Jump to content

VF-33 F-14A 1982


Recommended Posts

Hello all,

My entry for this GB will be an F-14A from VF-33 circa 1982 (my year of birth :)).

6652142987_9e74b1c1f4_z.jpg

From 712Tomcats

I have built quite a few of the Hasegawa kit over the past couple of years so I will try and share as much of my past experience in this build. While this kit is wonderful in both fit and detail it does need a bit of care!

This is the boxing I have:

6652103785_0968d692c2_z.jpg

I will use the in-box decals and only add the Aires exhausts as they bring a lot of finesse. The Aires cockpit is nice but way too much work for what remains visible at the end so I will pass on this.

More soon!

Arnaud

Edited by arnobiz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice Arnaud,

I was thinking about VF-33 earlier. That is the first Hasegawa I saw way back in Beatties in Sheffield, I remember wishing it was in 1/48! I still wish somebody would do the Starfighters properly in 1/48 :(

Enjoy your build, I built a couple of later 1/72s and enjoyed them very much

Joel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is the first Hasegawa I saw

Joel

I keep thinking I wish I had acquired more when I had money (or at least people who bought kits for me did....)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well time to get started then! I unusually started with the wings, which are easy to deal with. The main issue is that the hinges look odd: they are not continuous from the wing to the flap if you assemble the wings from the box. Here is an example from the first Tomcat I built about three years ago:

6653062181_7c5f3dafbe_z.jpg

The issue is easily corrected: sand down the existing hinges, assemble the flaps and then add small strips of plasticard. The hinges are then sanded down to shape so that they "merge" with the wing and flaps at the front/rear.



6653061981_b1db541d58_z.jpg

Arnaud

Edited by arnobiz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Top fuselage now. The kit has some weird antenna bases which need to be removed. First I drilled the holes through in order to mark the place of the antennae, then I remove most of the basis with a scalpel and finally I sand them flush so that the spine is smooth.

Next, I drill the location of the Environment Control System (ECS) vents through so that manipulation of the ECS parts is easier, more on that later.

6653440383_f0703b7143_z.jpg

The ECS parts are slightly too thick, so that they are not flush with the fuselage if assembled straight out of the box. The easiest is to sand the bottom of the parts until they are the proper thickness. Since this requires trial and error that's when the holes drilled above come in handy: it is much easier to remove a slightly too thick part from its recess if the recess is drilled through :)

6653440151_15bd666e18_z.jpg

Finally the ECS parts are glued and their surroudings masked. This will allow me to apply the putty without destroying all the delicate revetting around the area ;)

6653440029_fef43e3b3c_z.jpg

The putty is now drying, more on this later!

Arnaud

Edited by arnobiz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice progress, Arnaud.

Great suggestions on both the wings and upper fuselage, especially the ECS inserts - thanks for sharing your experience; it will come in very handy in the future for my Hasegawa kits, when I get 'round to them.

Nice choice of scheme as well. I'm looking forward to more of your work.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to see these corrections ! They are small but add a lot to the final realism.

That scheme is really one of my favourite. It was short lived (I think one cruise only), but really looked awesome. My first 1/48 tomcat carried that scheme !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everybody, glad the explanations are of use to some of you!

Little progress today, I worked on the tail pipe. The Hasegawa pipe is slightly too small in diameter, resulting in quite a big gap between the pipe and its fairing. The step exists in reality but is much smaller. This is easy to correct in three little steps, all you need is a set of micro drill bits (0.5-1.6mm), a pin vice and a steady hand :)

The original part (without the ECM bump, which appeared later):

6668329083_85c94b110f_z.jpg

The pipe is 1.2mm in diameter

Cut the pipe and drill a 1.6mm hole:

6668328879_48590d3e4a_z.jpg

Insert a bit of 1.6mm rod and drill it. The rod is dry mounted, no glue is required there. I don't have 1.6mm/.1mm thick pipe but that would of course be an easier/safer way to get there!

6668329271_1b0284da60_z.jpg

6668401481_d0fe7901d6_z.jpg

I apologize for the fuzzy pictures, my camera struggles to take close-ups :(

All comments/questions welcome,

Arnaud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time to move on to the front area! The aircraft will be displayed with the ladder and steps open so I decided to add a bit of detail there.

The steps have some rivets in the back, which are quite easy to replicate. First, remove the kit back of the steps. Then, engrave rivet lines on thin (0.25mm) plasticard and finally glue in place.

The ladder mechanism is a bit more complicated to detail because it is bot small and hard to access. In order to ease things a bit I removed the top of the "box", built the mechanicsm and then replaced the top with a bit of plasticard.

6680078325_5459ddcd36_z.jpg

6680078197_b4414dcf43_z.jpg

Hope it's clear enough, all questions/comments welcome!

Arnaud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmmm....I'm going to need the details inside the steps.....

if I'm not careful tho' I'll spend more time looking at all the helpful pics anbd posts than I will actually building.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hmmm....I'm going to need the details inside the steps.....

if I'm not careful tho' I'll spend more time looking at all the helpful pics anbd posts than I will actually building.....

lol I was thinking exactly that: time to start working kev1n! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Yesterday I tried something completely new. I have always struggled with the intakes of this kit so this time I thought I'd try something I had heard about on ARC: the "Latex paint" technique. It's quite simple really: fill the intake with very thick paint, hold your intakes vertically to let the excess paint flow out of it overnight and you're done :)

I used Crown's super gloss white paint (from B&Q) and here is the result. I'm very pleased with this technique and will definitely use it again.

6735198761_0231c38437_z.jpg

Arnaud

WARNING: While this technique will significantly improve the final result it does not avoid the usual initial putty/sandpaper intake smoothing steps! :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is great stuff! I left 1:72 land for 48th because I couldn't do the fiddly bits, I salute you sir! this is quite incredible detailing, Ilook forward to seeing more.

Rip-Cord

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the kind comments everyone!

Little progress to report, front fuselage finished though. As the aircraft will be displayed with open canopy and without crew the screens are grey, not bright green as too often seen :huh:

The sticks and seats are not there yet, I will do that later on as I don't have the seats yet but at least now I can proceed with main fuselage assembly :)



6782200131_1ec6812b74_z.jpg

6782200425_04efeb11c2_z.jpg

Cheers,

Arnaud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Wow, can't believe I last posted almost three months ago :( I must say I quite lost that modelling spirit lately, but the good news is it came back this week end :)

The fuselage is now closed and the seams in the process of being sanded/filled.

I will post pictures ASAP, I just wanted to let people know I'm back into it and it feels good ;)

Arnaud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...
×
×
  • Create New...