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1/48 VF-111 F-14a - Eduard COMPLETE RFI Link in Last Post


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Hello all,

This is my first WIP thread but is my second 1/48 model to hit my workbench. I have been really looking forward to getting into this bad boy. I will be using the Eduard "Danger Zone" Hobby Boss F-14 reboxing. The kit is absolutely beautiful and even with some dry fitting everything just clicks together and even has a lack of release pin markers that plagued their F/a-18d. :yahoo:

For this built I will be pulling out all the stops as well as all the ports that the kit comes with...and some! Still undecided as to weather I will fix the wings extended with all the flaps and slates showing their red underbellies or if I will keep it simple and leave the wings swept back.

One point I think is important to mention as I know some people may point it out if I don't mention, although I will be trying to create the model as close to the real thing as possible there will be an element of "Poetic Licence" regarding some parts/features/processes. I have so far been unable to find more than one picture of this particular jet, NL 212 on the USS Carl Vinson, so I am going to "assume" a few things. This mainly relates to weathering and any scratch building.

With that in mind I plan to "Imitate NOT Replicate" :police:

Right enough waffling, let the games begin!!

I started with an unusual point, rather than the cockpit and seats I went straight to the P&W TF-30 engine. I plan to open up some of the larger access panels around the back to show off this bad boy as well as all the other panels that kit gives you. :thumbsup:

First I need to get some strips:

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Followed by some dry fitting, measuring and measuring again and then a bit of cutting.

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Once the cutting and fitting was sorted I dove straight into the detailing.

Phase one:

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Phase two to...well I lost count of the phases from this point but here is the result so far

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And then I had a final dry fit with all the extra details added:

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I plan to open up the largest panel on the underside of the engine to show it off a light similar to the image in the link below.

http://www.aviation-militaire.com/Galerie/NAS_Oceana_98/015_07P.jpg

From my research I have only ever found that when this panel is opened/removed the opposing panel also has to hang down. Can anybody clarify this for me? I would probably prefer to not have to open up the second panel. Mainly just to remove the chance of making any mistakes. if I can get away with one panel it would be fantastic! If anybody has looked at this before or has some references they can check that I don't have available to be can you please let me know? It would be a great help!

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, all comments are welcome and encouraged!! Enjoy! :guitar:

Edited by Bernie Mac
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Exceptional work thus far. I wish I could help with the panel question, but my knowledge of the F-14 is almost entirely derived from Top Gun, and I don't think they discussed that topic (maybe it was in the director's cut).

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Watching with interest. After watching Oliver's excellent build of this kit, and now yours, I should be ready to rock when I decide to pull this kit out of the stash.

Absolutely, Olivers build is looking great and also did the same following it step by step to see how it all fit together.

Exceptional work thus far. I wish I could help with the panel question, but my knowledge of the F-14 is almost entirely derived from Top Gun, and I don't think they discussed that topic (maybe it was in the director's cut).

Thanks very much, unfortunately my reference and knowledge base is limited to what I have found on the internet and what my office firewall will let me read :banghead:

It seems like something who has first hand experience of that sort of thing may be able to help with. I have yet to find an image of the one panel open, i think mainly due to it being pointless only opening the one as you will generally need the two to inspect the engine efficiently.

- Ian

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Always liked the Sundowners. Did a bit of a study of them from VF11 to VF111 and Grumman Wildcats through Hellcats, Bearcats, Panther, Cougar, Tiger, Crusader, Phantom right up to the Tomcat a. Think it was the Sunburst tail that attracted me. Are you doing the full colour scheme or TPS? Both look really cool..

So I'm going to watch this one run through if you don't mind..

Edited by Grey Beema
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Always liked the Sundowners. Did a bit of a study of them from VF11 to VF111 and Grumman Wildcats through Hellcats, Bearcats, Panther, Cougar, Tiger, Crusader, Phantom right up to the Tomcat a. Think it was the Sunburst tail that attracted me. Are you doing the full colour scheme or TPS? Both look really cool..

