F-5E Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

F-5E 73-00939 / 3-7059, 21st TFS, IRIAF, TFB.2, Tabriz, 1984

This Tiger II was credited with at least 3 victories during the Iran-Iraq War. It was also the favorite mount of Col. Javadpour, who downed 2 IrAF Su-20s when flying this jet. For most of the war, IRIAF Tigers were relegated to air to ground missions, but in June 1986, Col. Javadpour managed to intercept and damage an Iraqi MiG-25PDS returning from a mission deep within Iranian airspace.

A quote from an article on the http://www.iiaf.net called Samurai in the skies:
Major Yadollah Javadpour is one of the most accomplished F-5 pilots in the world, and flew in the Acrojet team founded by General Jahanbani. The F-5 is a light, low cost fighter, and Major Javadpour shot down 5 Iraqi fighters, making him one of the prominent jet fighter aces in history. One of his victims was the Mig-25, the world’s fastest fighter, and at the time the Russians’ most advanced fighter, flown by Colonel Rayyan, Iraq’s top fighter pilot. The downing of a fighter like the Mig-25 by an F-5 is unprecedented in the history of air combat, and Major Javadpour has become a legend in the worldwide F-5 pilot community.

source: Iran defense forum

This is an AFV Club kit spiced up with a ton of Aires resin aftermarket (gun bay, ele. bay, cockpit, aux. intakes). Decals are wonderful Hi-Decal line Iranian Tigers, bombs are mk.82 snakeyes from Hasegawa bomb set and the remove before flight tags are by Eduard.

Thanks for watching and as always feel free to comment.