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


trickyrich

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Wow I hadn’t thought this GB would come around so quick! I have way too many GB’s on the go at once but this was one I really wanted to join.

 

This is one of my all time favourite aircraft……even if Tom Cruise “flew” one! I’ve only ever build older 1/72ndscale Airfix versions and have always wanted to build a big beastie to be part of a “Swing Wing” collection.

 

I was super lucky in finding this one,   Nup it's been replaced

 

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full of goodies and even white metal/rubber wheels, though these will be replaced.

 

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….which some nice person happened to have included the Aires Cockpit set.. and so has this..

 

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and Quickboost wheels all for a price quite a bit cheaper than some of the other Hasegawa F-14’s on evilBay. the wheels stay

 

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Plus as my usual I wanted to build something different so I acquired an Avionix’s F-14D Bombcat conversion set. ...and not using this either

 

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Plus some Super Scale decals for a VF-31 CAG aircraft. Yeah still using this

 

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I won’t be able to start on her straight away, but once I get a couple of the other builds out of the way…….

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Nice scheme rich,  this will be worth a seat, i reckon on a few more f-14s will be built up in this gb,(folks shifting  14s ready for the new kid on the block) this will undoubtedly be a very nice build, you've got all the goodies i see, i was tempted to do my hb, B version in a  tomato reapers scheme, but im going to stick with my  original choice of an a6e tram intruder in the tan and sand gulf scheme, hope it goes smoothly 

Glynn 

 

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there could be a real fly in the ointment in this build!! Seeing as yesterday curtesy of my local IPMS I'm now the proud owner of a 1/48th Tamiya F-14D! :D

 

So I may swap over the model as there's a little bit more extra work with the Hasegawa model and I would actually like to be able to finish this one in time! Plus I found some damage with the Aries cockpit set so I need to buy new seats.

 

But I may keep the scheme and build it pretty much out of the box, though the VF-101 Grim Reapers scheme in the kit is very tempting!

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Ok this build has completely gone off into another direction! The Hasegawa model and been dropped for the beautiful and gorgeous 1/48th Tamiya one! :wub:

 

I was lucky enough to win the raffle on the weekend at the local IPMS meeting, and had the choice of a range of lovely models, I nearly walked out with a Meng tank thingy! But this caught my eye and it was love at first sight!

 

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As it turned out I was lucky to make it out of there alive as it was the one model that everyone wanted to win....and now I know why!

 

I had to leave the plastic on for this shot as underneath was pure plastic porn!!!! :Tasty:

 

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I’ve built a lot of models in my life and from all sorts of manufacturers, in all scales and made with all sorts of different materials. Some incredibly nice and some absolute shockers that’ll never be completed!!

 

But I can say without doubt this is one of the finest models I’ve ever had the chance to build!!!

 

Pieces just don’t fit, they go together perfectly with no join to be seen, no need to wiggle them into the correct place, they just go there first go! 

 

I know I shouldn’t have started her until I’ve finished some of the other builds but I could help myself, so I’ve been gluing as sorts of bit together in pure bliss!

 

The wings went together first, the two halves fitted perfectly, with not a hit of a join visible on the leading edge. It’s hard to see in the photo but those joins have not been touched. Just a light going over with a 6000 grit pad and they were done, I’ve need had that before.

 

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The intake ducts below have just been glued together and not cleaned up, they’re just about perfect as is!

 

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The canopies, they’ve gone to so much trouble to protect these.

 

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The only let down in the exhaust cans, they’re quite soft in detail, the can on the right is from the Hasegawa kit....look at that flash!!

 

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I’m still going to go with the Bombcat version, which Tamiya provides all the correct bits for. I’ve even built up the bomb load!  They show a Phoenix as been fitted but I doubt it ever was for this scheme.

 

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This build will be a prime candidate for my new favourite paint, Mr Paint. The detail on the fuselage is crying out for some super thin paint to make it pop. Actually the paint job will be the biggest part of the project, it’s a good thing the wings can be fitted after painting.

 

Plus for the most part this will be an OOB build (though the exhausts do really need to be replaced...and the wheels), an Aires cockpit will not be worth the hassle as the kit one looks great.

 

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Rich, Tomcats during the very first days of OIF generally carried a Phoenix missile under the left wing pylon, so its not necessarily inaccurate to use this. The load shown in the box art is very typical of these first days although VF-31 Tomcats generally carried 2 or 3 GBU-31 bombs during these missions rather than LGBs

After a few days however it was clear that there was no need for AA missiles as the Iraqi Air Force could not put up any fight, so the Phoenix stopped being carried

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Rich i would have sent a saudi hit squad (allegedly) over to oz if you'd have turned the chance down for 1 :take it for a prize 2 :build it here ,  btw the canopys are most shiny indeed,  when your ready. 

Glynn 

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I'm worried, Rich- a nice easy shake and bake Tamiya?  I mean, I know it is an F-14, so will still have some work involved, but will you have the patience for something so... refined?  (I mean not requiring you to provide the refinement.)

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thanks for that Giorgio, I wasn't quite sure if that ;had out was correct as I hadn't seen any photos of a VF-31 bird with that loadout.