So I'm going to watch this one run through if you don't mind..

Absolutely not man, more than welcome! Don't be afraid to add you input at any stage! I never shy from a good critique or become more informed! :hobbyhorse:

I will be all out with the full red and white setting sun and big red grin at the front

F-14A-VF111.jpg

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Not unless I get my hands on the decal set. The kit comes with a Furball Aero-Design set of decals and I am using their VF-111 version, NL 212

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Progress Update:

So today had a lot of PE as well as some priming, painting and washes. First up I a quick family photo of what got done today.

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I started on the radar. Only a pair of wires added. The wires that are there already are well defined but there wasn't as much as you would expect to see so I added the third and sat it over the other two which should give it a bit more depth after the panel line wash (my own oil/thinner wash) added. I also added a thinker cable at the bottom which wasn't present on the original part and thought I would include it.

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Next up is the cockpit got a lick of paint. I think the colour I used was Vallejo dark ghost grey. Then threw on the PE details which are already starting to pop!!

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I also gave the gun and ladder compartments their base coat of Tamiya's X-2 white thinned so the ultimate products grey primer will come through as a preshade and then gave it a gloss coat and panel line wash, again homemade brew stuff.

Next step is to get the display hoods for the dials and monitors dry brushed, gloss coated and then a wash but on. After that I will start getting the land gear bays assembled and painted. :thumbsup:

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I was going to complement on the terrific pipework on the engine, but I'm just knocked by that cockpit!

Yummy!

Thanks very much Christer A, its much appreciated! I do have to say I picked up Enclyopedia of Aircraft modelling, Interior and Assembly and that sort of lead to the inspiration...plus I fancied a bit of a challenge :banghead:

Fantastic work so far.

I have a soft spot for the Sundowners myself (and the Tomcat) so if you don't mind I shall follow your build with interest.

Craig.

Thanks very much Craig, I am hoping I will be able to do them justice with this piece

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From my research I have only ever found that when this panel is opened/removed the opposing panel also has to hang down. Can anybody clarify this for me? I would probably prefer to not have to open up the second panel. Mainly just to remove the chance of making any mistakes. if I can get away with one panel it would be fantastic! If anybody has looked at this before or has some references they can check that I don't have available to be can you please let me know? It would be a great help!

From my experience, you would very seldom see only one panel open. When the birds get opened up for their routine maintenance & checks...they get opened up. I didn't work on the F-14s (I was in an EA-6B squadron), but I used to walk past them in the hangar decks. You'd be surprised at the number of panels that come off for a 28 day inspection. To say these were a labor intensive bird to keep operational (especially towards the end of their career) would be an understatement (our Prowlers weren't much better that those regards either). But in the end, they always did what was asked of them. So feel free to use artistic license. :thumbsup:

I'll be following this for motivation as I anxiously await AMK's Delta release. :coolio:

Edited by helios16v
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You are adding some very nice details to the kit. I'll follow your build with interest. Got this kit in the stash.

Jan Remco

Thanks Jan, your more than welcome to!

From my experience, you would very seldom see only one panel open. When the birds get opened up for their routine maintenance & checks...they get opened up. I didn't work on the F-14s (I was in an EA-6B squadron), but I used to walk past them in the hangar decks. You'd be surprised at the number of panels that come off for a 28 day inspection. To say these were a labor intensive bird to keep operational (especially towards the end of their career) would be an understatement (our Prowlers weren't much better that those regards either). But in the end, they always did what was asked of them. So feel free to use artistic license. :thumbsup:

I'll be following this for motivation as I anxiously await AMK's Delta release. :coolio:

That's great insider info helios, really appreciate the input, I may just have to play by ear and see how I get on when its time to seal the entire body up. Having said that it is looking like it won't be too far enough depending on what my work schedule looks like/how much I drink at the weekend....fiddly PE the day after a day of drinking wine in the park never work well together :banghead:

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I don't know for sure but looking at the photograph there are no frames for the engine panels to shut against. I would suspect that the panels get their strength and keep shape by latching to each other face to face thus if you unlatch them from each other they both open..

