Boozer Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 (edited) Howdy all, I am a new member here and just getting back into modeling after a 20 or so year hiatus. I am open to any critique, tips, tricks, etc. Cheers! On the workbench at the moment is the new 1/72 Academy F-14A Tomcat, but I will be building a (D) version as Academy has supplied all the necessary parts for almost any version you want to build. I will also be setting this one up for in-flight display. This is not an option OOB and will likely provide some challenges, but should be fun. First up is putting the cockpit together. Nice amount of detail and decided to just use paint rather than the supplied decals for the instruments. Cockpit coming together. As I am building the F-14D I utilized the alternate dash panels provided in the kit. Cockpit assembled into the nose cone. This kit really goes together beautifully with hardly any fuss. Major sub-assemblies completed. Also bought some resin pilots and bang seats as the kit does not come with pilots and this will be displayed as in-flight. Starting to come together. Most seams are non existent. The interior side of the intake trunk will need some cleanup. Now to figure out how to piece the landing gear doors closed. Gear doors in-place. Will need a bit of putty and sanding but came together better than expected considering it wasn't designed this way. Vertical Stabs and various weapon pylons are in place. And this should bring us to current. Weapons loadout - 2x 2000# external tanks, 2x AIM-9M, 3x AIM-54, 2x GBU-12, and Lantirn Pod. That is one plus to the Academy kit, they have supplied so many different parts for displaying almost any Tomcat version you would want. Including various weapons and targeting pods. Thanks for taking a look and as always, I welcome any feedback! Edited May 9, 2020 by Boozer Updated title to reflect additional builds 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 Question: Are the aftermarket seats you're using SJU-17 NACES, or the earlier GRU-7? The double-loop ejection handles above the headrest are only on the GRU-7. The D-model Tomcat only ever had NACES seats, but I've read elsewhere the new Academy kit only provides GRU-7s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 I'm in awe of the instrument panels and console detailing. I'm happy to hear the kit assembles easily too. Thanks for that tidbit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 18 hours ago, CT7567 said: Question: Are the aftermarket seats you're using SJU-17 NACES, or the earlier GRU-7? The double-loop ejection handles above the headrest are only on the GRU-7. The D-model Tomcat only ever had NACES seats, but I've read elsewhere the new Academy kit only provides GRU-7s. Unfortunately yes, the kit only comes with the seat backs for the GRU-7, but has most of the accessory parts for the NACES seats (i.e. seat cushions, top of the headrest, etc.) I am using some aftermarket resin seats with pilots. Here are some pics of what is included with the kit and a few of the seats and pilots that i got painted up. I will be going with the low-vis scheme from the F-14D of VF-2 Bounty Hunters, so painted up the helmets with their stripes and stars. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 Interior of the cockpit is complete so the canopy has been fixed in place. Final prep before paint, filling in a few seams with putty. Canopy masked and ready for paint! First coat of paint, the start of panel lines and mottling with graphite and then a coat of gloss clear... ready for decals. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) Hi, this is the first time that I see the new tool Academy F-14. It looks like a splendid kit. Their old F-14 always bothered me as I thought the nose was too short. This one looks perfect and you re doing a sterling job.\ The Puckin' Dogs paint scheme on the box has always been a favorite of mine and this is the one I will build when I get this kit!!! Keep up the great work. JR Edited May 6, 2020 by jean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Looks NICE!!! I spent a lot of time sanding the nose on the old Academy kit years ago. Will be watching with interest, looks like they gave it a nose job. Did the get rid of those gawd-awful "non stick" decals? Hope so.---John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 40 minutes ago, Johnv said: Looks NICE!!! I spent a lot of time sanding the nose on the old Academy kit years ago. Will be watching with interest, looks like they gave it a nose job. Did the get rid of those gawd-awful "non stick" decals? Hope so.