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F-14D Super Tomcat 1/48 Hobbyboss


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F-14D Super Tomcat by HobbyBoss

 

I came across this kit quite by accident while trawling YT on pre-shading. I was surprised to find such a large scale highly detailed kit for the price, and the quality isn't cheap either, certainly giving Tamiya a run for their money.

Although they could take a lesson from Tamiya's instructions.

 

This isn't my usual subject matter, but I thought I'd grab it, as I like pretty much anything that's large scale/detailed/different. This ticks 2 out of those 3. Plus it gave me a chance to practice some new techniques, mainly weathering, in preparation for something I have coming up in the new year.

The kit is nicely packed and laid out in the box, and like Trumpeter, (pretty certain these are the same company) their was boxes within boxes. Two smaller boxes held the fuselage and various smaller components, along with a sheet of PE and, rubber tyres! Nice touch there.

Painting guide, same with Trumpeter, are minimal, but at least Hobbyboss provide paint marking within the instructions. Trumpeter, take note!

Mouldings look nice and crisp, panel lines are well defined, along with rivets. (Rivet Counters: Not sure if the rivets are accurate, not checked, wouldn't know how to check either lol) There are a few Aftermarket kits available, but for my purposes they aren't needed. They seem mainly for the cockpit which comes with enough detail OOB. There would be options for the scratch builder to add some detail to the engines, which are both fully detailed, and wouldn't be too much to open up a hatch or two if you were so inclined.


For me, I bought this for three reasons:

  1. Scale/detail/price.
  2. To practice pre-shading.
  3. To practice washing the panel lines.

 

Now the eyecandy...

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y4moyG1Pjb295baaZzrCJ_XGZ9DCSJfxb_rtmKxQ

y4mic4OoRPJgEx2Y3JlBdQzK38POA29twI5ufg3a

y4m1317ZhlKgaHGCz8SO7jd2WGyFd6GymtNDKBoJ

y4mYZAQ0CFgjc7ty_l6AyqSrBU8N0aA2yeQwo-nz

y4maSdfQdg602A4sAbhtVLTRkH3_i66U8uqD_r2Q

y4m6ohkL8d0pJPn2L7evtlpCaFYAORTYPKT1KFUr

y4m8fgTaH2JRyqzlup0FYARzVEngY58KpieUAnWR

y4mXvPzC-s0AUm4ZFeul9mhP7RU1rZJIQkGXA2hX

y4m9QfA44cttq0OU4iUToeSolbxJI02obXa0Hln_

y4m9m7-7VowXu_du2BoX3jI7MGGYJPGU6vH1Sc3J

y4m0uLJJ1emIfBbY79X6p4_4j_cIZ-AWwpIXxMIo

So that's the contents. I won't go into too much about each sprue. One thing to note is this kit does come fully loaded as far as weaponry is concerned. Some of the other kits require add-on packs for the loadout.

So lets crack on!

Starting with the radar assembly. This gets tucked in the nose cone which can be displayed open. It comes with PE for the actual dish (is that the right term?)

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y4m4hDW8SZ6n_-xCUXTX2TXdFJhmP0dXD7XXk3kv

 

These parts are teeny, just a few mm wide. They all needed fixing to some very hard to see dents, which I think are just about visible in the pic above.

 

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y4mBGQO76h3IUl_Za8xBGWmu1kkHsRqRfh0JVg9u

 

After taking this photo, I held the dish in some locking tweezers so I could nudge them parallel. And the damn thing pinged across the room! I was able to find it, but lost 3 out of the ten T sections. :nah:

So, took the rest off, sanded it smooth and decided it will just have to do without them. Finally, I prepped the parts for spraying with a primer, and cracked open my new H&S Infinity...and this is where I will leave you for now.

 

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y4mlxDaJbYkQossQWBY64508hGf3Uo1l-TIUfCqj

 

 

 

Thanks,


D

 

Edited by dominic_2005
Can't type.
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41 minutes ago, Crossofiron1971 said:

ooh!

Nice PE work!

What Adhesive are you using?

