A Persian cat... (IRIAF F-14A Tomcat, Tamiya #61114 1:48)

[nasosrr]

This must have been the longest wait between the completion of a build and the photo shooting of the completed model.  I beg for your forgiveness.

 

Warning: I am horrible at taking pictures and my setup for photographing my models is totally primitive and using my mobile phone as a camera doesn't exactly make things better. But I tried a bit with photoshop, so the photos are somewhat presentable.

 

Once again, I want to thank all the fellow modellers who helped me with their feedback during the build and especially Alex ( @bushande ) for the amazing material he shared with me. And the inspiration of course, for a future project!

Ok, enough talk. Here are the photos:

 

 

 

Btw, the very strange and ugly transition between the brown and green at some parts of the model is something that my mobile phone did. It really DOESN'T look like that on the model.

 

The whole build is here:

 

 

Thank you all.

 

Edit: Have added new, hopefully better photos at a later post further down the thread.

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by nasosrr

[Pete in a shed]

Great job, the colour scheme and panel lining is beautifully executed. Nice touch with the helmets!

Cheers

Pete

[SAT69]

What a beautiful clean Tomcat. The overall paint work is splendid; the detail work equally so. I can sit and look at these pictures for some time. 

[jimmyg352]

That looks cracking! Well done !

[Matthew1974]

Very sharp looking Tomcat!  I think they look great in Iranian markings!  Well done!

[DrumBum]

Very nice build and what a weapons load the old "A" could carry. 

[RMCS]

Superb 

[exdraken]

Very nice model!

Is that pre- revolution or post?

Brilliant canopy!

[Vultures1]

That's a lovely looking Tomcat! Superb job on the paint work

[Barzin]

A very special TOMCAT! 🎖🎖
looks great in it’s Iranian dress😍😍

[phildagreek]

I like it, good to see one that isn’t shades of grey.

[Tim R-T-C]

Lovely work, the helmet and red tassel details really finish it off perfectly.

 

Funny I've just opened BM after reading the Osprey book on Iranian Tomcats and this was the first post I saw.

[the MDman]

Excellent job on that Persian Cat m8! And a clean build for a change. Very nice job on the panel lines too.

[TEXANTOMCAT]

Lovely work - great and rarely seen scheme beautifully executed !

 

TT

[Shorty84]

Wow, your Tomcat looks splendid  Your photos aren't bad, they look much better than mine for sure. The F-14 always looks great in Iranian colours and kudos to Tamiya for including this marking option.

On 9/22/2020 at 7:18 PM, exdraken said:

Is that pre- revolution or post?

Must be post revolution as it says IRIAF on the fuselage.

 

Cheers

Markus

[Josh G]

the model and photos are fantastic; did you use the Hi-Decal line set?

[kapam]

Looks awesome!

Fun to see a non-USN Tomcat from time to time - loving the camo.

[nasosrr]

Wow, thank you ALL so much for your amazing responses. I truly appreciate it and it makes me extremely glad that you like my model. Truly, truly appreciate it, thank you!!!

 

@Pete in a shed

Thanks Pete! I often find that my models are lacking "life" a bit, which is why I like to add an extra touch. The helmets give me the illusion that "something is about to happen there", you know.

Tamiya includes decals for the USN helmets, but unfortunately none for the IRIAF version. It might as well be so that the Iranians didn't decorate their helmets, I have no idea. But I took the liberty and printed 3 decals for each helmet, because I thought that the plain white was a bit boring. If you look too close, it actually looks a bit "pixely" because it was my first attempt with "home-baked" decals. But for the scale and size of them, I think it works just fine.

 

@SAT69

Thanks mate, I really took my time with this model, didn't rush things near the end (which I usually do, I tend to get a bit restless) and I'm pretty satisfied with the final result, which also isn't often the case with my models. Haha.

 

@jimmyg352

Thank you Jimmy, I'm glad you like it. Appreciate your comment.

 

@Matthew1974

Thank you so much Matthew. I love colourful planes and a bit unusual camouflage schemes. There are lots of aircraft out there with splendid colours, but Tomcats aren't among these. Thankfully we modellers can thank the US-diplomacy of the past for these brilliant markings and colour schemes on the Cat. I have another -A in the stash which is going to be painted in the blue-grey scheme. In due time.

 

@DrumBum

Thanks man! There are some more photos for you at the end of this post.

 

@RMCS

Thank you m8. Glad you like it!

 

@exdraken

Thanks buddy!

Indeed, just like @Shorty84 writes, I too think it's post-revolution. But I am really not good at these things, I don't do my homework prior to building a model (which I probably should start doing), I pretty much just dig in and start building. But yes, judging by the initials, it must be post-.