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Not unless I get my hands on the decal set. The kit comes with a Furball Aero-Design set of decals and I am using their VF-111 version, NL 212

The Miss Molly decals do scrub up very well and the helmet sun burst decals are also a nice touch.

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Great work so far, watching with interest.

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Hi Folks,

So quick update, although it feels like I moving through this project fast when I look at what I have done it doesn't look like much. But maybe that's just me! So time to crack on.

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First up I needed to fix up the horizontal stabilizers a little bit. There was far too many rivets on them so a little bit of filling, sanding, rescribing and priming was in order. All seems to be a bit more accurate now. I just need to do the same on the wings when I assemble them, but will have to decide if I am going wing swept or fully extended with the flaps and lats out for show.

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I also assembled the vertical and the rear wheel wells, just need a little bit of filling on the leading edge and then a bit of sanding and priming. Will have to consult my references and see if I need to add some wiring to the wheel wells. They looks incredibly detailed already, but would fancy some extra pipe maybe just to make it pop that little bit more.

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At this stage my priming/painting queue is starting to stack up. All the panels that cover the gun and electronic bays on the port side. Again need to check to see if any extra wiring or cables are needed to help bring these to life a little before going to paint.

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And finally an overview of the cockpit which was glossed, weathered with a homemade oil pin wash and then sealed with a matt coat. I also finished the radar and the radar bay. Will have to take a look and try find some reference photos of what the inside of the nose looks like to see if I need to scratch build anything else in there, although this will probably have to wait until the main body gets its share of paint and weathering so I don't have any fit issues.

And that's its for me folks. While I was working on this I was also polishing off my 1/48 F/a-18D so time was split. Probably won't get a chance to work on the tomcat now until early next week as I have the misses parents coming over to visit for the weekend so will be busy playing host.

As always comments and critiques are more than welcome...don't be shy!

- Ian

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Right after a little bit of radio silence I have a few updates. Been caught up with entertaining the misses parents over the weekend so not much got done.

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First up I closed up the cockpit, haven't made a start on the seats just yet, only dry fitted the resin parts to ensure no fit issues. Don't want to have them finished off and lying around to get lost or damaged.

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I also noticed the front fuselage will need a good bit of filling, sanding, priming and rescribing. Although the detail and fit is fantastic on this kit there is some parts that are disappointing, this is one, another I found is the panel lines in this section are faith and almost unnoticeable down by the landing gear bay so will have to give them a going over.

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I chopped the wing rotating rings so that I can pop them in and out instead of having to seal them in place when I join the main fuselage together, as well as assembling the wings ready to fill and sand down all the inaccurate rivets. Still haven't secured the flats and slats as I am still undecided as to how they will be positioned, although I am leaning towards having them closed up.

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I also removed the first access panel, still unsure about the opposite panel. I have left it for the minute. For accuracies sake I will probably open it up, because one part of me is annoyed at how little off all my hard scratch building work will be on show :banghead:

And from all the reference material it looks like they just hand loose or are held in position with a brace

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Before I can go anywhere near detailing the inside of the panel as well I need to trim down the thickness...the plastic is super thick, I can imagine that those panels are 48mm thick on the real steal Tomcats. :police:

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That's all for now, I know its not much to look at, I also have the gun and its corresponding parts primed and ready to paint I just don't have the time to get them painted just yet.

Hope that is enough to keep everyone keen for the mean time anyway! :popcorn:

Cheers

Ian

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Hi Ian,

Just had a read through your thread and I like what I have seen ( what's not to like ! ) . I admire your detail work the cockpit looks great and the engines look miles better with the extra effort you have put into them.

Keep up the great work, I will keep an eye on this one !

Guy

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