---John Appreciate the kind words. The kit really goes together just beautifully and yes, the new decals are from Cartograf and are very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 i like how the windshield is designed with part of the nose attached. Looks good already. Now i want to get rid of the four old unbuilt ones I have. Does it come with the long beaver tail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 37 minutes ago, busnproplinerfan said: i like how the windshield is designed with part of the nose attached. Looks good already. Now i want to get rid of the four old unbuilt ones I have. Does it come with the long beaver tail? It comes with two options for the beaver tail. The F-14A which just has the fuel dump and the revised tail that has the ECM antennae and fuel dump (which i believe was used on A/B/D models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 (edited) A bit more progress over the past couple days. Got the decals on the main body applied. The decals are aftermarket as I have always loved the low-vis schemes from VF-2 Bounty Hunters, but, the decals were quite hard to work with and not too happy with the color of the light grey stripe, it appears to have too much blue in it. I still love the scheme and the decals came with the "Beat Army" that VF-2 painted on, along with "Go Navy", for a two ship flyby with a special message for the Army Navy football game while they were on deployment supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and Southern Watch. Onto the pics... Edited May 6, 2020 by Boozer 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busnproplinerfan Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 16 minutes ago, Boozer said: It comes with two options for the beaver tail. The F-14A which just has the fuel dump and the revised tail that has the ECM antennae and fuel dump (which i believe was used on A/B/D models. Thanks, I want to make the earliest ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 Decals are on, armament is on, and gloss coated to seal it all in. Just have a bit more weathering to do over the decals and then flat coat... almost there! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 Flat Coat applied, final assembly, and canopy masking removed! This model will get mounted in tandem with an F/A-18F from VF-2 as well (currently being shipped). Here are some pics! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 The F/A-18F model showed up today! This will be built and mounted in-flight with the F-14D. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaminCam Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Love this, great job! have been waiting for mine to turn up for nearly two months, really excited to get my hands on it now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 Are these decals from Twobobs, Printscale, or some other source? I can see your concern with the shades of the "Langley stripe," but TPS colors are usually tough to depict between actual FS colors, weathering, and "scale effect." One other note: I see you've added a pair of AIM-54s on the rear pallets with Paveways (GBU-12?) forward. Was this based on any references? I've read elsewhere that there were issues with balance/CG when the aft pallets retained a load landing back on the carrier, and even at the start of OIF/OEF three AIM-54s seems like a heavy air-to-air load for what would have been primarily strike missions. Very nice job, I'm looking forward to picking up one or several of these kits myself sometime soon ☺ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 8, 2020 Author Share Posted May 8, 2020 11 minutes ago, CT7567 said: Are these decals from Twobobs, Printscale, or some other source? I can see your concern with the shades of the "Langley stripe," but TPS colors are usually tough to depict between actual FS colors, weathering, and "scale effect." One other note: I see you've added a pair of AIM-54s on the rear pallets with Paveways (GBU-12?) forward. Was this based on any references? I've read elsewhere that there were issues with balance/CG when the aft pallets retained a load landing back on the carrier, and even at the start of OIF/OEF three AIM-54s seems like a heavy air-to-air load for what would have been primarily strike missions. Very nice job, I'm looking forward to picking up one or several of these kits myself sometime soon ☺ Appreciate the feedback. The decals were Printscale. No idea if they are typically good or not as I’m just getting into this world. And I agree with you about the rear AIM-54’s it is definitely too heavy of a load to land back on the carrier and I haven’t found any photos depicting it, but I like to take a few creative liberties on my models for things I like to see. And I just enjoy seeing a full loadout. Thanks for the kind words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I like the loadout on the model. Definitely different compared to what we normally see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Quick work, and looking great! These kits look to be very nicely done. Which is good, as I have a couple sitting in my stash 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 13 hours ago, billn53 said: Quick work, and looking great! These kits look to be very nicely done. Which is good, as I have a couple sitting in my stash 😉 Appreciate it. The kit was really a joy to put together, especially for the price. The fact that you can build almost any variant of the F-14 is a huge plus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boozer Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Finally got a chance to start on the Rhino... Cockpit started, combination of paint and decals. Major assembly is complete. Had to piece the gear doors together as "in-flight" was not an option oob. A few areas required a bit of filler as well. Loadout has been selected! 2x AIM-9X, 2x AIM-120, 2x AIM-154 JSOW, 2x GBU-31 JDAM, 1x FLIR, 1x Centerline Tank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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