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One in the eye of those naysayers who think grey jets are boring! There's more hard work and variation going into these two than any complex camo job 👍

 

I echo the comment above, great work and attention to detail getting all the decals consistent 👏👏👏

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Good evening Tony

Your single mindedness and attention to detail knows no bounds. The speed and the quality of your builds never cease to amaze me. Yep! nowt wrong with grey jets, weathered grey jets have a certain  je ne sais quoi about them. Can't wait to see the end result, I'm certain it will be your usual high standard. Can't see it being anything less.

 

Regards

Peter

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On 10/04/2020 at 22:03, Blackfordhibby said:

Good evening Tony

Your single mindedness and attention to detail knows no bounds. The speed and the quality of your builds never cease to amaze me. Yep! nowt wrong with grey jets, weathered grey jets have a certain  je ne sais quoi about them. Can't wait to see the end result, I'm certain it will be your usual high standard. Can't see it being anything less.

 

Regards

Peter


Cheers Peter. 
You used any of those F-4 Stabs yet??

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Spent most of this week’s evenings decalling these. 

559-A1-FCE-F102-4-BB5-98-CF-42-C843-BB1-

 

Next for them is a gloss to seal these all in. Then a general wash. Then a satin/flat coat. Then some grime and chipping. Navy missiles were quite dirty from the handling due constant loading and unloading off of the planes. 

Tony

 

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  • 1 month later...

Missiles now done, washed and flat coated since last update. 
 

A5172969-955-B-4359-8881-1-FC8-DAF31-ED9


Did the panel wash on the D with a couple of greys. 

 

F4-A8-E9-A0-C2-D2-444-D-8711-8-CA5431942
 

 

After clean up and flat coat it was noticeable that the right intake chevron hadn’t settled well so that was stripped off and the area refinished for a second attempt. 

06812-D1-C-C057-4-E83-8-CCA-2-C15823-E0-


Seeing as no decals are provided, I used my template thingy to cut a mask and sprayed 24 overlap/rub areas on the nozzles one at a time. 
 

1-A2-B0-D87-6-A4-D-4904-BBAA-7-A4-E2061-
 

B8220-A0-D-7-A02-4-C17-B53-D-DC3-DB072-F

 

Only a week left! Had a month away from the plastic.  Need to work fast if I want to finish these. 
 

Still to do is -

 

pilots and/or seats for both. 
streaks and grime. 
finish off u/c parts. 
final assembly. 

 

Fingers crossed. The other acad pair in this gb have no hope, still in construction never mind paint. 

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So here is where they are on Monday - 

 

Apart from a few bits like nav lights and the pilots/seats I could piece them together as had panel line washes and flat coats. However I want to add those finishing touches to give them their individuality. 

 

F76-D90-DF-1-DF6-473-B-A2-F1-0-C8-D8-F04


So the vf-194 pilots had quite elaborate helmet artwork, an ace of hearts playing card with the lightning bolt. Was never going to be able to replicate that so a more simplistic version was attempted to suggest it. The red was just hataka blue line water based paint. Because the helmet was gloss white lacquer it made it easy to just wipe off even when dry. Took several attempts to paint 4 flashes 😕 Another good thing was that I could use a pin to scrape away some red and sharpen up the corners. Once flashes were good enough they were sealed with varnish to protect them. 
 

91-D50-AE4-CF97-4-B7-F-8-F19-9-CE4-B08-B

 

So some weathering for the reserve jet. 
The panel wash was light for this one, the idea being to darken up areas with grime. 
Starship filth oilbrusher was mixed with odourless thinners to make a wash and applied randomly over the airframe and then in some areas to match ref pics too. This was left to dry for half an hour or so. 
 

DA89-A330-153-B-4-BC5-A716-196-A7-B2-D87

 

Next 502 matt effect thinners. Used in a damp brush, the filth was dabbed/blended and streaked until the desired effect was achieved. 
 

