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1/48 F-14D, VF-213 Last Cruise - Finished 13/01.


DaveJL

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Hello all,

 

Here is one of my entries for this GB - Tamiya's wonderful F-14D in the markings of VF-213 'Black Lions' during their last Tomcat cruise in 2005/6. BuNo 164602 was delivered new to VF-124 in 1992, before being transferred to VF-2 in late 1994 and eventually to VF-213 in 1997. The jet saw combat in Operation 'Desert Fox' in 1998, 'Enduring Freedom' in 2001 and 'Iraqi Freedom' in 2003, when it expended the squadrons' highest volume of ordnance - a mixture of 31 JDAMs and LGBs. The jet was retired in 2006 and I believe remains in storage at AMARG.

 

Kit:

 

44617218914_ed820f8eec_b.jpg

43524986910_cb453e8778_b.jpg

 

Scheme:

 

30400643627_0b6de36823_b.jpg

 

Extras:

 

31465940638_fcbcd794ff_b.jpg

 

I'll be using Quickboost NACES seats and a Master brass pitot tube.

 

References:

 

43524953540_12c5460203_b.jpg

 

The jet itself:

 

image070.jpg

 

 

Dave

 

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Ohh reference material abound, i had an idea there would be a hatfull of big cats, gotta love em, i remember being taken to airshows in the late 70s and early 80s, Mildenhall was my favourite, and i ways looked forward to seeing tomcats tail sliding around in a circle, most impressive, even th noise

Glynn 

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19 hours ago, gingerbob said:

Just an idle question: I'd been under the impression that the Tamiya 48th had "out or in" wings, but I see the big gear thingy in your "box contents" pic.  Did I miss something?

The Tamiya 'cat has one wing only, there is no option for the flaps etc to be deployed. The wings are posable with the large 'cog' that connects them within the fuselage.

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5 hours ago, DaveJL said:

The Tamiya 'cat has one wing only, there is no option for the flaps etc to be deployed. The wings are posable with the large 'cog' that connects them within the fuselage.

Unless you throw money at the KASL Hobby sets :o

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On 16/10/2018 at 04:27, DaveJL said:

Hello all,

 

Here is one of my entries for this GB - Tamiya's wonderful F-14D in the markings of VF-213 'Black Lions' during their last Tomcat cruise in 2005/6. BuNo 164602 was delivered new to VF-124 in 1992, before being transferred to VF-2 in late 1994 and eventually to VF-213 in 1997. The jet saw combat in Operation 'Desert Fox' in 1998, 'Enduring Freedom' in 2001 and 'Iraqi Freedom' in 2003, when it expended the squadrons' highest volume of ordnance - a mixture of 31 JDAMs and LGBs. The jet was retired in 2006 and I believe remains in storage at AMARG.

 

Kit:

 

 

 

 

Scheme:

 

 

 

Extras:

 

 

 

I'll be using Quickboost NACES seats and a Master brass pitot tube.

 

References:

 

 

 

The jet itself:

 

 

 

 

Dave

 

 

That bottom livery is nice, strangely I was looking at it earlier today

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I'm now the proud owner of one of these as well, courtesy of my local IPMS raffle! :D

 

I can't reave enough about the quality of this model and it's fit. I'll be doing mine as a VF-31 CAG aircraft. I do like option #3 for the schemes, VF-2. I may use that scheme on the Hasegawa one I have.

 

Looking forward to seeing how you go with this one.

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Made a start on this one today. Intake ramps added to lower fuselage and gear bays sprayed (pardon the overspray!):

 

44246793080_479eab2059_b.jpg

 

Wing sweep mechanism:

 

32191524208_08bf82a34e_b.jpg

 

Upper fuselage with GPS dome added. The filler is for an antennae not found when the GPS was fitted. Tamiya instruct you to add the plastic part then trim off the antenna 'blade' but I think a dab of filler gives a neater result:

 

45150943175_fe567a9a8f_b.jpg

 

Ordnance and fuel tanks - going for the standard last cruise weapons fit of 1x GBU-12, 1x GBU-38 and 1x AIM-9. The GBU-38 was in the spares and will be repainted:

 

45150939575_16687771a6_b.jpg

 

Intake assembly sprayed:

 

45338531214_a0c3080026_b.jpg

 

Various sub assemblies:

 

44246771380_134a4e191b_b.jpg

 

Front landing gear bay and cockpit parts all sprayed and ready for detailing:

 

45150928425_b8fda6081d_b.jpg

 

Front fuselage halves. Tamiya provide the reinforcement plate around the RIO's boarding step as a vinyl piece, a very nice idea as it saves sanding off any moulded part for those jets that don't have the plate fitted:

 

32191501428_e8a2be05db_b.jpg

 

As I've said in my previous 3 build threads of Tamiya's 'Cat, the thing is an absolute joy to build.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

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11 minutes ago, trickyrich said:

great start! I so love this model, it almost builds itself.

