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F-14D "Tomcatters" VF-31 USS Carl Vinson, October 1995


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Thanks guys, I'm happy with it but I'm off to the opticians in the morning to get some new specs! It's very fiddly work and yes, this one will stretch my patience, but I'm determined to have this one finished.

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I think I'm going to steal these pics and use them as a source of reference for the mods I'm doing on my airfix version....

*steps back in awe b4 nicking pics and running away to some dark corner down on the hanger deck*

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The postman has been!! :D

I've had a couple of days away and got back yesterday to find various packages had arrived! So with the new bits and pieces to add to the collection of after-market goodies for my F-14D as well as having had a good look through the rest of the builds going on, I've also had some great inspiration and so I decree that today, 2nd February, will be a modelling day! Photos to follow as soon as I've made a cuppa!

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OK, that was a nice cup of tea! So good, I might have another, but before I do, here are the photos. The Aires sets don't really need any introduction, but they are really very nice, just hope I can do justice to those wheel wells! But there are also a few products from companies that I have not tried before, such as Royale Resin and Master, but all I can say is that the quality is stunning! The brass turned pitot tube and those gun barrels are simply incredible! Anyway, here are the piccies...

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A bit of progress on building her and the cockpit has had a bit of attention. I prefer to use gloss Xtracolor paints when painting cockpits as the various washes that will be applied flow better on the gloss surface. When everything's dry and finished, it will all get a coat of matt varnish to get an even sheen. There's lots and lots of detail in this set, it's a model in its own right!

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Panels were masked off and sprayed black, lightened with a bit of white to a dark grey.

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The nose gear bay has been sprayed white and the side walls of what is the gun bay detailed with the Verlinden etched set. Another coat of white has finished this off and the next thing to do is paint the wheel bay details and get the gun bay installed ready to accept that gorgeous gun! Can't wait to do those gun barrels!!

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Time for lunch! Here's the morning's progress.

As the roof of the gun bay is effectively the floor of the cockpit, there was quite a lot of dry-fitting, sanding, more dry-fitting etc. to make sure that this area was looking ok. After spending about two hours on it, here's where I ended up:

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The cockpit set itself has been painted in the basic colours with a light dry-brushing over the panels and switches. There is still a lot of work to be done on this, adding a bit more detail, painting the details etc.

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Now to the gun barrels. A very tedious and time-consuming job. But I think they really do look the part and I'm happy, so that's all that matters. Trouble is, I'm having difficulty typing as my eyes were so used to focussing at extremely short distances! :nerd:

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Next is to paint the interior of the gun bay, get the gun itself finished, then paint the ammunition drum, add a bit of detail into the bay and install the gun. Well, that's this afternoon's plan!

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this is going to be a seriously impressive model

I concur with the above. The amount of attention to detail going on, and we're only on the forward half of the fuselage, this thing is going to look incredible.

Edited by easyAl
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and we're only on the forward half of the fuselage

Hmmm, yes, I know. Trouble is that I'm looking at the calendar and thinking not long to go really before the finish line! Another day's modelling then, oh well!! B)

Oh, and I found this last night when doing a little research. Not that much going on in the gun bay apart from the cannon, so that should´t take too long to finish.

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Edited by Busdriver
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Busdriver, I think there might be a few things missing from the bay in that picture, especially the whole ammo feed mechanism.

As I just bough the same verlinden set a few days ago, I have one more reason now to keep looking at this build ! Even if you're not sure to finish in time, keep it going !

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Hi Giorgio, yes, you´re right! I found this one too. The first is a museum aircraft that has been stripped quite a lot, this one is operational and there´s certainly more going on. Just mean more work now!

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And the ammunition drum...

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Thanks for the kind comments guys!

I've been knocked out with some sort of horrible virus/flu thingy this week, but there has been a little bit of progress. The gun and ammo drum have been installed and next on the list is to get that cockpit finished. And that is today's plan!

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