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AlexB
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Quite interesting to compare the relative appearance of the two Tomcats. Both from Heller, top is the 1/72nd, bottom 1/144th (the 1/144 kit is now shown as completed here) Might have to find a similar shot of the real thing. -
Forgot to photograph the extra modification I made to the intakes before I closed up the fuselage. The kit comes with the jet exhaust set in the wide open full afterburner position, so as I'll be posing this and the larger 1/72nd Tomcat with swept wings I figured this little one should have the appropriate intake setting too. Tiny pieces of the flat sprue were added inside the intake throat to represent the anti-shockwave baffles, This has the added benefit of hiding sight of the insides of the fuselage, but you can just about see the "turbines" added earlier! No, the red stripe on Capt Pegman's helmet isn't off-centre, he's looking slightly left!
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Once you've closed it all up, the suggestion of those parts will be enough to make it very convincing. It'll look great!
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Always on the lookout for kits for the stash I was rummaging that big auction site and found a "rare" (aren't they always!!?) Otaki 1/144 F-14 at quite a price... looks like it's the exact same moulding as this Heller kit, even the same part numbers on the instructions. You'd be gutted if you bought that kit to build it, the Revell offing is sooo much nicer.
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General assembly of the little 1/144 Heller Tomcat went OK. Cockpit assembly sat a bit high against the rear section, so a little sanding of the joint there allowed it to sit better, bit gappy, and from side on view the profile has a kink that really shouldn't be there. In the kit the tails are both exactly the same and are really both starboard fitting. Sanding the tail tip cowling flat on the port side tail fixed that. Painting this one a much paler grey. This is BS627 Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 166) and I'm quite surprised at the "yellowness" of it, almost creamy with a very slight green tinge. Still, I wanted to give a distinct feeling of depth to the "display" I have planned, so a lighter colour is what's required.
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The cockpit still needed a little further improvement. Pilots console was far too small on the model, so a piece of chamfered sprue was added. Also the area behind WSO should have a panel that covers the canopy lift mechanism, so a tiny piece of the flat sprue was added here. Much better!
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That effect is fabulous!
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I'm loving bodging this rubbish old 1/144 kit! Having opened up the jet intakes a few weeks back (page 2!) I needed to make sure that there wasn't just an empty void inside the aircraft. The sprue fortunately comes with a couple of flat areas with factory serial numbers on which not only turned out handy when making the cockpit, there's enough left to close up the void... Then I had a brain wave... It's a wheels up build, and the main wheels are just the right size to suggest the jet turbines!! This is still an Out the Box build isn't it? 🙂 No extras purchased! And the arrestor hook fairing was way too long, so that's been bodged off too!
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One last look at 1/144 Capt Pegman and LCDR Pegman before they're sealed forever into the Tomcat cockpit.
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Making pegman pilots is relatively simple it turns out! Step 1: find some 1/72 scale pilots to work out the dimensions - the 1/144 pilot should be half size. Step 2: thin a bit of sprue to approximately the width of the 1/144 helmet size and round the tip. Step 3: take another piece of sprue for the "body" and flatten it a little, shaping some shoulders. Step 4: using a liberal quantity of normal liquid poly glue attach the "head" to the shoulders - shown to the left of picture below. Step 5: leave it to dry - I didn't and had to start again! Step 6: once the glue really has set, cut the excess sprue off the "head" end, and round off the top of the helmet. Step 7: work out how much "body" you need and cut the excess sprue off the body end. Step 8: glue the body back onto a spare bit of sprue, just lightly so it holds while painting, but will easily snap off once the paint is dry. Step 9: paint the pilot, snap him off the sprue, and glue him to his seat! The finished cockpit! Canopy test fit just to make sure (I've noticed the central bar moulded in the canopy is far too far back, but that's where it's staying) I think that'll do for this Heller model, not yet convinced the pegman solution is so great for the much better Revell kit!
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The completed, though unpopulated, cockpit; Better than a blank space I think!
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I've added the "bulkheads" and WSO's console. Not putting the sides in, as there's really no way they'll be noticed without a magnifying glass! I'll splash a bit of paint on it and see what it looks like, then think about how I'll make the crew... For this model I think it'll be sufficient to just make a couple of "peg men", whittled from some sprue. I recon this all counts as OOB as I've only used stuff that came in the box!!
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Now I need some kind of cockpit to fill that hole. Using the much better Revell kit for inspiration I simply used bits of sprue to fabricate the cockpit floor, and seat bases, then used the very poor representations of weapons hangers (which I'd already decided not to use - I'll mount the two provided Sparrows under the fuselage) to help me make seat headrests. Tahdah! A sort of cockpit!
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Decided to do something with the sparse cockpit. First job, open it up!
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As I'd already made a start on the Heller 1/144 version way back in the middle of December I figured I may as well continue the job. The "beaver tail" is wrong for the period of the kit, so the sanding sticks came out to play... Original on left, "corrected" on the right. Not perfect, but it's better. Also note the fuselage is the wrong shape, the model has a pinched in "coke bottle" effect under where the wings will be, and this doesn't appear in any of the the real F-14s as far as I can tell, not even the pre-production mock ups. I'll not fix it though, the wings will be swept and only the keen eyed will spot it.
