Search the Community

Hobby Boss has just re-released its Tomcat kit (link) as 1/72nd Grumman F-14A Tomcat "VF-1 Wolf Pack"- ref. 80279 Source: http://www.hobbyboss.com/index.php?g=home&m=product&a=show&id=1445&l=en V.P.

Hello colleagues modellers I would like to introduce to you my third F-14 from Tamiya 1/48. I built this model for Ted Rutherford who flew with him. Of the accessories, I only used Eduard's RBFs and seats. Fightertown Decals.

F-14D Upgrades (Tamiya) 1:48 Eduard Tamiya's new F-14A in 1:48 caused a stir in the modelling community due to their reputation for high quality kits, and rightly so - It's a lovely kit, and now we also have a top quality later F-14D model to play with. Here comes Eduard to make it better with another host of resin and brass sets! As usual with Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. F-14D Interior (49933) Two frets are included in this set, one with nickel plating and pre-painted details, the other in bare brass for the constructional aspect of the upgrade. It included sidewall skins for the two cockpits; replacement rudder pedals; highly detailed side console skins that require removal of the moulded-in detail, as does the instrument panel replacement for pilot and RIO. Other details include switch panels on the sidewalls; small structural details; a hoop for the windscreen with built-in grab-handle, matching hoop on the canopy front with rear-view mirrors, canopy closure details with retention hooks and another hoop with mirror for the RIO, plus some additional details in the rear bracing panel. Zoom! Set (FE933) This set contains a reduced subset of the interior, namely the pre-painted parts that are used to improve on the main aspects of the cockpit, as seen above. Whatever your motivations for wanting this set, it provides a welcome boost to detail, without being concerned with the structural elements. Seatbelts STEEL (FE934) The new ultra-thin an bendy steel frets are becoming common in the Eduard line, and if you aren't going for the resin seats, you can get the PE from that set separately to improve the kit parts with pre-painted belts; anti-flail injury leg straps; ejection actuation hoops, and additional seat controls. Exterior (48970) A large fret of natural brass includes a host of additional detail to improve on the base kit, starting with the landing gear, which is given additional small structural improvements, hosing on the legs and inside the bays; structural elements; bay door details including the transparent part in the centre of the nose bay doors; a number of grilles for the exterior of the airframe; upgrades to the main bays including their covers; belly pylon end skins; mating surfaces for the wing mounted pylons; exhaust details for the included weapons; a very detailed crew access ladder replacement, for which you will need some lengths of 0.4mm rod for the rungs, and additional parts for the arrestor hook. Engines (48969) The title of this single fret of brass is a little misleading, as it contains nickel-plated parts for the afterburner ring; a small fan behind a grille in the airway; A series of small grilles that are found around the airframe, and an external replacement skin for the nose gear bay door. Quite a mish-mash, with some duplication from the exterior set. Masks (EX624) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Masks Tface (EX625) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with everything above, but also give you another set of canopy masks tailored to fit the interior of the glazing so that you can paint the interior and give your model that extra bit of realism. It's especially useful if you have also bought the interior set, as it will simplify painting enormously. Review sample courtesy of

