowledge of a less than flattering reputation I decided to open it up and build up the kit as a bit of a test out project. I had also started the PM IAI Nesher kit alongside this one, but as this kit was a little better it was finished well in front of that Nesher. From what I understand this kit is actually their earlier F-5A kit reissued with new decals, and in a white plastic molding. Inside the box there are just over 25 injection molded parts in white plastic plus one clear (and I use that term very loosely) but scratched canopy. There’s a bit of flash and the moldings are a bit thick, not as bad as the Nesher, but certainly not hugely better. There is raised surface detail that is basic and soft. Other mold imperfections are evident and some clean up of the parts is required before construction can begin.

Instructions:

These simply come on one double sided A4 sized sheet with a few assembly steps on one side and the brief history and external marking schemes on the other. Generic painting information is provided.

Construction:

The first thing to do is to carefully wash all the parts to rid them of mold release agent. After that, sprue cutters are needed to carefully remove the parts from the sprue followed by removing the large amount of flash with a hobby knife. The last stage will be to gently sand all the mating surfaces and repair sink marks and remove ejector pin stubs.

This begins in the vastly sparsely detailed cockpit with a very basic seat the only thing provided for the interior. You have to scratchbuild everything else and I did this mainly by raiding the spares box and other F-5 kits to suit.

The fuselage halves close okay but benefit with clamping. The fuselage intakes are thick and are a very poor fit, needing copious amounts of filler afterward and a lot of sanding to blend into the fuselage. Repeat this whole process for the nose cone and tail planes, all of which needed similar treatment.

The main wings are broken down into the standard upper halves on a single lower wing piece and are a bit warped. They fit with only a reasonably good result which needs a fair amount again of filling and sanding to blend in the roots and remove the step that also occurs. The worst part about the kit is the wingtip tanks which are severely wrong in shape and need to be replaced.

The canopy is a very poor fit and is so thick that it almost defeats the purpose of being supplied. It has “coke-bottle-bottom” clearness and as a result of being transported around amongst the plastic sprues was heavily scratched. Even a dip in Future does little to bring it up to, ahem, scratch. My best advice if you have managed to get to this point in the kit is to see if there is an aftermarket vacform replacement or try your spares or another kit.

The undercarriage might as well have also not been supplied, it is basic, simplistic, crude and poor fitting and the doors cannot be fit because they are too fit.

Versions/Decals:

The decals provide for one colour scheme which is of course the Turkish Stars aerobatic team. The decals supplied cover almost every component needed for the aircraft, so it’s best to paint white and apply the red decals over the top. They are thin and prone to tearing so I cut the large underside one piece emblem and applied it in parts which was not perfect but acceptable for me. The fin decal was not quite large enough to cover the whole tail and I used gloss red to cover up the patches here and on the underside. I also noticed that there was no aircraft number decal supplied. You need lots of water on a very glossy surface because these decals stick like glue the moment they touch the model’s surface.

Accuracy:

By my reckoning the model is almost a complete foot undersized when scaled up to real life size. Overall the basic shape is there but to my eyes it does not look overly convincing and the detail is not there. It looks like a plane from the F-5 family so I guess that is summing it up in a nutshell.

Overall Recommendation:

This is one of those kits that you would be buying for the decal sheet than anything else. The chance to represent the Turkish stars is certainly a drawcard but to me that is about as far as my recommendation will go. It has fit problems and does not make up a very accurate replica. There are far better F-5A’s on the market which you might prefer to try this decal sheet on. I therefore cannot really recommend this kit other than for the decal sheet.

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