The canopy now..... Just between us (hope no one else is looking, haha), is horrible. Canopies are one of my weaknesses. For some strange reason, the masking tape always, like ALWAYS leaves marks on them. Bathing them in future improves the situation, but if you look closely you'll actually see that it's a hopeless canopy. If I weren't that lazy, I'd consider repainting it.

 

@Vultures1

Thanks pal. Very glad you like it. It's a special colour scheme, one wants to do it justice. I am very pleased it turned out like this.

 

@Barzin

Thanks mate! I know, right? She's so much more striking in these colours compared to the greyish schemes of the USN.

 

@phildagreek

Hehe, thanks man! Totally agree with you. Great nick btw, do we originate from the same country?

 

@Tim R-T-C

Cheers Tim. Thanks a lot for your comments. I've drawn inspiration from the same book, there are some lovely photos in there.

 

@the MDman

Cheers man! Yeah, I tried to make it a bit more battered but I realised soon enough that I was going to destroy it instead. So I took the safe path and went easy on it. It's an expensive model that had already then taken quite a few hours on the bench. It would have made me very disappointed if it had ended up in the trash. The panel lines was pretty much all I allowed myself to do in terms of weathering. Plus a very tiny little bit of fading with the airbrush.

 

@TEXANTOMCAT

Hehehe, positive comments from a modeller with your nickname is like a badge for me mate. Thanks a lot.

 

@Shorty84

Thank you Markus, very glad you like it and thank you for the info about the pre- or post-revolution version. I admit I am totally useless when it comes to these things.

Indeed, it was very nice of Tamiya to include this version and speaking of Tamiya, I really can't speak highly enough of this kit, building it is really a very pleasant experience.

Btw, you'll find some more photos at the end of this post, I believe they look a bit better now.

 

@Josh G

Thanks for your comments man, both about the model and the photos. I believe I've taken a few better ones now. Check at the end of this post if you want. Unfortunately I can't answer your question. What is the Hi-Decal line set? But I guess if I don't know what it is, I probably didn't use it. Is it something I should look at in the future perhaps?

 

@kapam

Cheers mate! I love a colourful cat! And there's another one coming soon, a blue-grey one. Iranian as well.

_________________________

 

Ok, this was a long post, but totally worth it. You're all amazing!

 

A friend of mine mentioned the other day that photos of the underside of an a/c model often speak the naked truth about whether a modeller has done a careful job or has rushed things. Having this principle in mind too, I did try my best with the undersides too, although to be honest, there are some weaknesses to find down there. But since I've never tried to hide my failures, I decided to show some more photos. And with them, the payload that this beautiful cat is carrying.

 

So... enjoy.

And these should be the final photos of this model. Now all I need to do is find a proper display case that doesn't allow ANY dust in, unlike the IKEA display where it currently resides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by nasosrr
Corrected the links

[exdraken]

Fantastic!

If you have residue from masking, I learned here that WD40 or similar on a cotton bud wotk like wonders.... 

[Shorty84]

Hi @nasosrr,

 

great new pics, thanks for adding them. Well, there is nothing wrong with just building away, in the end this was my most productive time in my youth when I just sat down and build the kit without any research

Just in case you are interested, the Tomcat you built (3-6079) was the last F-14 delivered to Iran before the revolution (3-6080 was held back in the USA for testing purposes) and was immediately put into storage. Only in Sept.1980 it went into service because of the Iran-Iraq war, still with its pre-revolution markings (IIAF titles and no national flag), shooting down at least a MiG-21 and a MiG-23.

So your machine definitely shows a post-revolution machine.

 

Cheers

Markus

[Matthew1974]

Can't wait to see your Tomcat in the blue/gray camouflage!  Those are very pretty!

[nasosrr]

Thanks again guys.

 

Markus, your info is precious, just as Alex's has been in this post over here: 

 

The problem here is me, who doesn't remember what I read longer than what I need to solve my immediate issue. When I read your post I remembered Alex's reply as well, which I of course have thanked him for but I clearly didn't remember enough in order to know that the a/c i built was post-rev when the question was asked. Luckily for me, I have copied all your answers in a word document and will use them as reference in the future.

I'm not stupid, I promise. I just need to defragment my brain a bit.

Edited September 27, 2020 by nasosrr

[bushande]

What a gorgeous rendition for sure! I love the paintjob and the nice presentation. Truly a beautiful eyecatcher on the shelf. Cudos and respect to your modelling work.

It does indeed spur my ambition to eventually start a Persian Cat myself.

 

I truly enjoeyed that roll out thread and spent quite some time watching your nice shots of this great model.

[Team Aer Lingus]

That's a real beauty stunning finish well done 

 

thanks for sharing

 

regards

 

Eamon