Hello one and all, I have been meaning to join a GB for a while now. I was going to enter the P-51 STGB, but typically I couldn't find my decals for the aircraft... anyhow, I was looking at this one thinking that I don't own anything that I could use - yeah, I was a wee bit wrong there. A quick check of the stash proves I have about 15 x F-15's, a few Intruders, a few Prowlers, a Hawkeye and a Greyhound. After checking with Tempestmk5, I know what can and can't be entered into this GB. So lets go! So I can not build the F-14's I have for Ace Combat, however I can build an F-14 from a film as it actually flew! No not THAT film, I'm starting with an F-14 from "The Final Countdown", never seen this film. Has anyone else? Is it worth watching? As far as I understand it, the F-14 on the cover is based on an VF-84 F-14 and not the one from the film as they have *MUCH* larger stars and bars beacuse - film plot? I also have the below... Now the Dragon F-14 is complete and utter garbage, but the F-18F is pretty decent. So I will replace the F-14 in this kit with an extra F-14 I have from Revell, which I have built before and loved the kit. See below... Please excuse how terrible the finish is, I built this on my return to the hobby 6-7 years ago. I remember enjoying building this kit then however. Depending how far I get I also have these to add.... You can see the decal option for "The Final Countdown" there as well. Now this is where the fun happens... the "others" I will bring to the table. I said I also have a Hawkeye and Greyhound to add to the party. However I can only build one, I know Enzo will come straight in and say "Build Both!" but unforunately that isn't possible as the Greyhound kit is a conversion for the Hawkeye and I only have one Hawkeye (for now). Pictures below... Now the same as the F-14A/D, I have also built the Hawkeye before. This was also upon my return to the hobby, but I am still pretty happy with the end result. Ignore the dirty black line, I was playing around with preshading with a sharpie. It didn't work... Then we have the Prowler and Intruder... I recon these two will have the most interest... Just trust me, there is two Prowlers and two Intruders in that box... infact there is alot of plastic in that box. Now the eagle eyed amoung you will have spotted the goodies next to the box... yes I have lots of goodies for these birds. See below! I do have a thing for Domi's stuff over at Retrowings - his stuff is sooo good! I only have enough for one Prowler but three for the Intruder (I have a single kit laying around somewhere). The ALQ-99's where purchased for a Growler kit, but i can use them here as well. Strange question - are the Prowlers wings the same as the Intruders? I mean for the wing fold bits. So while I am build at least 2 F-14's... not sure what else to add next... Hawkeye, Greyhound, Prowler or Intruder? Hopefully I can get at least one of these ladies finished as my record in GB's isn't fantastic. 🤣 Oh forgot to add that I also have two Dragon carrier decks to add *IF* I get the time. Now that I think about it, I have about 5 boxes of the Wildcat from Sweet... Kind Regards, Dazz

This is my entry for the gb, a classic Hasegawa 72nd scale. I've not yet decided the livery and the kit to build: a VF-1 bird (with specific kit) or a VF-31 tomcatters build (in this case, i will choose the Atlantic Fleet kit). Hope to post some updates soon...

No it's not a joke. Great Wall Hobby (GWH) is also preparing a 1/48th Grumman F-14A Tomcat kit - ref. L4823 Sources: http://www.moxingfans.com/new/news/2018/0928/5025.html https://tieba.baidu.com/p/5896435363 V.P.

OK, here goes my version of the popular Tamiya F-14A Tomcat. I'm doing it in the markings of VF-142 Ghost Riders in their 1981 low-vis scheme from the old Microscale Decal sheet 48-217. Controversy and confusion kick off right from the get go! Microscale, with their usually vague painting instructions contradict each other in how the jet should be painted! I thought an ancient copy of Scale Aircraft Modelling June 1983 Vol. 5 Number 9 page 403 may have been of some help.................... ..........but the article seems to copy Microscale's instructions! The problem here is that I believe both Microscale and Scale Aircraft Modelling have got it wrong in their illustrations. The scheme in question appears to be the then brand new (for 1981 that is) low visibility blue/grey scheme of FS. 35237 top, FS. 36375 mid section and FS. 36495 underside. This very scheme has been slightly better documented by a couple of VF-143 Pukin Dogs Tomcats as seen below. https://deskgram.net/p/1825662876444855523_3230508708 So, the search began for any colour photos of Bu No. 159452. My initial search, several months ago, found nothing. But a more recent search uncovered a very poor quality colour image that seemed to confirm my hunch. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1048472 But, there are still unanswered questions! If anybody else is able to source any more colour photos of this particular jet I'd really like to see them. Anyway, so on with the build....... The cockpit is good enough out of the box. All that really needs adding is aftermarket seats. I'll be adding Quickboost seats from set number QB 48-754 for the EA-6B Prowler. As far as I'm aware they are the same seat as fitted to the early F-14A Tomcat, and you get 4 seats obviously, so enough for 2 Tomcats! I'm trying to build the kit in a way that avoids as much masking as possible. So I have painted the inside and outside of the nose section before gluing. This way I'm hoping I won't have to mask off the cockpit and undercarriage bay. Part number H6 the cockpit frame was painted Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black, then dry brushed with light grey. This will simply slot in to place once the nose section is finished. An example of ease of use and speeding things up a little can be seen here with parts D18 and K1 and K2. I assembled K1 and K2 then glued them to D18, then went about cutting off the antenna and cleaning up the join line. Doing it this way made it all a lot easier to handle. Next the unit will be sprayed FS. 36495 and glued directly to the model. The panel on the side of the jet was filled with a styrene and Tamiya glue mix, then sanded. Perfect! Also take note of the fuselage mold line that needs to be removed prior to painting! More filling required on the nose section. This time using Mr Dissolved Putty. I really like this stuff and can highly recommend it. Also, there are two more sections of mold line that need to be removed. As indicated by the black marker and red arrows.............. On the intake ramp parts I glued part E13 to part D4 whilst holding parts D4 and E10 together (not glued) with mini clothes pegs. This aided painting later on. Parts G56, A5, A6 and B12 were all added to the lower fuselage section as well as the two E13 & D4 glued parts. This entire unit was then painted Stynylrez white primer. K14 and K15 were glued to their respective intakes and sprayed Stynylrez white primer. This section (not glued yet) is a drop fit onto the lower fuselage section. Such is the quality of Tamiya engineering! Next will be completing the front fuselage section and painting the lower fuselage FS 36495 in its various sub assemblies. Cheers Richard.