7062-CEF2-EAF3-4-BBF-A686-3-E7-CAD9-F174


A8-D33-FB0-AF41-4944-BC41-B50-EFB377-F70

 

FA8236-D6-71-B4-40-AC-B036-3216-C6943843

 

Next will be some fluid leaks around the lowers and nacelles. Also wing sweep marks then she will be ready for final assy. 
 

The D had a more uniform darker panel line wash and is going to be depicted as a ‘newer’ not so grubby jet. (Compare backs of jets in first pic of this post) 
So the plan is for some panel variation and fading with a few streaks here and there and some intake walkway grime only. That’s todays job. 
 

Thanks for looking. 
 

Tony

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Looking fantastic, but, have you got the navigation lights the wrong way around? Port should be red and starboard green.

 

AW

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6 hours ago, Andwil said:

Looking fantastic, but, have you got the navigation lights the wrong way around? Port should be red and starboard green.

 

AW

Good spot! Cheers mate. Those bits are actually decals. Must have been ‘in the zone’ when putting them on and not paying attention. Easy fix with some paint, wasn’t too happy with the solid colour look of them anyways. 
 

Another oddity those. None in the D kit, you have to paint all lights. Then the newer A release they give decals for Lights on glove vanes and wingtips only 🤷🏼‍♂️

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Some weathering added. 
 

Wing sweep marks on A. Didn’t bother on D as none are seen when parked in oversweep position. 

 

Undersides with their different pattern to the top. 
BA6-B37-B5-E2-A6-480-D-85-A8-9-D5-F3-F9-

 

FDFCAA1-F-C1-CA-43-D3-92-D1-91-FDF18-A46


General views of A with wings in. 
 

B3-CA5920-E929-4-A87-97-B3-34-FBDC850-D5

 

6123-D015-D293-45-A5-A8-FC-F609-FA6-DE5-

 

2-C1-B010-D-2782-4-EE2-A478-B960274258-B


 

For the D used regular and matt effect thinners to add oils and used the tide marks/difference in sheen to my advantage to replicate a kind of water/salt stained effect on the uppers. Depending on which way you tilt it and catches the light the effect changes. I used blue, white and grey to get the mottling/stains and then the streaks and grime with black, dark brown and starship filth. 

8-F934742-0-A4-F-4904-B1-A3-0-ECCCEC1-F1


DBA971-B9-C4-B2-497-F-90-B7-4-F6-D2-C5-D


4-DD09010-50-E2-4-B1-E-BBBA-B0-E6-D12-FB

 

More extreme with this angle. 
8-DAF017-F-2799-420-F-93-ED-310317-A88-A


Interesting enough... 
95-CB2-CE8-B563-4609-B662-3885-BBA52-E69


More of a tilt then looks even busier. 
D0-F6-B96-C-09-B1-455-F-BB2-F-C896-D80-A

 

Undersides being worked on. 
 

77-FBA966-5707-413-D-9601-6477-C8453-EAA
 

Calling it a day now before I do too much or you just start going round in circles with the weathering. 
All the fiddly bits to stick on now. 
Next update should be them finished. 
Tony

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Some other fiddly bits worth showing off. The small details make all the difference. 
 

A536-D43-E-AD68-4-DBF-A8-ED-ECE42-E05-CC

 

RBF tags for D. 
3 for u/c

2 for aim-9s

 

E09-E4-AB3-F5-AC-4545-AEB7-EC0-D820-FAEC

 

Mirrors added inside canopy (quickboost for f-4 phantom)

0118-AFE0-6-C10-412-D-947-E-5231-BB5-CA8

 

For the D seats I have used one piece modern hobbies ones with belts. (Quickboosts’ naces seats seem too big.)

The ‘between the legs’ ejection handles were poorly cast and didn’t fancy trying to hollow them out with a scalpel so removed them used spare plastic ones from a finemolds kit which are ‘solid’ so look they have the red safety cover them. So thats how I painted them and added the RBF tags. 


