F-14D “Bombcat” VF-31 CAG “OIF” - Completed

[trickyrich]

Wow it has been awhile since I’ve up dated this build, but with the P-43 finally out of the way I can focus on her.

 

I been doing little bit here and there since the last update, the cockpit is pretty well all done, I’m leaving out the seats to last. All but the main cockpit shroud has been fitted, the canopy has been masked and the insides painted black....not a fun job. For some bizarre reason Tamiya supplies cockpit mask only for the outside and you have to cut them out!

 

I’ve closed up the canopy but the main section is just tacked in place for painting. Once that’s out of the way I’ll remove that section and complete the cockpit. Everything that needs to be fitted for painting has been and the model has been given one final going over.

 

So painting...... First up everything has been given a coat of Mr Paint Fine White Primer, this stuff goes on super fine and gives a nice surface for the paint to bit into. Really happy with this coat, all the seams are perfect.

 

Next up some panels were masked, then a coat of Mr Paint White. This is the first of the panel pre-shading.

 

 

 

Then some more masking and a coat of Mr Paint Basalt Grey, I’m still not sure if I’ll use a darker paint of not, if so some of the panels will be “Night Fighter Black”, this is a very dark grey.

 

 

 

I plan to do maybe two more lots of panel masking, will see how it looks after the next one as they take ages to mask.

 

The plan is to do all the panel pre-shading, then do the panel lines, and finish off with a light mottle of greys & white, which should be enough for the painting base.  I then paint her all over with the mid grey 36320 (I think)  then a light/fine coat of the two remaining greys (36273 & . The real aircraft had a very faded finish that almost looked like just one colour.....that’s what I’m aiming foir.

 

This Mr Paint is so fine, I have 5 or 6 layers of paint in a couple of spots and the surface detail is a crisp as areas with just one coat!

 

The other thing, the proper exhaust cans, the open ones,  arrive a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

It turns out they’re 3D printed and the detail is amazing. The difference compared to the Tamiya and Hasegawa ones........

 

 

              Hasegawa open,            Tamiya open,               KA open,            KA closed,         Hasegawa closed

 

They painted up perfectly and look awesome until I tried to do a wash.....and the base paint came off!

 

 

I had similar trouble with the closed ones as well, the material used in 3D printing doesn’t like paint! I striped them back and tried some lacquer primer to see how that works.

 

I’m hoping to have all the base painting completed by Monday as I’m off with work again come Tuesday....off to the Northern Territory this time, so I’ll only have limited time to finish her off.

 

[trickyrich]

It has been a little while since I’ve updated this build and now I’m away with work so everything below was done before I left….about a week ago……

 

….. and the painting is just about all done, just the clear coats and maybe some panel/panel line highlighting.

 

So to painting….. I gave her a once over final look and cleaned up a couple of spots then a complete wipe down with enamel thinners. The cockpit is 80% done but to a stage where I could fit the front section properly and then tack on the main section. This way I could paint everything at once and get a sort of even finish.

 

This done she was given a coat of Mr Paint Fine White Primer (all the paints used will be Mr paint Lacquer Acrylics), this stuff goes on so fine I needed to give her a couple of coats. No photos of her in primer.

 

I wanted to see if I could do some panel differentiation with some pre-shading so masked up some areas and painted them white. It’s a bit subtle but it sort of worked.

 

 

 

Next up some more masking and some grey this time…

 

 

 

Finally some more masking and another grey, some Swedish Black (??) plus some alternate colour for the part of the wings that are covered when swept. That bit didn’t quite work out, so will have to now do it post painting.

 

 

 

 

Now the fun bit, giving her a mottle scheme of with/greys/black, it actually looks like a cool camo scheme in it’s self.

 

 

Now the main colours, first on was the 35237 on the main upper surfacers, followed by 36375 on the under surfacers, then with a wee bit of masking 36320 on the nose section. There were a couple of coats of each of these to get the effect I was after. Then the whole model was given a light dusting of the Mid-Grey 36320. On the real thing it’s mentioned that the greys had faded so much it almost looked like one colour…I didn’t quite go to that extreme, but close

 

 

 

 

The photo’s don’t do the paint job justice and being shiny doesn’t help but she has the mottled faded look I was after.

 

 

 

Next up I started doing some of the re-paint panels and panel-lines, nothing too extreme as I’ve not tried this before so less is better in this case.

 

 

...and the "cans" have been uncoated for a second attempt at painting them!

 

 

…and just a quick look to see how she’ll look with weapons….and I discovered that the got the colours around the wrong way with the GBU-12! 

 

 

That’s where she was at, when I get home I’ll spend some time on the panel-line painting before a clear coat and decals. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done on the finish but hopefully I can get it all done on my next break.