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Decisions decisions... one, both, or neither!! I did start the little Heller one, but it's very crude, and despite the decals being for the Tomcatters in 1989 the aircraft has the very early beavertail between the jets, and it's got no cockpit detail at all, nothing, just a flat panel under the canopy. The idea I originally had was to have both the 1/72 and a 1/144 displayed together as a "forced perspective" thang... USS Forrestal didn't get to the Med until 6 months after USS Roosevelt had returned to the USA, but hey... modellers license!
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Thanks Tony! I do love painting on flat surfaces, and that’s the next part of this project. I’ve just trimmed a piece of ply to a size I think will work, and I’ll be painting a scene from high above the Eastern Med in 1989 with USS Theodore Roosevelt far below... working from various photo sources of course! The kit is the old Airfix kit (which it seems Airfix are still selling!!) issued by Heller. It’s a dated and poor fitting kit, but from a distance came up ok in the end. The photos of the Tomcat actually make it look quite rough... but then visual inspection in real life ain’t so flattering either! As a practice piece it’s been a really good little project, a few things learned that will hopefully prevent a few cock ups in future builds. I’d like to get into airbrushing (artistically and modelling) but finances at these times are a bit tight and I really can’t justify the investment right now. Airbrush, compressor, and replacement of the various enamels with more friendly acrylics soon mounts up. The next build is likely to be the Hasegawa Harrier I’ve stolen a decal from. Again it’s an old kit. Another cheap practice piece, that I’ll rub with a hairy stick!! Hopefully I’ll reduce the amount of dust in the air this time. cheers
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Thanks Jeremy! Right now I think I'll just get this one on some kind of wall mount, probably paint direct onto some ply and see how it looks. I have the Nimitz class aircraft carrier in 1/720 but it looks like it's going to take up loads of space, and I'm not sure where I'd put the "diorama" once I'd done it!! The thought is still there for the future...
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Things always look better under natural light. A bright but cloudy day seems to give the best colour and contrast...
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I know it's a matter of some discussion in modelling circles, but look at the real thing. Viewing the model from 30cm away is kind of as close as you'll get without squinting too much, and that translates as appearing to be over 20 meters from the real thing. If you can see visible and distinct panel lines on a real aircraft from 20 meters away I wouldn't fancy flying in it! Panel lines are barely discernible except around doors and access hatches. I'm not a particular fan, I know some people love it, it's your model!
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I know the paint finish is dreadful, but it's still better than most of my childhood hairy brush efforts! I think I recall building a really nice Hasegawa F-15 in about 1984, but that could be memory playing tricks! Hasegawa Harrier decal is obvious because we know its there... I think I can get away with that, "oh it's just an effect of different light angles!" Weapons fitted, sticky PVA craft glue used. Less damage if they get knocked off! Yes the arrestor hook is missing. That will be attached at the very very last moment. Oh, I've done all the various little bits of lighting too, brush applied artists acrylics. I hope to look back at this one day and laugh at how awful it is, rather than accept this is as good as it gets!! I've now got to make the display mount thing...
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With my main interest being in USAFE and RAF jets from 1970 on, I don't have that many large US insignia decals in my stash. What I have are; - the old Airfix Phantom with USN options, right colour but too big (left) - an ancient Hasegawa Harrier GR.1/AV8A, right size(ish) but wrong colour, blue is too dark, (bottom) - Xtradecals UK Based USAFE Phantoms set, intriguingly exactly the same size and colour as the Airfix offering. (right) I'll not waste the Xtradecal ones on this model, so it's down to right colour, or right size... I'm minded to just go right size. It's not like there's anything close to it to directly compare the colour.
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Hmmm, I thought the lacquer would have stopped that happening! I'm sure one of my other kits has a suitable replacement... Looked at my Hasegawa Harrier GR.1 / AV8A kit, the decal is the right size but the colour is massively different. It's my last resort. I've got a couple of the ancient Airfix Phantom kits kicking about, the national emblem for the intake nacelle will likely be about the right size, surely a better colour too, as it's for a grey rather than camo plane. Looking at photos online they appear to be a better option. Time for a tidy up and bed I think. Lesson 437; be patient, it's not a race.
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If you've ever wondered why etched brass components seem expensive for what they are, watch this video on how to DIY! Photo Etching at Home– Professional Tools for Modelers; This guys modelling is amazing!
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I guess I should show you the other side too! Reasonably happy with that, all things considered! Another lesson; study the layout of decals according to the real thing, the whole thing, before attempting to apply any of them. DO NOT believe the instruction plans! There's a few "mistakes" which appear correct if viewed in isolation in accordance with the layout plan, but the decals actually don't lie where they would on the real thing. A few more detail bits yet to do, like I've forgotten to paint the tail plane leading edges, they should have a considerable section of bare aluminium. And picking out the grills, vents, and obvious panel lines, and making it a little bit dirty. The US Navy don't really allow their planes to get too dirty, but there'll always be odd coloured faded panels and oily streaking here and there. That'll commence after sealing the decals next week.
