F-14 A from movie Top Gun

[Fredrikc]

In 1984 pilot Lieutenant Pete Mitchell and RIO Lieutenant junior grade Nick Bradshaw set out on a BARCAP mission from the USS Enterprise somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Short after takeoff they got radar interference from what appeared to be a single unidentified aircraft vectoring the CAG. Mitchell and Bradshaw radioed their wingman Bill Cortell, callsign "Cougar" to approach the incoming aircraft for a visual ID.

 

The fighters approached head to head and by the time Mitchell and Bradshaw, also known for their callsigns “Maverick” and “Goose”, could visually identify the aircraft it became apparent that what had appeared as a single aircraft was actually two MIG-28’s – a brand new aircraft type at the time that had never before been seen that close to a US carrier group. Just after the intercept Maverick piloted his F-14A Tomcat in a hard left turn and got behind one of the MIG 28’s. Shortly after turning in behind the MIG he got a missile lock on it that resulted in the MIG bugging out of the fight, turning home to North Korea/Russia.

 

The second MIG had by the time managed to take advantage of the sun to sneak in behind Cougar and his RIO Sam Wells, callsign “Merlin” to get a missile lock on their F-14A Tomcat. Desperately calling Maverick and Goose for help, they tried to shake of the hostile MIG 28 with short turns to left and right, seemingly without any positive results. Maverick and Goose who then turned up trailing behind the MIG was unable to get a tone on the highly agile F5 E Tiger.

 

Confident that the MIG would have already fired on Cougar and Merlin and that the Russian/North Korean communist pilot was just messing around, Maverick and Goose decided to “have some fun”.

 

They then turned in with the MIG inverted in a four G negative turn to end up about six feet cockpit to cockpit with it. Goose managed to snap a picture with his polaroid camera while Maverick who had one hand on the stick used his other hand to give the MIG pilot “the finger” causing the him or her to bugg out of the fight and return to North Kore/Russia.

 

After the events described above Cougar went into a shock state of mind and was unable to communicate with his RIO, wingman or anyone else.

 

This led Maverick to boulter with two wheels on the carrier deck, causing a flood of grins on CAG commander Tom “Stinger” Jordans face followed by a cascade of expletives over the radio. After skidding across the carrier deck with, full afterburner, despite Gooses nagging about not having enough fuel to come back, Maverick went up side to side with Cougar to calm him down and talk to him. Maverick then direct Cougar to land his bird successfully on the carrier in pitch-black darkness.

 

After their own landing Maverick and Goose was ordered to step into Stingers office, just to receive a truckload of expletives. Despite the truckload Stinger could not hide the fact that Maverick and Goose had been picked out for a prestigious school in Miramar, CA, called “Top Gun”.

 

On march three, 1969 the US Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the, at the time, lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men and women who graduated where the best fighter pilots in the world. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Fighter Weapons School. The school is more commonly known as Top Gun.

 

 

This is a work in progress of what is going to become a Top Gun movie theme diorama with aircrafts. First out is the almost ready #114 F-14A out of VF-51, made available for the filming of Top Gun. The aircraft was severely beat up before filming and had a lot of touch up paintwork over several panels. The model I used is Tamiya F-14 A Tomcat with some photo etched parts and Fightertown decals.

 

 

What could be further improved? And what should I build next? I'm looking for the best available F-5 E Tiger II in 1/48 scale - got any tips? And also A-4 E in 1/48 - which one to go for?

 

/Fredrik

[Jackman]

46 minutes ago, Fredrikc said:

 

What could be further improved? And what should I build next? I'm looking for the best available F-5 E Tiger II in 1/48 scale - got any tips? And also A-4 E in 1/48 - which one to go for?

 

/Fredrik

 

Best 1/48 F-5E is from AFV Club & best 1/48 Skyhawks are from Hasegawa.

 

Mig-28:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10285490

 

Top Gun Skyhawk:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10242197

 

They do pop-up on E-Bay once in a while.

 

And well done on your Tomcat

[exdraken]

Great work!!!

Next?

Rizher the above , or Iceman's Kittycat...

Alternatively a current Topgum Superhornet.... or, a real MiG?

29 instead of 28?

Edited February 15, 2020 by exdraken

[Fredrikc]

38 minutes ago, Jackman said:

 

Best 1/48 F-5E is from AFV Club & best 1/48 Skyhawks are from Hasegawa.

 

Mig-28:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10285490

 

Top Gun Skyhawk:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10242197

 

They do pop-up on E-Bay once in a while.

 

And well done on your Tomcat

Thank you Jackman!

[Fredrikc]

31 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Great work!!!

Next?

Rizher the above , or Iceman's Kittycat...

Alternatively a current Topgum Superhornet.... or, a real MiG?

29 instead of 28?

I would love to do Iceman's bird! Ill probably do a skyhawk or Tiger inbetween though just to get some variation. What about dioramas? Im thinking about an airfield with some kind of "hollywood" filming crew. 

[At Sea]

3 hours ago, Fredrikc said:

I would love to do Iceman's bird! Ill probably do a skyhawk or Tiger inbetween though just to get some variation. What about dioramas? Im thinking about an airfield with some kind of "hollywood" filming crew. 

The 'Making of TopGun' diorama is a great idea.

 

Loving the way your F-14A looks.

Nice job.

[HOUSTON]

SUPER work so far and TOMCATS are MY all time favorites.

INCREDIBLY  lovely job.

 

[Kev The Modeller]

Cracking build, just love an F-14 

[fewr9fkr9595]

On 15/02/2020 at 15:18, Fredrikc said:

What could be further improved?

 After a quick glance - 

 

A matt coat for the figures uniforms. Look they are wearing flight suits made out of shiny latex. 
 

Inside the exhaust nozzles and tubes needs sooting up. 
 

For the time frame the later sidewinders etc would have been used and be grey instead. Unless you’re specifically matching a loadout from the film?  
 

Apart from that not bad mate, clean build and a good representation of the grubby paintwork. 

The build could have had the later tail fin stiffeners added (aftermarket) but that’s not too obvious unless you’re really boring like me. 

[Fredrikc]

Thanks for all the great feedback! I'll get back with more (daylight) pictures after some work has been done.

 

Has anyone here got a clue of where to get the 1/48 Hasegawa A-4 E (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-07221-a-4e-f-skyhawk--1140031)? It seems to be out of stock everywhere I look. What would be the next best option to that model for Viper and Jesters scooters that is available? I've looked at Italeris A-4 E (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/italeri-2671-a-4-e-f-g-skyhawk--106175) - which is available, but I'm not sure about the quality of that one. Maybe getting the Hasegawa A-4 M (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-07233-a-4m-skyhawk--103405) and convert it to E with aftermarket intakes and tail fin?

 

/Fredrik