I’m not sure if I got a thing for the F-14 when I bought this kit, or I bought this kit and developed a thing for the Tomcat, but either way, the Airfix 1975 edition was the first Tomcat that I built and one of my earliest models. I bought it with my own hard-earned pocket money but because my folks expected me to save, I pretended that it was a Christmas prezzie from a classmate and I finished it on Boxing Day. Things have changed on the kit buying front since then, I’m bit more upfront and when the ‘Boss’ said, you’re having too many parcels delivered and I can hardly get in your man cave, I suggested she didn’t go in there. Someone donated this kit to me (like I needed another addition to the stash....) It represents a very early Tomcat and I suspect that Airfix were really keen to get a kit out at the time. It’s got the shape right for sure, the swing wings and connected glove vanes would have been a big gimmick, the all moving tailerons less so but fragile, the cockpit very basic. I decided though not only to build it straight away, but do so from the box, as per the instructions. As it turned out, I did add some things I knew should be there, like the nav lights, tinted windscreen, glued the wings swept and the gloves vanes shut and had to fabricate the RIO’s instrument panel which was missing, but in the main, it is no frills and just as Airfix gave it to you. I was quite impressed with the decals TBH, they were in register and easy to handle and I even made a few of those stupid mistakes that I made as a 12-year old. Sorry about the photo quality, bit of a rush. Anyway, enough from me; Wolfpack Baby...

Hi guys, i am in need of a decent 1/48 US Navy "shooter" for an upcoming tomcat diorama. does anyone know where i can get just the one figure, or a set of deck crew

Academy catalog 2018 show a new tooling (yes another one!) 1/72nd Grumman F-14A Tomcat "VF-143" kit - ref. 12563 Source: http://www.greenmats.club/topic/4437-academy-172-f-14a-vf-143-№12563-анонс-на-2018/ V.P.

The F-14 Tomcat came into my life with "The Final Countdown", and I felt quite sad to see it go a decade ago. Therefore I decided, as a little tribute, to assemble one of the last combat cruise Tomcats. Hasegawa issued the F-14D Last Combat Cruise in 1/72, that includes two conmemorative schemes of VF-213: AJ 213 and AJ201. I decided to represent AJ201 as I wanted to have a Tomcat that was closer to combat scheme, not with the shiny blue all over it. The kit is quite accurate for a D, I used resin seats though as the seats provided lack detail, then you have to sand off some antennae around the wing roots not typical of a D, and the decals had some mistakes on them (as letters missing from some stencils...). I had some issues with the decal sheet as they were quite old, too. But maybe the most demanding part is getting rid of dozens and dozens of ejection pin marks. But well, that said, the kit is very nice. Kit provides only an AN/AAQ14 targeting pod, you have to buy some additional Hasegawa weapons sets if you want the 500pd GBUs typically used in the last missions over Iraq in 2005, or the lonely Sidewinder hanging from the left rail. Most of the assembly is OOB, painted as per instructions excepting the dark area around the cockpit, which was Dark Sea Blue (not insignia blue) and left the canopy frame in Light Ghost Gray. Hope that you like it. Marco

Hi everyone I constructed model in 2014 for the customer. I used PE Eduard and Aires Wheel bay. Cheers, Martin

