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1/72 Tomcats - the best of the best ?


Dave T

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Whilst reading the comments in the F-14 supplement in WH.Smith's today (forget which mag' it was) coupled with the recent discussions over the contents of Jaguar, Pucara, Alpha jet kits etc....

...just what is the best (& worst) F-14's in 1/72 ?

For example, Revell/Italeri seem to box a variety, but whose moulds ? Is the Heller kit the same as Airfix ? Should the Matchbox example automatically be labelled the worst by virtue of it being Matchbox ? Or...........

:blink:

.

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The best F-14's in 1/72 are Hasegawa's and I think (if you can find them) the Fujimi's are second. However it's worth looking at Revell as they do rebox Hasegawa kits. Whether they did the F-14 I don't know but it's worth doing some digging. Hope this helps!

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Okay lets see, guess i'm the resident tomcat fanatic here.

Hasegawa 'new mold' is the best 72nd kit out there bar none, but no weapons unless in special boxings, though you you do get a LANTIRN pod and TARPS.

Hasegawa old mold, somewhat basic cockpit, full air to air weapons load, crappy pilots, windscreen is incorrect being rounded at the base of the front not flat, F-14A only, still its cheap, has a great shape and very easy to build.

Fujimi very close second, full air to air weapons, TARPS, very nice pilot figures, engines with stands, only problem is that from the box (whether its labelled an F-14A,B or D) you can only build an F-14A, a little scratching and you'll have a B, the D however will require new bang seats, new undernose pod and new cockpit.

New mold Revell kit, decent shape, lots of people like it, however the vertical tails are too tall and slim (hardly noticable though) bang seats in both their A amd D cats are awful, missiles save for the AIM-54's are too blunt and fat, and matchbox style trenches for panel lines.

Italeri, i actually like this kit for building F-14A's, decent shape (a little work required on the nose cone), TARPS, air to air weapons load, decent decals and fit, needs cockpit and seats replacing (pavla do a really nice pit with seats) and has raised panel lines. The Revell F-14A+ and F-14A with the bicentennial schemed bird are the italeri molds.

Airfix, buildable but needs alot of work, needs new gear, engine nozzles, canopy, cockpit, seats etc worst of the lot IMHO. Heller kit is the same mold.

Matchbox, actually the only kit out there that represents the first F-14s including development models, as it has the first style wing glove and box. That said requires almost as much work as the Airfix kit.

Academy, looks great in the box, great air to air weapons decent pit, however in overall look it just looks a bit off. But a better 'bang for your buck' when compared to the revell kits IMHO.

so that said in my order of preference here are the best to worst tomcat kits out there in 72nd:

Hasegawa new mold

Fujimi

Italeri tied with Hasegawa old mold

Academy tied with Revell

Matchbox

Airfix

Edited by Oliver
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Here is my list of Tomcats in order of preference.

1. 1/72 F-14A/B/D Hasegawa ("new" mouldings)- Highly detailed and lots of parts making for a long build

2. 1/72 F-14A Fujimi - Again Highly detailed but not as many parts as the Hasegawa

3. 1/72 F-14D Revell - Nice build, but haven't yet built a F-14A, so can't comment on that kit.

4. 1/72 F-14A Academy - builds into a fairly decent Tomcat

5. 1/72 F-14A Hasegawa ("old" mouldings) - Decent looking but lacking details.

6. 1/72 F-14A Italeri - will build up to look like a Tomcat

7. 1/72 F-14A Airfix - very basic early Tomcat

8. 1/72 F-14A Matchbox - never had one so I can't comment on it.

Some other things to consider are what time frame is the Cat you wish to build. The basic "new" Hasegawa F-14A kits gives you a lot of options to build versions from the block 75 up to the last block, less the NACA gas gun vents. The other manufacturers tend to only give you parts for one version.

As to the Revell peeble texture, during my build I found it affected my paint finish, as I had done nothing to compensate. In hind sight a light sanding, some primer would have had the desired effect of giving a better finish and reduced the deepness of the panel lines.

I have a set of pages on my web covering a lot of Tomcat stuff >> linky <<

Edited by Andy Mullen
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Oliver & Andy,

Thanks for your helpful comments. Andy that is indeed an awesome website :gobsmacked:

Any thoughts or future plans to include sprue shots from all the cats ?

.

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I have built the late Hasegawa and the Revell Tomcats in this scale. The Hase was the best one by a long way, but the decals for the revell are quite good, and you get a fairly decent air to air weapons load. I also remember doing the Matchbox one as a nipper. Can't remember much about it, but I had a Tomcat to play with whilst watching the Final Countdown. That was important back then.

As far as building Tomcats now goes, I only do 1/48, Hasegawa do the best by a country mile, or kilometre for our continental members!

Joel

Edited by Bandagon 106
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Just to add my tuppenorth. The Hasegawa new tool is IMO massively over-engineered. Why use 1 part when you can use 9? I started it and gave up very early on. Everything was just such hard work - so much more than it needed to be.

Of course, some people like 1/72 fighters with a zillion parts......

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Airfix Tomcat had some upgrading done to it a few years ago, new tail fairing IIRC.

I think I'm also right in saying that, so far, only Fujimi have produced an Iranian option "out of the box".