0-F7-E9-DC8-1766-4-E31-B07-D-43787168441


 

Next is added detail to missile nose bungs. 
I have used these before on their own on other builds but noticed recently that they normally have a bungee or elastic cord around a fin to hold them on. So out with the UvdR rigging! 
 

A27-BE0-D0-9635-43-C4-9-CF2-5-E0662-D096


09-EFC6-F9-39-C1-462-E-AE20-6-CC947-A4-A


This will be hidden and tidied up by the addition of the rbf tag. 
2-D285-D9-B-9-C08-4772-B755-76-A72-BDB59


35-D9382-E-62-D5-4-A54-9-E7-C-EF6533-CBE


Also the benefits of having slide molded missiles - lovely detail on rear! 
54521-B39-8-ED8-4-F10-8-C6-B-3153-A30480


 

Thanks for looking. 
 


 


 

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So now these are about done here are some thoughts on these kits. Bit of an epic but there is actually quite alot so share for those interested. 
 

Will add this to first post too for anyone who comes across this thread and get the lowdown on the nitty gritty. 

 

Great wall cats

 

Well these are a bit of a ‘two faced’ jekyll and hyde type thing for me. 

 

On one hand they are great and then on the other not so much. 

Some bits are really well thought out and seem to have been made/designed by modellers for modellers. And then in others it makes you scratch your head. Like they ran out of time or budget or two separate people were working on different parts and then combining them together was a compromise or designed by a third person. 

 

Good points - (well more like stand out features or things better than other current tomcat kits) 

 

1. It looks like a tomcat! 

 

2. Joking aside one of the best features of this kit it the way the parts are attached to the sprues. It is all on the edges/bottom or mating surfaces of parts, rather than the ‘sides’ so removal and clean up is a breeze. 

This makes things like the UC doors a dream as they can all be painted and detailed on the sprues so you don’t have to get creative when trying to hold them during painting. They can then be snipped off and placed as all their attachment points are on the hinges (which then insert and are hidden inside their respective holes in the bays) Speaking of UC doors this brings me onto another good point about this kit. 

There are practically zero visible ejection pin marks that need filling. (I hate trying to fill pin marks on the inners of UC doors) There are some on the ‘floors’ of the main intake trunking but these can’t be seen. The D kit has a few on the rears of the inner exhaust petal bits but are easily dealt with without compromising detail. So in general ejection pin and parts placement are well thought out. 

 

3. There is a separate insert part for the RIO step and its reinforcement plate. Something missing from all major kits (apart from Hboss -which is moulded on so just sand off if not required) 

 

4. The leading edges of the wings have that subtle curve/chink in them. Not seen on other kits so far. 

 

5. Missiles are slide moulded and have good details on the rear. Aim 54’s and 7’s are great but the 9’s are let down by chunky front fins. 

 


 

 

I know that doesn’t seem like alot of good points, that’s because most of it is very good anyways as would be expected for a kit of this age and tooling. 

 

Bad points

Here we go. Some of these may seem harsh or over critical but they are frustrating nonetheless and stop it from being perfect, especially when some parts are outstanding  
 

Most are general for both boxings, others are A/D specific. 

 

1. It’s not a beginners tomcat kit. You need to know your way around them or have good references to work from. Which ties into point number 2 below. 

 

2. The instructions for both are a joke. In general very poor/lazy and just parts with an arrow of the general location of where they go. Loads of correction / errata sheets too. Poor explanation over the use of optional parts. The ‘A’ sheet still has ‘D’ CAD drawings in some areas. 

 

3. Most major parts locate with a ‘butt’ join. So a 1/4mm off on a few parts here and there can soon compound into a 1mm step somewhere else later on. You almost need to do all the assembly in one sitting to get it all to line up. 

 

4. Yes this kit has flaps slats and spoilers but their attachment points are very chunky, especially the slats. Fujimi & Hasegawa’s kits from almost 30 years ago both have alot more finesse here. Also spoilers are one long piece when they should be 3 separate bits. 

