The Little World

I make snap decisions when I am in the aisle of a hobby shop. These involve kit choice, paint colours, and must-have tools. They are nearly all bad.

Later, when the fever passes, I look at the purchases and wonder where I’m ever going to use them. Some sit dormant for years, and then become the red-hot flavour of the month when I have a new idea. This is the case with the Northrop F-5E in Swiss markings. I had a vague idea to make it into a Canadian plane, but these changed when I found out how much different it is from the RCAF version – so Swiss it stays.

It’s a cracker of an Italeri kit – clean and smooth, with state-of-the-art raised panel lines. State of the art in 1982 when this kit was tooled. It has been able to vote and drink for over 20 years and is now exempt from military service. But it is still going to make a good model.

Two grey sprue trees and a clear one – minor flash but no sink marks. Detailed cockpit and a full load-out including optional drop-tanks. Fortunately the instructions set out the different loads. And specify the nose weight – I’ve already built one from PM and know about this.

The decal sheet has a couple of florid tail pieces as well as the standard service version. As the Swiss opted for colours similar to the USAF, the greys are readily on hand. They have given in a bit to the stencilling vogue but not too badly.

It will make a nice companion to the pig-nose Vampire.