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Tamiya 1/48 F-14A


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Just getting started on my next project. Having done exclusively WWII subjects for the past several years, I thought I'd try out a well-regarded kit of the plane that got me interested in aviation in the first place (via Top Gun, naturally). The kit is usual top grade from Tamiya, and the office goes together with their usual puzzle like engineering and fit. Here it is, finished up for now, still awaiting seats and crew.

I think a little modification is in order, because I've decided I'll be building this bird wheels up. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see if my idea for an in flight display comes to fruition...

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3 hours ago, daryl_five_zero said:

I feel the need... 

 

Serioisly though, you're gonna love this kit. I built their - D model tail end of last year and loved every minute of it. 

 

Can never have too many big Cats. Have you decided on a livery for it yet? 

I think I'm going to go with the classic standby, VF-84 Jolly Rogers. How are the kit included decals? Should I spring for aftermarket? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's been a while, but a few progress pics. 

 

Tamiya do not want you to build this kit with wheels up! I had to build some structure up to support the closed gear bay doors

 

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Tried a new technique for dealing with seams: shaved off some slivers of sprue and melted them into the seam with Tamiya extra thin. Went great - no sign of a seam after sanding. 

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White primer followed by a little preshading in Ocean Grey and rust colors, then a thin blending coat of insignia white on top. I'm using all Mission Models paints for this build, and their insignia white is really like a cream color. Didn't care for the way it looked so went back over it with white, which covered almost all of my preshading.

 

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In the meantime, I've also built and painted the ejection seats and assembled drop tanks, pylons, and missiles. Pictures of those forthcoming, along with my planned device for displaying in air... 

Edited by Bstarr3
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Very lovely so far! I really like the subtle preshading visible through the paint! Much better than my own over black basing! Well done!

 

Also, great idea "shaved" sprue. I usually go with stretched sprue, but I'm definitely going to try your technique. Sounds promising!

 

Keep up the good with with this one, I'm following with interest! :)

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2 hours ago, nasosrr said:

Very lovely so far! I really like the subtle preshading visible through the paint! Much better than my own over black basing! Well done!

 

Also, great idea "shaved" sprue. I usually go with stretched sprue, but I'm definitely going to try your technique. Sounds promising!

 

Keep up the good with with this one, I'm following with interest! :)

Cheers! 

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Construction completed, and the simple paint job done, now it's on to a lot...

 

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And a lot...

 

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...and a LOT of masking.  I would advise anyone doing this kit of two things: 1) the fit of the nose to the main fuselage is so good that it can be done after painting. This saves a lot of masking if you paint the parts separately. 2) the wings can be left off and painted separately as well. However, if you aren't careful with your gluing, they'll get stuck on and you'll have more masking work to do.  Ask me how I know.

 

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Now a little more insight into how I plan to do my display.  I got some 10mm clear acrylic rod.  I tried heating it with a hair drier to bend a curve into it, but I'm obviously going to have to use a heat gun.  I secured this styrene tube inside the exhausts, which is a loose press fit for the acrylic rod. 

 

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Painting on the exhausts. I used Vallejo Metal Colour and Mission Models metalics, along with a little Tamiya clear blue and red, and then a heavy coat of Tamiya smoke.

 

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Black basing for the light gull gray. Started with Stynylrez black, and marble coated with Mission Models light gull grey.

 

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To add to the tonal variation, hit a few panels with white, a couple of areas with dark rust, and also spatter sprayed some white all over. I did this by thinning the pain less and holding the airbrush farther away with high air pressure.

 

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Blended with multiple very thin coats of light gull gray.  All paints Mission Models brand.  Next will be to spray black for the vertical stabilizers and around the canopy, and aluminum at leading edges. Probably will do a little post shading before removing all the masking. 

 

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Edited by Bstarr3
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