David H Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Hi Everybody. Despite my apparent lack of activity, i have laboured to produce yet another modelley-looking thing. IMG_0020 by convairb58 It is the much-loved 48th scale Tamiya F-14 Tomcat, done up in the markings of my former CFI instructor, "Big John" Lawler. John had come from the F-4J community, flying with such luminaries at "Heater" Heatley. While with VF-32 (Callsign: "Gypsy") he was paired up with Greg "Hollywood" Dishart, perhaps better known for being the technical advisor to Paramount for "Top Gun". IMG_0022 by convairb58 This kit was a doddle to build, and its nothing at all like the Hasegawa F-14. The fit of all the parts on this model is precise, positive, with nothing vague or prone to misinterpretation, and the finished structure is quite robust. About the only place where i find the kit lacking is the ejection seats and their only failing is some rather dubious decal seatbelts, meant to be cut from the sheet and glued on. Not an issue if you put little polystyrene guys with helmets in the cockpit however. I replaced the kit seats with the Quickboost 48-0223 set. Aside from the overhead ejection pull handles being fussy to paint and install, they look beautiful once painted and weathered. IMG_0039 by convairb58 The model was mostly painted with Tamiya acrylics and Mr Color lacquers, all thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner. I cannot say enough good things about Mr Leveling Thinner or the Mr Color Gloss Light Gull Gray. The paints are incredibly fast drying which makes a tremendous time saver if you build lots of Navy planes like i do. The decals are a combination of VF-32 markings from Furball Aero Design (which worked very well), Tamiya decals (which mostly worked very well) and some custom made decals from my friend Todd Enlund. John's plane did not have the multi coloured stripes or the crest on the inboard verticals like Gypsy 200 had, so i had to match the Canary Yellow of the decal by eye using Mr Color paints. I sliced the black pinstripes from the inboard vertical decals and applied them to the painted fins. I used Testors Metalizer non buffing Steel for the Corrogard areas on the leading edges, aluminium looking too bright to my eye. IMG_0048 by convairb58 I made extensive use of the Tamiya provided masks for the clear parts (worked very well) as well as the aftermarket mask sets made by both Furball and New Ware models. The New Ware set was particularly useful for painting the alternating white/metal translating iris sections inside of the convergent-divergent exhaust nozzle (itself a unique piece of engineering). IMG_0033 by convairb58 IMG_0098 by convairb58 If you've been reluctant to build this kit based on all of the horror stories about building a Tomcat, i can say that Tamiya has made it about as easily as its gonna get to build a 48th scale F-14. Its admittedly an expensive kit, but what you're paying for here is the forethought and care in the engineering that goes into making this model a joy to build. Up Next: Fisher's 32nd scale RF-8G Conversion. Thanks for shopping. -d- 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan-o Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 super job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT Modeller Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Now that is how to finish a Tomcat! Superb. I'm a 72 scale modeller so I would love Tamiya to do a scaled down version of this, though Finemolds should be making theirs available soon. I recently did a Puking Dogs F-14A which narrowly won out over VF-32 but this has inspired me to dig out my next Fujimi kit to get on with that Swordsmen ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Superb Tomcat, and in the classy livery, too. Nothing beats an F-14 in LGG/white, with some spunky colour on her fins! Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Very nice “Swordsmen” Cat 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Lovely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 A clean, super clean Tomcat so nice to see one in this condition. That is a superb looking F-14. 