 

5. The cockpit floor has some nice detail with panel lines and fine raised rivets if you wanted to do a seats out maintenance type display. OH WAIT YOU CAN’T because whoever designed the seats put two massive tabs on the bottom of them and that means two huge rectangular holes in cockpit floor for them to locate in. Good luck filling those and reinstating the detail. 

 

6. The undercarriage legs are way over engineered. Too many parts make them up and this can lead to errors getting them all straight and lined up. Definitely use the fuselage as a jig to get all the parts perpendicular and lined up. 

 

7. Decals are ok, very thin but stiff and ‘crinkly’. I used them for one cockpit and both sets of missiles I didn’t use the main markings on the builds but did play around with them on some scrap. 

 

8. Speaking of decals they give the rear view mirrors for the inside of the canopy as tiny decals. They are to be placed on the ceiling of the canopy framing looking down. How are they meant to work?!?! 

 

9. Also the cockpit sill and canopy interior piece are very well done. There is just no locating tab/hinge or similar to ‘clip’ it into the spine to help hold it open in the correct position and angle. Frustrating. The acad and Finemolds kits both have ways of doing this which are very secure too. 

 

10. The main wheel tyres have a fictional pattern. 

Only one type of late hub moulded in said strange tyre. They include the D wheels in the Early A kit so no good there but you’re probably going to replace them due to the tires anyways. 

 

11. The front fuselage halves have some sink marks on the outside corresponding with the interior location sockets for the cockpit tub. 

 

12. Seats lack harness detail (don’t they all) but they don’t even give face curtain handles in plastic for the gru-7’s in the A kit. Really? 

 

13. All gun vent panel inserts have the grill at the lower rear corner. Just the NACA one should have it. 

 

14. TCS chin pod in A kit is poor and clunky. 

 

15. Early tailfins in the A kit have very soft stiffener plate detail. 

 

16. The P&W Tf30 nozzles of the A have some nice detail as do the tubes with some ribbing, however again there are two large tabs to join nozzles to tubes which are very difficult to conceal. 

 

17. Both the A and D kit share the same exhaust tubes which have an unrealistic and inaccurate taper to them to give the perception of more depth. (The new acad kit does this too by the way) 

 

18. Pitots and probes. They are all moulded well and attach to the sprues at their bases, similar to the new acad kit. This makes painting, clean up and installation easy (take note Finemolds thats how yours should have been!) however the nose tip AOA sensor is overall too large and its base is too big which should be part of the radome so the ‘join’ is in the wrong place. Similar to hboss kits. 

Plans for future GWH kits will be to glue it in place and eradicate seam. Then snip off the correct amount to be replaced by a brass probe at end of build. 

 

19. The D kit is ‘bombcat’ only out of the box. (In terms of the following details- PTID screen for the RIO, lantirn joystick and GPS dome for spine. However two of the markings are pre bombcat. The boxtop artwork option was a bombcat but may not have had the PTID in 1997. 

There is no bombcat loadout just a lantirn pylon but no pod. Just air to air loadout so the D kit kind of contradicts itself. 

 

20. Speaking of air to air loadouts they got the phoenixes wrong. They released the D kit with Aim-54 A versions (4 Bumps behind its radome) and the A kit with Aim-54 C’s (smooth). 

The decals for them are then also wrong. 

In reality a D bird would have only carried 54’Cs but  the F14A was in service long enough to carry both the A and then C 54’s. 

 

What you get - 

D kit - A missiles with C decals. 

A kit - C missiles with A decals. 

 

What they should have done - 

 

D kit - C missiles with C decals. (And possibly a bombcat loadout) 

 

A kit - A missiles with A decals (and possibly C missiles with C decals if they give a marking option of an A jet late enough to carry them (1987-2004)

 


21. Surface detail is very fine however too fine in some places and gets lost under paint. 
 

22. They missed off the formation light on the right hand waist below the wing bladder.  All others featured with panel lines for the decal strips

 

Thats all I can think of for now. 