F-14A with Late Wheels BIGSIN Set (SIN64832 for Tamiya) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Tamiya's überkit of the mighty and much-loved F-14 Tomcat is superb, and Eduard have now brought out a number of Brassin sets to further enhance the detail in the rear, where injection moulding can't offer the level of detail and finesse that resin can. Especially Eduard resin, which is amongst the best quality currently available. This collection of sets arrives in a flat black themed box reserved for the BIGSIN sets, and under the layers of protective foam and the instructions, you will find three ziplok bags of resin and one containing the Photo-Etch (PE) parts for two of the component sets, which are further protected by a piece of white card. F-14A Exhaust Nozzles The trunking is quite long on the Tomcat, so is made up of two parts. The shorter section contains the rear face of the engine, into which you place the delicate PE rendition of the afterburner ring, which is made up of four parts, and will need care in correctly assembling it, to which end a number of diagrams are provided to help. The main trunking is a tube with ribbed interior, and attachment rings for the forward end, and the exhaust petals that fit at the rear. The F-14 is usually seen with one nozzle compressed to its smallest aperture and the other relaxed, which is the way it is depicted here using two different mouldings. The finished assemblies slide inside the fuselage, and have a handy "top" inscription on each trunk to assist with alignment. Sympathetic painting will be the key to showing off these parts to their best effect, so spend some time researching the colours typically seen within the trunk and on the nozzles. F-14A Cockpit Set (648312) This set includes thirty one pieces of grey resin, one of clear, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, one of which is pre-painted and nickel-plated, plus a small sheet of decals for stencils etc. The instruction booklet covers three sheets of A4 on both sides, and is printed in colour to assist you in placement of parts. The first thing to note is that Eduard don't just produce a set and let you loose with a sanding stick, scalpel and Dremel to make it fit. They give careful consideration to how they can design the set with minimal interruption to the build of the kit, which shows in the later sections where the set is integrated with the kit fuselage. Building commences with the seats though, which are models in themselves. Each one is made from four highly detailed resin parts, plus a number of PE parts from a constructional point of view, and a further set of crew belts, which are all pre-painted so will take little work. Each seat also has a number of stencils applied once painting is completed to give that extra boost to realism. The work is duplicated for both seats of course, including the important ejection initiation pull-loops on the headbox and between the pilot's knees, as well as the anti-flail leg-restraints that pull taut moments before the rocket motor propels the crew member out of the cockpit on a column of flame and fury. The cockpit tubs are large and open, due to the need for room for equipment and good visibility from the large canopy, and here each one is built up separately in the same basic manner. A rear bulkhead is added to the main tub along with sidewalls and equipment specific to the jobs of the pilot and RIO. The detail on the bulkheads and instrument panels is mind-blowing, and scrap diagrams show how to paint them accurately, as always using Gunze colour codes. More decals are used to provide instrument faces in this old-fashioned (compared to the MFD cockpits of today) instrumented cockpit. Rudder pedals, control columns and stowage compartments are added to the assemblies, and once the pilot's instrument panel is painted and installed along with PE parts, the RIO's coaming with realistic material effect over the instrument backs is added before the two assemblies are brought together in the fuselage. Two kit parts are adapted to fit the cockpit, with only one raised section and a brace needing removal. Two pieces of styrene strip 1x0.75x3mm are added under the rear of the pilot's cockpit and four on the RIO's to locate them correctly on the cockpit tray, and that should be about it. Close up the nose, and add the adapted kit sill area, insert the seats you prepared earlier, and finally the pilot's coaming, with clear resin HUD lens. Wheels Early (648304) & Wheels Late (648290) Four resin wheels are supplied, two main wheels with separate hubs, and two nose wheels with their hubs moulded in. Detail is superb both on the tyres and their hubs, with plenty of brake detail on the back side, and the hub pattern is as crisp as you could want. The sidewalls have the marker's marks in raised relief, and the contact surface has circumferential tread cast in. A set of hub masks are included for good measure, pre-cut from a sheet of yellow kabuki tape. Review sample courtesy of