👍👍👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 8 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said: Lovely! Cheers, Tony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 4 hours ago, Spitfire31 said: Superb Tomcat, and in the classy livery, too. Nothing beats an F-14 in LGG/white, with some spunky colour on her fins! Kind regards, Joachim Just for an additional data point, a glossy Gull Gray Tomcat can look nice too, so long as its not dirty... DH F14A 001A by convairb58 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 10 hours ago, CT Modeller said: Now that is how to finish a Tomcat! Superb. I'm a 72 scale modeller so I would love Tamiya to do a scaled down version of this, though Finemolds should be making theirs available soon. I recently did a Puking Dogs F-14A which narrowly won out over VF-32 but this has inspired me to dig out my next Fujimi kit to get on with that Swordsmen ship. I wholeheartedly agree that a scale down of the 48th scale kit would be most welcome. I know nothing about the FineMolds Tomcat so i cannot speak to that. I've built the Fujimi Tomcat (see above) and its a much more enjoyable build than the 72nd scale Hasegawa offering; it doesn't have the traps and gotchas that the Hasegawa kit has. Tamiya has released the Italeri Tomcat under the Tamiya label, and that might be getting in the way of them doing something like that. However, never count out Tamiya. They could surprise us again and roll out a 48th scale Phantom...you never know. -d- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 (edited) Some more photos... View taken from dead astern. After looking at the photo i noticed the canopy was slightly wonky. Its not glued in place to make trans shipment easier... IMG_0051 by convairb58 Since a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps this best explains my misgivings about the Tamiya seats... Ejection Seat Comparison 001 by convairb58 Rear quarter view... IMG_0063 by convairb58 Another over the shoulder view.... IMG_0067 by convairb58 IMG_0056 by convairb58 Right side shot. A theme i think you can pick up on is, i like to take low angle shots mostly. IMG_0075 by convairb58 IMG_0084 by convairb58 Close up on the forward right fuselage. The gloss white gear struts and wheels allowed me to have a field day using the wash of 50% Future, 50% water with Tamiya Flat Black added to taste. The delicate TAT and pitot probed installed with minimal fuss. IMG_0108 by convairb58 I had a display base made by Mario Catania in Italy. The wheel chocks are from Wheeliant resin. IMG_0109 by convairb58 IMG_0110 by convairb58 IMG_0112 by convairb58 IMG_0122 by convairb58 As always questions are always welcome. I'm happy to help if i can. Edited July 3, 2018 by David H i posted an incorrect photo. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinChipmunkfan Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Congratulations, what a great looking model. The Tomcat has always been a favourite of mine and the colour scheme far more attractive than the modern greys. The standard of modelling and the finish is very high indeed and the background information adds greatly. Thank you for displaying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Gorgeous, clean example, i like this scheme, well done a very nice display piece. Glynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fewr9fkr9595 Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Also nice to see a colourful early scheme thats a regular line bird. Normally these are always done as CAG’s. Well done for breaking the tradition mate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 3 minutes ago, Tony Oliver said: Also nice to see a colourful early scheme thats a regular line bird. Normally these are always done as CAG’s. Well done for breaking the tradition mate Believe it or not, when i build a specific model of a plane for a guy who flew the real thing, it helps keep me motivated to finish it. If it were a model built for me 1) i woulda used the Furball decals straight from the sheet and 2) there's only a 50% chance the model would get finished, LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairystick Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Superb build! I love the earlier schemes that the Turkeys wore and provided much more "eye-candy" to drool over. Your comments on the seats are worth baring in mind as it looks like Tamiya missed a trick with that part. Looking forward to your RF-8 build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 Beautiful Tomcat there, really nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 6 hours ago, russ c said: Beautiful Tomcat there, really nice work Cheers Russ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 (edited) UPDATE I neglected to report that i managed to get the model delivered to Big John, who of course loved it. His wife was equally impressed. As for the RF-8, i did make a start on it, getting as far as installing the camera windows painting the cameras, intake throat, and cockpit tub. However, i wanted to build something for myself so i set it aside and took on another Tomcat project... Upper fuselage mostly painted by convairb58, on Flickr Fwd Starboard view by convairb58, on Flickr Upper surfaces- Port 3/4 view by convairb58, on Flickr As i get closer to completion, i will post a dedicated thread. So, These are not the threads you're looking for. -d- Edited February 10, 2019 by David H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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