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F-14A Tomcat, 3-6020, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force


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Hello all,

Here is my second entry for this GB. Hobbyboss 1/48 F-14A in IRIAF colours.

The kit:

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My first dive into the Hobbyboss 'cat so I'm looking forward to see how it compares to my old favourite- The Hasegawa F-14!

Decals:

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Using Hi-decal Line sheet 48-021. I'll also be adding quickboost seats and FOD inserts.

Serial 160318/ 3-6020 was the 20th F-14 supplied to Iran and was credited with 14 kills during the Iran-Iraq war. The jet was also involved in Iran's 'Bombcat' trials in 1986. The jet was then overhauled in Iran in the late 1990's and is still flying today in the standard two tone camouflage.

3-6020

References will be in the form of the internet, several magazine articles and the Osprey 'Iranian F-14 Tomcat units in combat' book.

Unsure as to wether i'll go for the new 2 tone paint scheme or the old 3 tone one.

Dave

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Will be watching this as well, interesting to see how the HB F-14A builds up and I cannot decide which colour scheme will be better either! The Osprey 'Iranian F-14 Tomcat units in combat' book is a superb source of information too.

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  • 1 month later...

Made a brief start on this today. Cockpit all assembled, ready for spraying:

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Had to replace the head plate with a Hasegawa one as the kit part broke. Cockpit is very nice out of the box. Also built up the weapons:

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Going for 2x AIM-54, 3x AIM-7 and 2x AIM-9P. The Iranian F-14's used AIM-9P's almost exclusively so I had to source some from the spares. It was also very rare to see one of these jets with 4x AIM-54s, so i'm going for 2 and a 3 Sparrow fit which seemed to be a bit more common during the Iran-Iraq war. (yes, i'm going for the 3 tone scheme :lol: )

Also have yet to see an Iranian 'cat with external fuel tanks so will be leaving these off too.

More to come.

Dave

Edited by DaveJL
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Looking good so far.

I think Parabat mentioned in Peter Marshall's thread, the raised bands around the AIM-54's should be sanded off as they aren't there on the real deal.

Sean

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As Iran used the AIM-54A version, the Phoenix missiles should also have the 4 raised rectangular panels for the original proximity fuse system.

Good shout mate. Looks like the HB AIM-54s are missing these.

Dave

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Made some more progress today, mainly on the sub assemblies.

First up, I assembled the landing gear bays and sprayed them white, along with the refuelling probe bay, as the latter will be seen (All Iranian Tomcats were delivered without the refuelling probe cover)

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Engines assembled:

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Stabilisers and tail fins:

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Forward fuselage. The detail in here is nice of you want to display the model with all the panels open showing the Vulcan cannon, but, as I wanted to close them up, they are a bit of a pain and some sanding will be needed to even off all the joins:

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Wing glove pylons:

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Cockpit sprayed, ready for detailing:

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Intakes assembled and attached to the engines. This assembly is much nicer than the Hasegawa kits:

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Upper fuselage; the speed brake doesn't sit quite flush:

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Lower fuselage with ventral strakes attached and intake ramps inserted:

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Intakes and engines inserted:

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Intake trunks attached. I'm not convinced that they are the correct shape as they look a little short at the front to me:

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Next up is to finish the cockpit and build up both fuselage sections.

More to come.

Dave

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A bit more to show. Cockpit painted and detailed:

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Next I moved on and closed the fuselage. Hobbyboss have you attach the wings before closing, but i think that would make it overly difficult to paint, so i'll keep them separate for now, and just cut off the solid locating points so I can slide them in. The main landing gear bays were a pain in the backside to get to fit and there is a bit of a gap between them and the intakes.

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Wings are proving quite tricky to assemble and to get to sit correctly:

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Having quite a tricky time with this one, nothing seems to fit as it should and the instructions aren't overly clear. Anyone else had issues with this? It's wearing me down slightly to the point where I might pack it in! Had the same story with the HB Tornado.

More to come.

Dave

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Very promising so far, Dave!


Going for 2x AIM-54, 3x AIM-7 and 2x AIM-9P. The Iranian F-14's used AIM-9P's almost exclusively so I had to source some from the spares. It was also very rare to see one of these jets with 4x AIM-54s, so i'm going for 2 and a 3 Sparrow fit which seemed to be a bit more common during the Iran-Iraq war. (yes, i'm going for the 3 tone scheme :lol: )

I like your decision regarding the camo: new camo is 'nice', but there is nothing like that 'old war colour' on my absolute favourite bird. :Tasty:

Your choice of weapons is also perfectly OK: this config was used for most of CAPs above Khark Island, and that's what IRIAF F-14s were doing nearly 70% of time during the war with Iraq.

BTW, how is the kit modelled in regards of the IFR-probe: i.e. is this cut out or will you have to cut it out?

Edited by Tom Cooper
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K, here one 'tip' (since I think to have seen a 'trace' of something in this direction on one of photos showing your kit): don't forget to sand-out the two ECM-antennas on undersides of each wing-glove (right next to intakes).

These were installed on USN's Tomcats only - and then from around 1988 or so. Obviously, Iranian F-14As (Block 80s built in 1976-1978 period) have never got any.

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