F-14A Cockpit Set (648312) 1:48 Eduard Brassin The F-14A was a much-loved carrier-based interceptor that is sadly missed now it is retired. We've had some decent kits in 1:48, but Tamiya have recently finally released one that caused quite a stir in the hobby. It is quite a well-detailed kit without going overboard with complexity, but while the cockpit is well enough detailed for many of us, there's no escaping the fact that detail is best done with resin, so along comes Eduard. As usual with Eduard's larger resin sets, they arrive in the oblong Brassin box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched wrapped around, providing extra protection. The set includes thirty one pieces of grey resin, one of clear, two sheets of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, one of which is pre-painted and nickel-plated, plus a small sheet of decals for stencils etc. The instruction booklet covers three sheets of A4 on both sides, and is printed in colour to assist you in placement of parts. The first thing to note is that Eduard don't just produce a set and let you loose with a sanding stick, scalpel and Dremel to make it fit. They give careful consideration to how they can design the set with minimal interruption to the build of the kit, which shows in the later sections where the set is integrated with the kit fuselage. Building commences with the seats though, which are models in themselves. Each one is made from four highly detailed resin parts, plus a number of PE parts from a constructional point of view, and a further set of crew belts, which are all pre-painted so will take little work. Each seat also has a number of stencils applied once painting is completed to give that extra boost to realism. The work is duplicated for both seats of course, including the important ejection initiation pull-loops on the headbox and between the pilot's knees, as well as the anti-flail leg-restraints that pull taut moments before the rocket motor propels the crew member out of the cockpit on a column of flame and fury. The cockpit tubs are large and open, due to the need for room for equipment and good visibility from the large canopy, and here each one is built up separately in the same basic manner. A rear bulkhead is added to the main tub along with sidewalls and equipment specific to the jobs of the pilot and RIO. The detail on the bulkheads and instrument panels is mind-blowing, and scrap diagrams show how to paint them accurately, as always using Gunze colour codes. More decals are used to provide instrument faces in this old-fashioned (compared to the MFD cockpits of today) instrumented cockpit. Rudder pedals, control columns and stowage compartments are added to the assemblies, and once the pilot's instrument panel is painted and installed along with PE parts, the RIO's coaming with realistic material effect over the instrument backs is added before the two assemblies are brought together in the fuselage. Two kit parts are adapted to fit the cockpit, with only one raised section and a brace needing removal. Two pieces of styrene strip 1x0.75x3mm are added under the rear of the pilot's cockpit and four on the RIO's to locate them correctly on the cockpit tray, and that should be about it. Close up the nose, and add the adapted kit sill area, insert the seats you prepared earlier, and finally the pilot's coaming, with clear resin HUD lens. Conclusion The kit cockpit is good enough, but this resin replacement is just so much better in terms of crisply moulded insane level of detail that it has to be worthy of consideration for the detail hungry modeller. 3D printed Rapid Prototyping, we salute you! Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Finemolds is to release a 1/72nd Grumman F-14A Tomcat kit and a dedicated weapons set - ref. FP30 & FP-31 Release expected in December 2017. Source: http://www.finemolds.co.jp/iroiro/2017THS-new.html Reports as being the "Air Graphix/FineMolds" F-14D kit with changed parts: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/958331-finemolds-mg-789-2015-grumman-f-14d-tomcat V.P.

Just finished the new Tamiya kit. Totally Out of the Box. It's for Tamiya Canada so the RIO is in but the pilot seat is empty to show the variables. What was crazy about it? Well look down the photos and you will see that the model was built, painted, decalled and mostly detailed in sub assemblies and then brought together. Crazy - yes, was it a risk? No. As you can see no visible seams from this construction and it actually made painting much easier especially on the underside. I wouldn't recommending this process on any kit but on this one- absolutely. The WIP link is here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235023242-f-14a-tomcat-modular-construction-updated-final-assembly/ During pictures I noticed the nose pitot is broken, the stabilators are not pushed all the way in, the refueling probe cover fell off at some time and in some pics the right side wing bladder and fairings are not installed. These. are all fixed now Thanks for looking! And as promised the pile of completed sub assemblies.

F-14A Exhaust Nozzles (648311 for Tamiya) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Tamiya's überkit of the mighty and much-loved F-14 Tomcat is superb, and Eduard have now brought out this Brassin set to further enhance the detail in the rear, where injection moulding can't offer the level of detail and finesse that resin can. Especially Eduard resin, which is amongst the best quality currently available. The set arrives in the usual black box for larger castings, and under the layers of protective foam and the instructions, you will find two ziplok bags of resin and one containing the Photo-Ecth (PE) parts, which are further protected by a piece of white card. The trunking is quite long on the Tomcat, so is made up of two parts. The shorter section contains the rear face of the engine, into which you place the delicate PE rendition of the afterburner ring, which is made up of four parts, and will need care in correctly assembling it, to which end a number of diagrams are provided to help. The main trunking is a tube with ribbed interior, and attachment rings for the forward end, and the exhaust petals that fit at the rear. The F-14 is usually seen with one nozzle compressed to its smallest aperture and the other relaxed, which is the way it is depicted here using two different mouldings. The finished assemblies slide inside the fuselage, and have a handy "top" inscription on each trunk to assist with alignment. Sympathetic painting will be the key to showing off these parts to their best effect, so spend some time researching the colours typically seen within the trunk and on the nozzles. Review sample courtesy of