[madcat911]

GBU-12 looks ok.

 

[trickyrich]

ok...the reference photos I have had the colours swapped around, plus I've found some yesterday where the whole thing is OD!

 

I think I'll have to repaint it and the others anyway as the green is way too dark.

 

Thanks for the photo, it gives me a good idea of how dirty and grubby the bombs are.

[SA80A2AR]

+1

[trickyrich]

24/01

 

I’m finally getting around to doing and update of this build (am currently away with work up in the NT) and with luck it’ll be the last one.

 

Lots of progress has been made and everything was looking awesome until the decals!!! More on that later……..

 

I finally finished doing all the remaining bits on the paint job, surprisingly it 2 days work including the gloss coat. Due to the finish you get with this paint I could do all the panel-lines before the gloss coat, this allowed me also to start the weathering process.

 

 

 

Again the photo’s don’t do justice to the finish, plus the gloss sort of hides a lot of the paint effects. In real you can see all the differences in the paint like on the real thing, super happy with this.

 

 

Hmm something went a bit off with this photo as the colours are wrong…. 

 

 

Right with the gloss coat on time for the decals and this is where everything came crashing down as these decals are for the Revell & Hasegawa models.

 

Now I’d already noticed differences between the Tamiya and Hasegawa models but didn’t think they were that wrong, and I really should have remembered that there were some differences……and I unfortunately found/remembered them as I applied the main decals to the rudder!

 

They were completely wrong in shape, the leading and trailing angles on the Hasegawa rudders are greater. So when these decals were placed on the rudders there were large gaps at the leading edge top and trailing edge bottom. Plus the decals were old, think and a bit brittle!

 

It was to late to change the scheme to one of the Tamiya supplied schemes and there were no other AM decals available (that I could find). Luckily I painted the lower fins black (you could either used the black decals with white numbers of paint them black and just use number decals), so I could use cut these up to help fill in the gaps. I also needed to hand paint quite a few spots as well….the results looked really rough but it was too late to turn back so I applied the rest of the decals and panels lines on the model didn’t match up with the decal guide so I had to use reference photos…..and there are a few errors with the decals……

 

So with all the decals done I hoped a coat of Flat clear would hide some of the sins………

 

….and Mr Paint Super Clear Matt did let me down!!

 

 

There are still a couple of minor things I need to fix on the rudders but on the whole they came out much better than I had hoped for.

 

The finish of this clear is amazing, really flat without being over the top and it just goes on so nicely. Actually all these colours have gone on perfectly, to give an example there are places on the model that have 17 layers of paint and yet the fine detail is still crisp and clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these are still a work in progress..

 

 

These are the Tamiya supplied decals for the CF panels, lots of decal softener was required here, but they ended up conforming quite nicely….bar one mistake which luckily will be hidden.

 

 

I’ve had all sorts of trouble getting the paint to hold on these cans, this is the 4th attempt at painting them, it just keeps lifting or rubbing off. I’ve tried all types of primer to no avail, I’ve given up on them for now……

 

 

The gear is fitted, I’ve started to finish the cockpit, and most of the minor stuff is done. Next up is to start the second part of the weathering and grime her up. The matt finish should help this part, plus it will help break the “flatness” up as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things going right I should make the finish line, so the next update will see her in the gallery.

[exdraken]

Wow! Very impressive! And a black, BLACK tails Felix bird!

 

[trickyrich]

Well that’s it, she finally done, and I just made the cutoff as well!

 

It’s always those final few details that just seem to take forever….plus discovering the odd mistake or two as well!

 

I’m really happy with the results, especially with the final finish, it’s hard to believe there are up to 18 coats of paint in certain parts, and with no loss of detail! Acrylic Lacquers are the way to go, plus I’ve finally found a Flat Clear that is really nice and flat without being over the top.

 

 I really can’t fault this model by Tamiya, it has to be one of the nicest models I’ve ever built, the only let down in the build was the decals. The decals were quite old and for the Revell/Hasegawa models, as a result don’t actually fit this model. I can see a Tamiya “A” model eventually joining the collection. 

 

Thanks for following and all the comments, extra photos will be in the Gallery and RFI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wimbledon99]

Just seen this in the gallery and have had a browse through the build thread

 

 

What a cracking looking model!! Some of those shots could be of the real thing

 

Outstanding!

[FortyEighter]

A fantastic build Rich - your detailed explanation / pictures of the stages to get to the final finish are bookmarked for future reference!

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good evening Rich

Very nice build 👍

Patrice

[DAG058]

What a stunner! 

[Nocoolname]

That's a corker!

[trickyrich]

am chuffed to say this baby took out first place "peoples choice award" at my local (NSW) IPMS club meeting today!!