Thanks. Would have been great if I hadn't pinged it across the room and ruined what I just did *sigh*

Mostly for PE I go for the simplest option, Loctite Super Glue GEL. 3 reasons: First, they sell it at a £1 a tube at my local Home Bargains, and second, its a very well behaved glue. It's a gel so won't run away from you, and you can pick the tiniest amount up with a cocktail stick. Third, it dries quick enough that you aren't sat there for 10 minutes holding in place, but slow enough to give you some time to adjust if needed.

25 minutes ago, Paramedic said:

Looking good. :) I have the kit and it looks good in the box, agreed, so looking forward to you building it and showing off how it really is.. ;)

 

Good luck!

Thanks.

Why is it in the box? That's a crime! Preventing a kit from reaching it's full potential. Why would you do this, why why? lol

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Just sat here passing time waiting for things to dry, and checking out some photo's of the radar, and came across a 3D model someone had made on Deviantart:

f_14d_wip_9_radar_by_siregar3d-d6afl4x.j

*Credit to siregar3d.deviantart.com

I have some odd bits of small cable laying about, I do plan on having the nose cone open, so tempted to add some extra details...

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Made a little progress on the radar this afternoon. I decided to go ahead and add some little details to it. Not entirely accurate but looks good nonetheless.

y4mkT9gTK5tQ0RlqdGbPd83YlU6e_CRN8FsCddXB

y4mA_IqrfIM1-2moMqowwUg-qfOiq6H_25RnZoqG

y4m1buu2-s0a3_twCfzv8IXns84_eVgz9BT8Z2zB

y4mWnrI8BgwVaqweWCr24embS7d2xEUYunl_e_J-

y4mAa-mSlmjJfOwOujPSB1jc3YKLmq0-LugGIAJR

 

Now...does anyone have any suggestions on how to create a pin/weathering wash from Tamiya paints and x20 thinners? The pinwash I want doesn't seem to be available anywhere in the UK currently :(

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44 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I’ve got a friend swears by this recipe. 1 drop paint. 1 drop dishwashing liquid(retarder). To 1/2  paint jar of water i believe. Try it out if you want. I dont use washes so havent tried it yet.

Cheers, will give this a try. I am guessing just plain washing up liquid...don't want my models smelling of lemon fresh daisies lol

14 minutes ago, Crossofiron1971 said:

Looking good sir!

Went out and bought some CA Gel this afternoon and yes, one quid!

Cheers!

haha no problem. They always look at me strangely as I usually buy a tenners worth every few weeks. When I am building wooden ships I go through it like water. (Not the preferred method for planking but sure speeds things along lol)

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Why not order/use florys washes? 

Clay-based, completely removable with water and dead easy ro use. Some crazy people are even airbrush it.

I like what you did with the radar assembly!

Edited by Christer A
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1 hour ago, Christer A said:

Thanks, I'll take a look.

1 hour ago, Tony Oliver said:

X20 is tamiya’s enamel thinners. 

X20A is their acrylic one mate. 

 

Which paint are you wanting to thin to make a wash? 

Yeh that one lol, I knew what I meant haha.

As for which paint, I have a choice between Mr Hobby or Tamiya Acrylics.

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Hiya.

I've started on the cockpit, specially, the seating arrangement.

 

Each seat is made up of 6 parts, two of which are tiny.

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y4mCtrt1NZIMxpMGfvNTq_dOEqPSdxqmhgWOeImW

 

Once they were together, they were primed with the airbrush, then sprayed flat black.

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y4mU3dGzwYxSExxJjZZYS1X6X8AeVCStg9uvSHHr

 

Following that, the cushioned areas of the seats were painted with *name of the colour escapes me now* and the head rests an IJN green. I also painted and fitted whatever those yellow things are between their legs. (Not the ejection handles as they seem to go above). And those cylindrical thingies were painted with My Hobby Metal cote alluminium, burnt iron and flat black. (Can you tell I know very little about aircraft?)


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y4mrMRQnQZDID3TrAAPRF6J1lJrUiSKD_xrkoRDl

y4mZG7ezvSRzrBj_fhe-fppP-KEKoFJMPGeLAxzp

 

Next up on this is the PE seatbelts, coming soon.


Thanks,

D

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Hiya

 

I've made some progress on this, finished the seats, and now I am working on the cockpit itself.

First, the seats. I added the PE belts, and did a little weathering on them. Nothing over the top.

