1/48 Academy F-5E Lightning

[Floki]

Great job on the silver I can't get a rattle can paint job to look good at all.

[speedgraflex]

Great job on the silver I can't get a rattle can paint job to look good at all.

[Medicman71]

Very nice! The metal color looks great!

[BlackSheep214]

[silentbob33]

Thanks guys! Decals are done, and they were terrible. I don't have many Academy kits in the stash, but I'm going to have to see if the decals are made by them or printed by someone else. If they are Academy decals I'm getting aftermarket. These were some of the worst decals I have used. The Micro Sol just cracked them and comepletely destroyed the upper national insignia. Luckily I had a spare one that was the same size in my stash. One of the decals on the tail shattered in the water, but thankfully it was easy enough to paint the red and white stripes. I'm at the point where I just want this build done.

[KSaarni]

Thanks guys! Decals are done, and they were terrible. I don't have many Academy kits in the stash, but I'm going to have to see if the decals are made by them or printed by someone else. If they are Academy decals I'm getting aftermarket.

I did the same, when I made my (so far the 1st and last) Academy kit, a 1/72 Avenger for some years ago.. Reading bad reviews of decal quality, I decided to invest in AM decals from Techmod.. but they were a disaster, some of them broke up already in water, without me doing anything else than watching the catastrophy happen... Most of them when trying to position them. In the picture the cracking has started..

So I ended to use Academys own decals, at least they did not break up...
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The paintwork of your Lightning looks very good!

- Kari

[Floki]

It's looking good and your getting close to the finish line now. I don't think any company makes a good 1/48 lighting kit, I bought the Eduard kit a few years ago then I realized it was this kit reboxed with some added resin bits and PE. I would really like to see Tamiya do one but I've read they will never do that since it was the aircraft that killed Admiral Yamamoto.

[Medicman71]

Academy's decals are notorious for being horrible. I had all kinds of problems with the ones on my P-40. Everything that could happen to them did.

[Stikpusher]

Academy's decals are notorious for being horrible. I had all kinds of problems with the ones on my P-40. Everything that could happen to them did.

Academy decals are either/or. Their own are crap. Translucent, and glue that has the adhesive properties of sugar water... but some of their kits come with Cartograf decals, which of course are superb... it all depends upon the boxing.

[Medicman71]

The newer kits come with Cartograph which are great!