John

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The Airfix Tomcat had some upgrading done to it a few years ago, new tail fairing IIRC.

I think I'm also right in saying that, so far, only Fujimi have produced an Iranian option "out of the box".

John

Nope, hasegawa also did a oob iranian boxing, though with both you still have to cut out the inflight refueling door.

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Just to add my tuppenorth. The Hasegawa new tool is IMO massively over-engineered. Why use 1 part when you can use 9? I started it and gave up very early on. Everything was just such hard work - so much more than it needed to be.

Of course, some people like 1/72 fighters with a zillion parts......

It's not engineered to have many parts just for the sake of it and to support companies making filler. It is engineered to give a better reproduction of details to ensure a high quality product without the use of expensive tooling technology like slides. When the kit was made in the late 80s (1988 I think), the technology to make slides existed (in principle, it is mechanically simple), but the CAD technology to ensure better tools was less advanced, so the result might have been not as good as we come to expect today, and I guess Hasegawa did not expect the market to be willing to pay a higher sum for the benefit of slidemoulds. Had a look at Dragon's Panther G Smart kit, and I'm impressed with it - slides for a lot of components that would otherwise have to be made from several pieces to show the same level of detail straight from the box. Oh, yes, I was so impressed I bought it.

Jens

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Hi all. What about the ESCI Tomcat in 1/72. How does it compare with the other kits. I only ask as I just bought one off ebay. A total impulse buy done without any clues about the kit or the F-14.

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Hi all. What about the ESCI Tomcat in 1/72. How does it compare with the other kits. I only ask as I just bought one off ebay. A total impulse buy done without any clues about the kit or the F-14.

Well its better than the airfix kit.....

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Hi all. What about the ESCI Tomcat in 1/72. How does it compare with the other kits. I only ask as I just bought one off ebay. A total impulse buy done without any clues about the kit or the F-14.

Actually not bad, as it's the old tool Hasegawa copied. The lines are nicely engraved instead of being raised, and the hole at the back of the cockpit is now filled. All this good work is however ruined by a canopy that is too tall to accommodate seats that are also too tall. The nose also points down a little. If you can replace the seats and daw-fake a old tool Hasegawa canopy to fit you've got the perfect F-14 kit in my view, as it is an easy build. Opening the canopy makes the effect less noticeable, but the cockpit is as bare as the original Hasegawa release.

On another note, only the Hasegawa new tool and Italeri allows the Iran option out of the box, as it has both types of fin with early and late stiffeners, the early (a-la Iran) is like a pair of hexagons on the tips, and the late is a sort of a scabbed-on t-bone shape. The Fujimi has only the late type. Use the Hi-decal set for markings though, as both the Japanese kit decals are wrong, being too big for a start.

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one point in favor of the matchbox F-14 is that while basic it is representative of the prototype F-14's.

the rear of the wing glove box was a different shape on the first few F-14's and iirc only the matchbox kit ever had this.

the aerospace pub./ WAPJ book on the F-14 has the plans btw.

trevor

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hello

1st post even though i've looked at the site for a while. I've been making kits on and off since i was a kid i'm now 33, but i'm nowhere close to the kits posted on here.I have a couple of tomcat kits to make,i got them through a job lot of kits off ebay, 2 of the kits are made by kitech are they worth building or leaving alone. i only ask as i,ve only made revell and airfix kits in the past, (cant justify the higher cost of some of the other kits due to my limited abilities as a modeller).They seem ok but they seem to need new decals as the ones in the box are pants.

thanks

nicko

ps. sorry for the long drawn out question :blush:

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The kitech kits are italeri kits with recessed panel lines. They are passable as F-14's from the box, but can come out pretty good with alot of work and aftermarket stuff, plus spares from a hasegawa kit.

Don't see why you wouldn't build them though.

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  • 9 years later...

It's by no means the last word, but i built the 72nd scale Fujimi Tomcat and got pretty good results with it. My only letdowns were a maddening number of ejector pin markings in some hard to get to locations, and a very weak undercarriage installation, that required a bit of re engineering with some brass pins for extra strength.

 

F14A77.jpg

 

Another thing, which is just the nature of the Tomcat itself, is its what i call a "Geometrically Complex" aeroplane, which in practical terms means its fiddly in the end game. All those vertical fins, cranked shoulder pylons, landing gear doors, Missiles get in the way of each other...

 

DHF14A092.jpg

 

But aside from that, i liked it and i bought two more.

 

DHF14A093.jpg

-d-

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/2/2017 at 8:15 AM, Aardvark said:

 

This is indeed a fantastic kit, the detail level is great and may well be the best D around. However in some areas the Hasegawa kit is IMHO still better, the best of the best may be a mix of the two.

Of course the Fine Molds kit has one serious problem: it's not generally available as was only issued through a Japanese magazine. Any 1/72 Tomcat enthusiast however should IMHO try to find one

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7 minutes ago, Giorgio N said:

 

 However in some areas the Hasegawa kit is IMHO still better

 

Which bits do you reckon? 

 

(In case I fancy a kit bash one day - have 3 finemolds D's in the stash so could sacrifice one perhaps in the interest of science?) 

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