 

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y4mUEFnPGq1g_uXEgcpMg3Yie3tUoXkcud-rmsZZ

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y4m7fRAHSeF1HPvGZhyII53-P-3mGqBtQbt1lTsl

 

 

Now for the cockpit. For the most part, this update is mainly priming/spraying and starting to add some details.

 

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y4mg0Y71shkxtFiSG6Enzfize-9erNeR3QXyR13B

y4mILw8v8Ouz71eblPZGcpJaZS58i1-Le580Q2D7

 

The results look great under the naked eye, sadly my camera makes it look awful lol

 

I will continue...


D

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Looks good!

Hobby Boss make some nice stuff, I've built quite a bit of their armour & vehicles. Most of it is nicely detailed but they do on occasion seem to miss a big part out or mould it back to front, so it's worth dry fitting everything. I would agree that their painting guides can be a little vague & the instruction sheet does sometimes "forget" to mention that part B45 should be attached first etc.

All good fun though!

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Actually both are ejection handles. Sometimes for various reasons  a pilot cant reach up. If he’s Wounded, the plane is tumbling in a weird angle, or a Flat spin (Top Gun) so there is a back-up lower for him or them. 

Ahh see you learn something new everyday then. Although that now does create a dialogue error in TopGun. As when they were in that flat spin Goose was shouting "I can't reach the ejection handle" lol

 

57 minutes ago, phildagreek said:

Looks good!

Hobby Boss make some nice stuff, I've built quite a bit of their armour & vehicles. Most of it is nicely detailed but they do on occasion seem to miss a big part out or mould it back to front, so it's worth dry fitting everything. I would agree that their painting guides can be a little vague & the instruction sheet does sometimes "forget" to mention that part B45 should be attached first etc.

All good fun though!

Thanks! Yeh they are a bit odd. I've noticed there is the odd random paint marker in the instructions here and there. Almost like they didn't finish writing them before going to print lol

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

The dialogue issue may not be there. 🤔 In a Flat spin the pilots arms would be pinned outwards to cockpit sides by centrifugal forces. He would have had a hard time moving them up or down. 

Then it is a filming issue as well...you see him with his arms raised flapping about the handle, certainly further up than he should have been able to raise his arms.

I know, I am pedantic.

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Not bad mate keep it up! 

 

Is that the color they recommend for the seatbelts? 

 

Also, reference the ‘bat ear’ canopy breakers - the pilots ones should be longer than the RIO’s. Seem HBoss made one sprue of a naces seat and gives two of them. 

 

Here’s my (1/72) build of the hboss D cat for reference pics if needed as its in the same markings (but these are aftermarket as not an stock option like the 48th on is) 

The naces seats in the 72nd kit are way oversimplified so the kit was dressed up with dream model etch. 

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235012670-hobbyboss-172-f-14d-tomcat-vf-213-black-lions/

 

Tony

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58 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said:

Not bad mate keep it up! 

 

Is that the color they recommend for the seatbelts? 

 

Also, reference the ‘bat ear’ canopy breakers - the pilots ones should be longer than the RIO’s. Seem HBoss made one sprue of a naces seat and gives two of them. 

 

Here’s my (1/72) build of the hboss D cat for reference pics if needed as its in the same markings (but these are aftermarket as not an stock option like the 48th on is) 

The naces seats in the 72nd kit are way oversimplified so the kit was dressed up with dream model etch. 

 

Tony

Thanks.

They don't recommend any colour for the belts. They don't recommend any colours full stop to be honest. So I used a little artistic licence for them and a ref pic:

gru-7_02.jpg

ahm4143.jpg

 



Re the Canopy breakers (thanks, I did wonder what they were for) Yes I did notice that there was a difference, after I had already cut off the RIO's premolded ones. :mellow:


I'd take a look but there was no link?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

D

 

 

 

Edit: I found it. Stopped looking after page 6 as your model is well out of my league, and it's depressing me LOL. Kidding, nice work on that, especially at the scale :o

Edited by dominic_2005
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I’ve noticed that too ? Im working on the Hobbyboss Fj-4 fury and they give part #’s in the instructions but zero paint call outs. The only give the two sided color diagram of the decal placement for any colors at all ? Decent kit but disappointed by that little bit. 

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