F-14D Vandy 1 VX-9, 1/72 Academy

[Pablito]

Hello

 

A few weeks ago I've started to work on the excelent kit of the F-14 Tomcat in 1/72 scale from Academy. On the box there is an A version of the Tomcat but the box includes all the parts to biuld the B or D version (except the complete SJU-17 ejection seat). 

As in the title, I will try to biuld the D version, exactly the black Vandy 1 from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 9 (VX-9) called "The Vampires".

Traditionally I've started the work with the cockpit. The details of the kit are great but I added some aftermarket parts like the control column, ejection seats and HUD parts from the Aires detail set. I've also made the canvas covers from paper tissue  So this is what I have pulled together

 

[phildagreek]

I built this a little while ago straight from the box, it’s a nice kit but my ‘pit didn’t look as good as yours!

[Billy54]

I like what you have done with the cockpit, it looks very good. I have this kit in the stash and plan on building it next year so I will be following this with interest.

[Hook]

Nice progress in the pit! Which decals will you use?

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Pablito]

4 hours ago, Hook said:

Nice progress in the pit! Which decals will you use?

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Andre, I will use the set from Myk Design

 

[Hook]

Looks like a nice set! I have Hase's F-14D boxing with these markings in the stash:

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-k118-f-14d-super-tomcat-vandy-1--227184

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[gota]

Nice start! I see you dressed up the IP coamings, you should check right now that they still fit inside the clear parts, the fit is tight and you probably don't want to find out at the end of your build

 

Also, you should have fun with the MYK decals, they're actually similar to HGW wet transfers and great quality.

[Booty003]

Wow, what a great start you have made.  Superb mate.

[Jon020]

One to watch with interest. A fab scheme and one I may do at some point. I've yet to get my hands on the academy kit, but by all accounts it looks quite nice. Good luck with the build and will follow avidly.

J

[Pablito]

Hello

I'm slowly moving forward with the build. To close the fuselage I had to deal with the air intakes, for this I've used Quickboost  seamless intakes:

 

 

The next step was to put together the front part of the fuselage with the cockpit, this kit is like bricks so every part fitted great!

I was too hurry with the reinforcement of the RIO step because later i found out that Vandy didn't had it...

 

 

 

To glue together the fuselage, the front wheel bay had to be done also:

 

 

I had made a few more smaller steps like sand the upper air exhaust to make them thinner, and drilled out the rear fuel dump pipe:

 

 

Work is going on...

[Pablito]

Welcome after a longer break

 

I've manage to put together the whole fuselage into one part. I had to remove the reinforcement of the RIO's step because Vandy 1 didn't had it.

I drilled some small ventilation slots in some places around the fuselage  The last step was to spray grey Mr.finishing surfacer 1500 on the kit.

 

See You next time

 

[Jon020]

Looks superb. Looks like we're also almost at the same stages in our builds. 

[Pablito]

Welcome after a longer break

 

Finally I could go on with the paint job! This week I finished the base layer. The base colour is FS 17038 from Billmodel, the nose is painted in Gunze H2 Gloss Black, and finally the anti reflective panel in front of the canopy is Tamiya Tire Black. Shading, paint wear will be made with oil paints, washes and acrylic penciles. I'm also working on the landing gear struts:

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

[Hook]

Lovely work!

[Gidge]

Loving your work. I've been contemplating a similar scheme for my next build. Am keen to see how this one turns out

[Gremlin]

nice project!!!, well done

 

cheers

[Pablito]

Hello again

 

I've worked a little bit on Vandy and now, He can stand on His own feet

 

 

I'm afraid that I should have used a darker wash for the panel lines and I will have to work now with a darker tone 😕

[gota]

Nice work so far, and I agree with you on the wash. I like the antiglare and antigrip zones though, looking good.

 

If you haven't applied a gloss varnish yet, I think you should try to remove the decal film on your markings. MYK "ASU-DECA" decals are like transfers in that regard. Maybe do a test with a spare decal first.

Edited May 27, 2021 by gota

[Pablito]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm coming back to Vandy 1, this time I will try to finish this topic soon. I've made some few small steps ahead:

 

1. I felt that I have used overbright wash for the panel lines. So i took Ammo Mig Black Night panelliner and made them darker, I think that now they look much more realistic than before.

2. I've painted the front canopy glass with highly thinned mixture of blue and purple.

3. The fuel tanks and the horizontal stabilizers are glued to the fuselage.

 

That's all for today

 

 

[Hook]

That does look good - thanks for the update!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Robert]

Can you tell me which seats you used please.

 

Regards

Robert

[Hoops]

Great work so far, I'm looking forward to the next update!

 

That kit looks really nice, I'll have to add one to my stash!

 

Cheers,

Hoops

[Pablito]

 

Thank You all!  

 

5 hours ago, Robert said:

Can you tell me which seats you used please.

 

Regards

Robert

Robert, I used resin seats from Aires

Edited September 5, 2021 by Pablito

[npirnia]

11 hours ago, Pablito said:

Hello everyone!

 

I'm coming back to Vandy 1, this time I will try to finish this topic soon. I've made some few small steps ahead:

 

1. I felt that I have used overbright wash for the panel lines. So i took Ammo Mig Black Night panelliner and made them darker, I think that now they look much more realistic than before.

2. I've painted the front canopy glass with highly thinned mixture of blue and purple.

3. The fuel tanks and the horizontal stabilizers are glued to the fuselage.

 

That's all for today

 

 

This really looks excellent so far! Bringing life to the Vandy-1 black Tomcats can be tough, but you are nailing it.

 

-Nick

Edited September 5, 2021 by npirnia

[Pablito]

Hello,

 

The construction is getting slowly to the end. This time I've made the exhaust nozzles and made some work with the canopy