DaveJL Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Hello all, Here is my second Tamiya F-14A, this time in the markings of VF-32 'Swordsmen' during the 'second Gulf of Sidra incident' in January 1989, whereby 2 Libyan Mig-23s were downed by a pair of F-14s. I'll be marking the model as A/C 207, BuNo 159610, which downed one of the Migs with an AIM-9. After the cruise, this jet was then re-manufacured as an F-14D (R) and served with VF-31 right up until retirement in 2006. The jet is on display in the Udvar Hazy centre at Dulles International airport. I had the privilege of seeing it in the flesh a few years ago: Kit: Extras: Will be using Quickboost seats, Steel Beach tail stiffeners, Fightertown decals, a resin TCS (thanks Tony!) and Furball decals for the AIM-54's. The reason for the later being that the AIM-54C began replacing the AIM-54A from 1986 and the Tamiya kit only has stencils for the AIM-54A. As always, the trusty, well worn reference material: Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 Doing a bit of research on this one and just noticed that the gun vent on both A/C 202 and 207 was the earlier style with 7 individual vents. Luckily, Steel Beach have said vent as a resin piece so I've a set on the way. You can see the vent in the below picture of A/C 207 after it returned from the cruise, had a re-paint and the Mig stencil removed (taken from the net): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 Made a start this morning. Wing sweep mechanism and upper fuselage first: No issues this time with the join! Lower fuselage with intake ramps fitted and wheel bays sprayed: Intakes: Missiles: Pylons and fuel tanks: Wings, fins and stabilisers: Upper and lower fuselage halves closed: Everything just falls together. The kit is an absolute joy to build. More soon. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 You'll need to sand the 4 bumps around the body off of the 54's to turn the A's into C's. I guess Tamiya made that bit seperate on the missiles to allow them to do C's in the future 👍🏿 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 6 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said: You'll need to sand the 4 bumps around the body off of the 54's to turn the A's into C's. I guess Tamiya made that bit seperate on the missiles to allow them to do C's in the future 👍🏿 Good shout Tony, I'd forgotten about that! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 4 hours ago, DaveJL said: Good shout Tony, I'd forgotten about that! Both versions are provided in the kit, Same for the Aim-7 and Aim-9's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Indeed they are! Just checked some sprue shots online. Missed a trick there Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 10 hours ago, Tony Oliver said: Indeed they are! Just checked some sprue shots online. Missed a trick there Dave! All sorted now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 More done today. First up, smooth bodies added to the AIM-54's to replicate the C version (thanks for pointing that out Tony!) Next, the vinyl stiffeners were added to the tail fins: Intakes added to the fuselage, along with the exhaust shrouds and beaver tail: Cockpit parts sprayed and ready for detailed painting: More soon. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Yikes these come along fast! Good effort Dave! PS regards coincidences, just realised the Next bird I'm working on in my saga is the 1991 VF 32 CAG 200 F14A bird in gull grey with insig blue fins (yellow swords) and skunk stripe, wearing the squadrons' mig kills on the nose from yours and its mate a couple years prior... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 40 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said: Yikes these come along fast! Good effort Dave! PS regards coincidences, just realised the Next bird I'm working on in my saga is the 1991 VF 32 CAG 200 F14A bird in gull grey with insig blue fins (yellow swords) and skunk stripe, wearing the squadrons' mig kills on the nose from yours and its mate a couple years prior... Cheers Tony! The kit does just fall together. That would be a nice scheme, not sure the decals are available in 1/48 though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Hi Dave, how do you paint the demarcation on the intake ramps? The aircraft also appears to have not been fitted with the RWR gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 41 minutes ago, Shaun said: Hi Dave, how do you paint the demarcation on the intake ramps? The aircraft also appears to have not been fitted with the RWR gear? On the inside Shaun? I've masked them off at about a 40 degree angle from the edge of the intake lip upwards.. It's hard to tell which jets have the straight lines and which have the angled ones. This jet was not fitted with the RWR bumps, at the point of the cruise it was only retrofitted with the TCS. It's quite unique as a lot of jets at this time had the Block 125 upgrade and the later style, though not the NACA gun vents, whereas this jet had the early style one, with 7 individual vents. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 1 hour ago, DaveJL said: Cheers Tony! The kit does just fall together. That would be a nice scheme, not sure the decals are available in 1/48 though! Wow that does go together quickly. I think that you might want to look at Furball Decals sheet 4808. I have been trying to find a VF-32 line jet from this period (Gulf War), but in /72nd but with no luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 Just now, Jabba said: Wow that does go together quickly. I think that you might want to look at Furball Decals sheet 4808. I have been trying to find a VF-32 line jet from this period (Gulf War), but in /72nd but with no luck. Cheers, i'll take a look and add it to the list! VF-1 is next, then most likely VF-31... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 More done. First up, the gun vent arrived from Spruebrothers: Two simple cuts and then fitted: Casting isn't perfect, so a touch of filler needed. Cockpit was then finished off, ready to be fitted: Once that was set, i attached the front and rear fuselage sections, added the Phoenix pallets, fuel tank pylons and the arrester hook housing: Going together well. More soon. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper15 Posted December 7, 2016 Share Posted December 7, 2016 Looking good so far, looks like a nice kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 22 hours ago, Viper15 said: Looking good so far, looks like a nice kit. Cheers. It is a lovely kit! Progress made. Cockpit frame, IP coamings, windshield and mask all added, along with the antennae behind the cockpit, TCS and a clean up of the gun vent. You'll probably see some masking tape inside the intakes, I haven't forgotten, will be removed once all painting is done. Just need to clean up a few bits on the airframe, mask off all the painted areas then get the painting done. More soon. Dave 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkladiva Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Good job, New Ware is offering kabuki masks for the F-14A kit, can be ordered directly from me http://mek.kosmo.cz/newware/indexmasks.htm at [email protected]: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 Long overdue update, and not a very exciting one at that. Airframe painting is coming along well, just need to remove the masking and paint a few areas their respective colour. In the meantime, the majority of sub assemblies are ready for gloss: Missiles: Not much to show, but progress none the less. Flat out in work the next few days so hoping to have more of an update by the middle of next week. More soon. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James G Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Nice work...you sure love Tomcats don't you?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 8 hours ago, James G said: Nice work...you sure love Tomcats don't you?! Thanks….and how did you guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Sure looks cool, Dave. I think you might have inspired me to get some of those New Ware masks. I too am building a VF-32, but in the much earlier Bicentennial paint scheme. One of my teachers was an F-4 and F-14 Instructor. He knows Dale "Snort" Snodgrass and Pete "Hollywood" Dishart. Its a test model/ commission project intended for him. Myself, i'm much more interested in VF-41. Whereabouts in NI do you live? Cheers, david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 20 hours ago, David H said: Sure looks cool, Dave. I think you might have inspired me to get some of those New Ware masks. I too am building a VF-32, but in the much earlier Bicentennial paint scheme. One of my teachers was an F-4 and F-14 Instructor. He knows Dale "Snort" Snodgrass and Pete "Hollywood" Dishart. Its a test model/ commission project intended for him. Myself, i'm much more interested in VF-41. Whereabouts in NI do you live? Cheers, david Thanks mate. I live in Belfast. Managed a couple of hours a the 'cat today, nothing major but it's now ready for gloss and then decals. All masking, bar the windshield, has been removed. Still some dry brushing to be done on the exhaust shrouds, but i'll do that once the gloss is on. Note that the wing seal 'bags' and intake lips have been added. Next up is gloss, followed by decals. Will hopefully get this done at the weekend. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parabat Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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