This is the newish Tamiya 1-48 kit. It is a pretty amazing model to build and just to prove how good the fit is I have built painted and decaled it in sub assemblies. These will still have to be brought together and a few more decals to be added plus the final finish coats. Some parts such as the canopy and windscreen still need painting. I know it's not unusual to add gear, wheels and missles at the end but have you ever had a kit where the front and rear fuselage halves fit absolutely perfectly. Anyway here's where it is today. Be sure to check the last picture - it looks like a jumble!!!

F-14A Weapons Set (SIN64828 for Tamiya) Eduard Brassin Tamiya's new F-14A is a supersonic interceptor in the true Cold War style, so needs to be bristling with weapons. Injection moulded weapons are all well and good, but even the new slide-moulded one-piece weapons come with mould lines which can drift out of alignment, all of which takes time to deal with, as generally you are looking at four seams per item. Resin weapons can be moulded without seams if expertly done, and Eduard are the masters of resin moulding. As this is a BigSin set, it arrives in a flat top-opening figure sized box, and although the box is perhaps a little over-sized for the parts, there is adequate bubble-wrap inside to prevent the contents moving in transit. Inside the box are three sets that have been available separately in the past, as follows: 648062 AIM-7E Sparrow Missiles (4 in the pack) 648097 AIM-54A Phoenix Missiles (4 in the pack) 648303 AIM-9G/H Sidewinder Air-To-Air Missiles (4 in the pack) Each set is in a separate ziplok bag, with the combined Photo-Etch (PE) and decal sheets in another ziplok back with two sheets of white card providing extra protection. The Sparrow missiles are each built from the main body that has the rear fins moulded in, and separate steering vanes. At the rear is a circular exhaust in PE, and all the stencils are provided on the sheet, with the painting and markings on the instruction booklet using Gunze paint codes for the colours. The Phoenix missiles are each made of the main body with a separate tail part with the rear fins moulded in. The two parts join together with a butt-joint, so ensure that you cut the mould plugs cleanly, and it may help to Dremel the join so that it is concave to improve the fit if the two parts rock at all. The exhaust is moulded into the rear of the tail with a deep undercut adding realism, so no PE is required. There is a short pin moulded into the nose cone to ensure that no bubbles form in the very point of each missile, so remember to remove those and knock back the stub to the correct shape with a fine sanding stick. Again, stencils are included on the sheet with the colour codes given in Gunze shades. The Sidewinders have separate steering vanes and a clear resin seeker head at the front, and a PE exhaust ring at the rear. There are also optional Remove Before Flight covers for the clear head, and adapter rails to facilitate attachment to the aircraft's pylons. Stencil placement and colour codes are on the instruction booklet with the paints in Gunze codes as per the rest of the set. Review sample courtesy of

Hello fellow modelers. again after some time I finished another model in the collection. The kit is news from Tamiya 1/48. It is enhanced by seats, wheels, and RBF photoetched from Eduard decals and decals from Fightertown I hope you will like it

When you say 1/32nd and Tomcat together most people think "Tamiya" but this project involves the new kid on the block - Trumpeter. You may have heard or read positive or negative things about this kit and to be fair it has a few peculiarities which are somewhat of a Trumpeter trademark. So many areas are damn good and then you discover areas where the usual designer must have gone for break and some crazy guy adds a few parts which do not match the rest of the kit. So let's get started by taking a peek at this rather large pudycat. This is no ordinary box, it is also a piece of luggage and comes complete with it's own carry handle and strong securing points to stop the box from opening unless you really want it to. When you do reveal the inside it is packaged very well with separate boxes and containers to protect the contents. The upper and lower fuselage halves come together in their own plastic tray with a clear cover, this should mean that they stay stress free and do not become out of shape. This kit comes with three decal options, all light-gull grey over white schemes. VF-1 Wolfpack, VF-84 Jolly Rogers and VF-111 Sundowners. But enough of this hear you cry! This is supposed to be a WIP and not a review so let's start at the beginning which is the best place to start so I'm told. For those of you thinking that Trumpeter supply a nicely moulded set of throttle handles to go on the phallic gesture sticking up - you'd be wrong as that's it! Deep breaths now and put it down to that crazy guy having his fun whilst the real designer went to the loo. You'll see more of this later. The kit comes supplied with another cockpit tub and instrument panels for an F-14B, so I put aside the original "A" cockpit tub and went to town on the "B" version. Starting by sanding down all the side console detail as I intended to try something using the Eduard cockpit etch in a new and unusual way. I dislike working with photo etch parts so scanned the fret on the computer where I could correct and change certain bits and then print out what I needed on to matt photo paper. More on how this worked out later on. The F-14A should have two circuit breaker panels inside the pilot's foot well so some surgery was required.