Thanks mate. I agree on the model, it's the best kit I've built. Tamiya have set the bar incredibly high. Just need them to do a late A and B model now.

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A bit more done over the weekend. Front landing gear bay finished:

 

31208876857_7fb847537e_b.jpg

 

Cockpit finished with light wash added:

 

45236197875_f76c052d87_b.jpg

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Probably the best injection moulded cockpit you can get - for me, no need for a resin one in it's place. Inserted into front fuselage and closed up:

 

46147890481_f265d67188_b.jpg

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Upper and lower fuselage halves attached and beaver tail added:

 

46147903071_a0989d1b57_b.jpg

46147899451_61411de618_b.jpg

 

Intakes:

 

45424337094_b1175c318e_b.jpg

 

The hardest part of this kit by far is getting those intake masks attached!  

 

One of the Quickboost NACES seats - the canopy breakers are from the Tamiya seat - as these are the correct size for the front seat; Quickboost have cast the same size of canopy break on both seats which is incorrect - the front ones should be taller:

 

46147893551_6065786b03_b.jpg

 

More soon.

 

Dave

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A bit more done today. The pilot's coaming along with HUD were added to the 'tub, before the windshield was popped on. As that was drying the masks were removed from the intakes (these were painted Gull Grey last night) and then fitted to the lower fuselage. Exhaust shrouds, arrestor hook housing and chin pod were also added. Then both fuselage pieces were fitted together:

 

46113451072_2f8b624155_b.jpg

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The fit, as I and so many others have said, is just outstanding (the small bit of filler on the nose is just to clean up the join line - a preferred method of mine). Wings, stabs and tail fins dry fitted:

 

32292772338_de3de0ebd1_b.jpg

 

A fine looking beast!

 

More soon.

 

Dave

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Progress has been slow on this one, but I've managed to get the majority of the sub assemblies completed. First up, the landing gear:

 

46345931592_aec22ce757_b.jpg

 

Quickboost seats:

 

31457321667_2e24c196c8_b.jpg

 

RIO's IP coaming with GPS box attached. I've added a bit of wire to the rear of this to replicate the cables found on the real thing:

 

46397012931_1507a0a6c0_b.jpg

 

Ordnance, with the bombs given a suitable coat of grime:

 

44579772610_f780b18751_b.jpg

 

Exhausts:

 

46397002601_e9e6b348ca_b.jpg

 

More soon.

 

Dave

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A few more sub assemblies finished. Fuel tanks:

 

44591432070_05c2417870_b.jpg

 

Shoulder pylons:

 

32536371278_1caf0baa2a_b.jpg

 

One of the small additions required if building a last cruise jet is the addition of the ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receivers) antenna on the right fuselage pylon. This system was added to all VF-213 and VF-31 jets from early December 2005 and cost around $800 per jet. The F-14 was the first Navy jet to employ this system, which allowed ground forces to see what the LANTIRN pod was looking at through a laptop. I added the small blade from a piece of styrene:

 

32536366508_75eb45ec77_b.jpg

 

Blue ROVER antenna:

 

32536362568_96d99a76df_b.jpg

 

Note also that on 164602, the pylons were Gull Grey at the front then the main section containing the bomb shackles were Light Ghost Grey.

 

Main airframe painting to come soon.

 

Dave

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Haven't been at the bench much recently due to work, however I have managed to get the 'cat painted and glossed, ready for decals:

 

46649795231_c65ec30548_b.jpg

46649791101_6a819deab4_b.jpg

 

Overall Modelmaster Flat Gull Grey. The blue skunk stripe and rudders/fin tips were done in my own mixture of Modelmaster French Blue and a few drops of white.

 

Hoping to get the decals and panel wash done over the next couple of days.

 

Dave

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