This kit is now available in Taiwan, so stay tuned for an in-depth review soon!

Lucky Model has it on preorder for a mere $34 inc shipping to the US... do I dare???

just found this http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/marinecorps-301/article?mid=1802&prev=-1&next=1783 strange music playing there .... Steffen

well, from those sprue shots looks like we will definatly get a F-5F (note the seperate foward fuselage), and open gun bay, plus open engine vents. Also with the seperate nose and LEX parts, minimal extra sprue and can do several versions. I like the variety of decal options too...something for all. cant wait to get one on hand! andy

Not to be a naysayer, Andy, but IIRC Hasegawa tooled their 1/32 F-5E the same way, and we haven't seen a -5F from them yet! It's true that molding the kit this way makes it much easier to do a two-seater version, but I don't think that a separate forward fuselage alone means that it's a sure thing. Hey, I'm not saying I don't want an E and an F, mind you. I'll just be more excited about it if they announce one. -YL

Not to be a naysayer, Andy, but IIRC Hasegawa tooled their 1/32 F-5E the same way, and we haven't seen a -5F from them yet! It's true that molding the kit this way makes it much easier to do a two-seater version, but I don't think that a separate forward fuselage alone means that it's a sure thing. Hey, I'm not saying I don't want an E and an F, mind you. I'll just be more excited about it if they announce one. -YL [/quote] Oh, i totaly see your point and agree. However AFV club does have a little better record of releasing different variants. It might just be a little while (like how long it took to see a late M5). Hasegawa tends to "forget" and rehash old subjects. Case in point is it took forever to get a RF-4B, and a TA-4J from them. Will we ever see a RF-8? you can see the breaks in the molds on the F-8 parts... regardles, im just keeping my fingers crossed. Besides, I dont want them to release a F-5F untill I finish the one I started!

Just after I've brought the Italeri F-5E, Wolfpack aggressor conversion and Two Bobs decals Oh well may just have to get one and do another aggressor

They have already "previewed" an RF-5E Tigereye, which is what I am eagerly awaiting! Larry

There's a few more issues I found: The first thing that stood out was the panel lines. The majority of the surface scribing was ok (still a bit heavy), but there are places it was overly deep and wide. One example of this was the spine, where it’s pretty bad. This is also quite evident on the small parts, like tanks and pylons. I would have also preferred that the vertical tail rivets been omitted, as they are over done (too deep, large, & too many) for the scale. There's also a raised ribbing effect with the rows of recessed rivets lines on the vertical tail. The canopy is still a bit suspect and the intakes still too squared. I wish they would have not tooled the gun door as a separate part; man these guys need to get away from that! The upper nose contours (from gun doors to the nose cone) are too rounded. The spine is too wide and is flattened at the aft section. There's also a strange pinch contour to the mid spine. This is right in the area of a sprue relief injection molded stub. It looks like the area was over heated and then distorted or shrank when it came out the mold. Both my copies and all other AFV F-5Es I've seen ahve this. The raised rivets on the exhaust shroud are too tight in formation (too many) and bit over sized in height, though they can be sanded down to scale. Still, at least the boat tail fits well enough that most of the rivets will survive the joint process. Cockpit is nice and certainly better than Monogram's effort, though that's comparing to a kit that’s over 30 years old. The instro and console panels are well done. However, The AFV seat leaves a lot to be desired. A much better one can be found in resin form. The main LG is a not much of an improved over the Monogram kit, but the nose is. The NLG dual over torque links are open links (Monogram's were solid) and look nice. The detail on the nose strut is quite lacking and has the same chunky profile as the Monogram NS. AFV also includes an extended version of the 2 position nose strut, for those wishing to depict the F-5 prior to take off. The gear door and wheel well detail is much better than Monograms. The exhaust is also improved over Monogram's, which were nothing more than a pair of short tubes opening up into the fuselage. AFV does include a turbine flame holder assembly of sorts, but absolutely no exhaust duct, so there’s total lack of depth. This problem will need to be addressed. I am impressed with the fit thus far. The upper and lower mid fuselage halves and boat tails assembly fit rather well. The forward fuselage joint will need some work, but isn't bad. Overall, the AFV F-5E is a nice kit, though does not trump the Monogram kit as fart as shape and profile accuracy are concerned. However, the cockpit and other details are much better. I doubt the shape inaccuracies and trenchy panel lines will be a deterrent for most modelers, as the detail is quite nice. It’s still remarkable though, that the old Monogram kit still holds its own in the shape department, even after some 30 years! Mike V