Here we go then! My first build thread for quite some time. I'll try to make it entertaining and I hope that you will make it interesting too. Please join in. Comment! Criticise! Suggest! Take us off topic, as long as it's fun. Don

Hi Guys, Newbie here! Finished Build, brush painted, superscale decs, burner cans stolen from an academy kit. Hope it's OK Best Regards Ben

F-14A Upgrades (Tamiya) 1:48 Eduard & Eduard Brassin Tamiya's new F-14A in 1:48 has caused a stir in the modelling community due to their reputation for high quality kits, and rightly so - It's a lovely kit. Here comes Eduard to make it better with a host of resin and brass sets! As usual with Eduard's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. Eduard's Photo-Etch (PE) and Mask sets arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. F-14A Ejection Seat (648293) Containing two resin Martin Baker GRU-7A seats that were fitted to the early Tomcats before they transitioned to the MB.14 in later models, each one consists of a highly detailed base, to which resin cushions and PE controls are added, after which it should be painted before adding the superb STEEL pre-painted belts and handles that are supplied on the PE sheet. Also included is a small decal sheet with the stencils appropriate for this seat to complete the look. A scrap diagram calls out the painting in Gunze colours as usual for Eduard's sets. Wheels Early (648304) & Wheels Late (648290) In each set Four resin wheels are supplied, two main wheels with separate hubs, and two nose wheels with their hubs moulded in. Detail is superb both on the tyres and their hubs, with plenty of brake detail on the back side, and differing hub pattern between the early and later versions. The sidewalls have the marker's marks in raised relief, and the contact surface has circumferential tread cast in. A set of hub masks are included for good measure, pre-cut from a sheet of yellow kabuki tape. Early Late F-14A Interior (49805) Two frets are included in this set, one with nickel plating and pre-painted details, the other in bare brass for the constructional aspect of the upgrade. It included sidewall skins for the two cockpits; replacement rudder pedals; highly detailed side console skins that require removal of the moulded-in detail, as does the instrument panel replacement for pilot and RIO. Other details include switch panels on the sidewalls; small structural details; a hoop for the windscreen with built-in grab-handle, matching hoop on the canopy front with rear-view mirrors, canopy closure details with retention hooks and another hoop with mirror for the RIO (Goose!), plus some additional details in the rear bracing panel. Seatbelts STEEL (49806) The new ultra-thin an bendy steel frets are becoming common in the Eduard line, and if you aren't going for the resin seats, you can get the PE from that set separately to improve the kit parts with pre-painted belts; anti-flail injury leg straps; ejection actuation hoops, and additional seat controls. Exterior (48909) A large fret of natural brass includes a host of additional detail to improve on the base kit, starting with the landing gear, which is given additional small structural improvements, hosing on the legs and inside the bays; structural elements; bay door details including the transparent grille in the centre of the nose bay doors; a number of grilles for the exterior of the airframe; upgrades to the main bays including their covers; belly pylon end skins; mating surfaces for the wing mounted pylons; exhaust details for the included weapons; crew access ladder replacement, for which you will need some lengths of 0.4mm rod for the rungs, and additional parts for the arrestor hook. Engines (48910) This single fret of brass includes a representation of the rear of the engine, and you will need to roll two tubes (one for each engine) to form the centre spindle onto which the other parts slide. The remaining parts form the afterburner ring, which is in three parts, both of which are quite delicate, so care will be needed. There are plenty of scrap diagrams to help you position everything correctly, as well as one of a cross-section of the exhaust trunking showing the parts installed. Grilles STEEL (48914) If you don't want to spring for the exterior set, this smaller set includes just the grilles for the various parts of the airframe in the ultra-thin steel PE, which should allow them to conform nicely to any curves. Masks (EX540) Supplied on a sheet of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort. Review sample courtesy of

Hello! One more model. Tomcat from Italeri in 48th scale. OOB.