 

Hmmm that said I just found my F-14 book on the OIF aircraft and it does mention that load out :doh: and the normal load out for them being GBU-31's :doh::doh:. Well I did have fun building the LGB:D

 

Least I now have even more details of the CAG aircraft which is great.

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16 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

I'm worried, Rich- a nice easy shake and bake Tamiya?  I mean, I know it is an F-14, so will still have some work involved, but will you have the patience for something so... refined?  (I mean not requiring you to provide the refinement.)

yes I sort of know what you mean! But it will be a very pleasant change not have to attack a model with heavy tools and a "gas axe" to get it to fit! That's sort of the reason as well as to why I won't go with an Aires cockpit, they never quite fit and it would be sacrilege to chew up any plastic on her.

 

Oh I may change out the seats as they are the only part of the model that received any criticism, they were a bit basic looking and the seat belts were decals. 

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Now you know why i went with the Quick Boost figures and seats for my build. They can also  be added last as well so less risk of damage. 

I'm glad to see you prefer the Tamiya version to the Hasegawa. It really is quite the best kit I've come across.

Colin 

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the Quickboost seats were actually for the Hasegawa model as the ones that cal with the "free" Aires cockpit were damaged.

 

If I was completely nuts (and had the time) I'd build the two together, as I love the other schemes, especially the colourful VF-2 CAG bird. Plus It would make painting a lot easier.

 

Guess with the GB running until February there might be a possibility time permitting to build the Hasegawa bird? :hmmm:

 

Gosh I wish I now hadn't seen those seats you've got!

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9 hours ago, trickyrich said:

yes I sort of know what you mean! But it will be a very pleasant change not have to attack a model with heavy tools and a "gas axe" to get it to fit! That's sort of the reason as well as to why I won't go with an Aires cockpit, they never quite fit and it would be sacrilege to chew up any plastic on her.

 

Oh I may change out the seats as they are the only part of the model that received any criticism, they were a bit basic looking and the seat belts were decals. 

G'day Rich,

 

Firstly, I am looking forward to watching you 'do your thing' with this kit, it should be a doddle given the high quality of the kit's engineering plus the skill set that you bring to the party.

 

Secondly, (and forgive me if you already know this) the seats Colin intends to use represent the GRU-7 seats originally fitted to the F-14A/B. The F-14D only used the NACES seat (SJU-17), so if you intend on replacing the kit seats (and I hope you do!) make sure they are the correct type,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Edited by Pappy
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Hi Pappy, yeah i realised the the crew/seats were the wrong type so that sort of made it a bit easier for me. The QB ones I've ordered are the NACES ones, so I'll have to order another set.

 

I still intend to "try" and make it an OOB build if I can. Somethings will need to be "improved" but will try to keep that to a minimum. The cockpit just needs some careful painting to make it pop! I've order some Mr Paint FS-36231 for the interior, so ill spray that first then mask off the panels, spray them black, then hand paint all the details. It will be a long process but should look rather nice.

 

I had  bit of a play with the Hasegawa model, spent over an hour trying to get one wing together and fit right, I gave up after that and decided to have the flaps & slats up! You can really tell the mouldings came out of the early 90's!!! Compared to the Tamiya model it's truly scary!! She will be a hard build if I decide to build her as well!

 

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G'day Rich,

 

I still have two Has 'cats plus a heap of resin for them as weel and after reading all the rave reviews (plus the build horror stories of the Has kit) I have not been game to start one. Mind you, people also call the 1/48 Airfix Buccanneer kit the devil's work  but I found that apart form a general lack of details, the kit could be wresteld into submission with care.  I don't want to beome a Tamiya cripple who can only build Tamiya and similar quality kits,

 

In my opinion the NACES seats are not as 'busy' as older seats, I reckon you could get away with some harnesses but the QB seats do look nice and I would probably be tempted, besides I am a resin tragic as well.

 

Have you read the Dave Aungst build article for the Has F-14?, it has  some good gouge on the traps and how to deal with them. Also there was a minor re-work of some of the nacelle parts by Hasegawa, it didn't completely remedy the fit issue but it did make it less bad.

 

Anyhoo, back to your build blue leader,

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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I haven't read that build, I have found a good one for the Hasegawa model, the finished results for the one are amazing, but there was some work required!

 

I will use this build as a bit of a refresher from my normal stuff. It will be a nice change to not have to fight a build. I really do want to spend most of the time getting the paint and finish right. That's the real make or break of  Tomcat build!

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6 hours ago, Pappy said:

Have you read the Dave Aungst build article for the Has F-14?

 

Is this the one (Part one, that is) you had in mind?  (links to subsequent parts at bottom of part one)  Just butting in for the convenience (hopefully) of others that might want to see.

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1 hour ago, gingerbob said:

 

Is this the one (Part one, that is) you had in mind?  (links to subsequent parts at bottom of part one)  Just butting in for the convenience (hopefully) of others that might want to see.

G'day Bob,

Sort of, the Dave Aungst article is divided into 4 parts, the part that I was referring to was part three which deals specifically with constructing the Has kit. If you go to the link you have added and scroll down to the bottom of the page you will finf a link to part threee - construction. Hopefully that is as clear as mud,

 

cheers.

 

Pappy

 

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