 

In closing 

 

For me there is still no clear winner for best tomcat kit although the most recent three over past few years are all very good in their own way. Acad, Finemolds and this the GWH
 

The ultimate kit would be a collaboration of all three - 

Take the breakdown of parts, buildability and multi options of the academy kit but use the sprue attachment and ejection pin points of the GWH kit. Then have it moulded with the finesse, crispness and consistency of detail across all parts that finemolds uses. 
 

Sorry for all the waffle. 
 

Tony. 

 

 

 


 

Edited by Tony Oliver
Added more points!
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Last few shots before proper submission into GB gallery later. 
 

D -

 

Here we can see mirrors and grab handle I added. Also kit bashed/re cast RIO ‘fishbowl’ TID for this early 90’s D. 
20-EF54-D4-A60-A-40-A2-8-DD5-8-C7390-C1-

 

Added the streaks off the walkway as per the reference pic. Also think that the decals in the footstep wells are quite effective now. Wasn’t a fan at first of this representation of the panel lines in there. 
Also note the slightly sunken area of where the glove vane canards were just visible but not a panel line anymore as its a D(R). 
Were puttied over and sometimes just visible on these rebuilt A’s. 
3-FC7-F4-D9-92-B1-493-D-96-AE-B00-C1-A0-
 

Added a wash to bring out the rivets and painted the silver (mig ammo oil brusher) ring on edge of shrouds before installing the cans. Happy with the blue and purple heat discolouration tints at base of cans (ak xtreme metals) Overall tint is quite golden/brown but thats just the light. 
558-CE850-28-A4-4-A77-972-A-3-E9-AA04-AA

 

Nose bung with its bungee and rbf added. Note streaks on UC doors. 
69-C1-DB28-1788-4-E55-9-EEC-27167-A31-E9

 

Plenty to see here looks busy enough. 
741-A4-CA6-780-A-47-D1-B1-E6-795-B6-DF8-

 

Same for the top, nice variations quite pleased how it came out. 
D563-FA48-327-E-44-B9-A25-D-DC4-C8611198

 

A couple on the Italeri base - 


67290-B70-06-B4-4-D40-8-F01-D6-C2-C5-ABD
 

678-CF838-3327-464-A-AA9-E-18-C896926897

 

 

The A - 


008644-D6-D1-FA-4-DD0-8996-A329-BA9-C46-

 

Added the Probe from some streched sprue as had to remove it to place decal. Also not pleased with the rescue arrow. Too thick and visible. It’s because I had to improvise and layer it on some light grey scrap decal to get the pale border and text that it had. 
109-EBDEC-3383-46-B5-ADC2-24-A94-C58536-

 

Busy enough. Was thinking of adding some chips and scrapes to the interior of the flap and slat area but may be too much in this scale?
197-B9-BD4-53-F5-453-A-B1-DA-5-A2-DCC86-
 

Quite a prominent gap around the canopy. Not as fine as the other panel lines. 
38151193-2-D0-C-4186-96-D3-BB3-FE58764-D

 

Happy with the light grey/off white of the ceramic radomes. I used FS36495. Sometimes too overdone if ones uses gull grey or radome tan. 
9-A96-AB8-B-9-F36-44-EE-8-CB4-B4-B579-A5

 

The crew. 
9-B6424-C7-708-C-4-D44-B94-B-AB65-F342-C

 

These came out nice, misted metallic blue, purple and burnt metal over a titanium base. Ak xtreme again. Nozzles are a mix of jet exhaust and burnt metal.  May put another layer of kleer over to give them some more sheen. 
B9368-D82-447-F-429-A-A188-2-EC1-EC92188

 

On the same base - 
CC3417-F2-685-A-428-A-B603-1480209-E146-

Thanks for following. 

 

Tony

 

 

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