Revell Top Gun Movie Set - Maverick's F-14A Tomcat & F/A-18 Hornet 1/72 Revell (05677)

[Julien]

Top Gun Movie Set - Maverick's F-14A Tomcat & F/A-18 Hornet

1/72 Revell (05677)

 

 

The Tomcat was a much-loved and capable aircraft that had a unique look, and was brought fully into the mainstream media by the original "Top Gun" in the 1980s. It has its origins in the late 50s and a need in the 60s for a replacement to the (also much loved) Phantoms with something more agile and adaptable. After much faffing about (does all defence procurement do this?), a Grumman proposal was picked for development and to avoid any further flip-flopping by the then US Defence Secretary, building of a prototype was ditched in favour of development airframes. Only four years after first flight, the F-14A Tomcat went on its first deployment in 1974, serving with the US Navy until it was retired in 2006, accompanied by much gnashing of teeth and name-calling of its replacement, the F-18, which took some time to abate. 

 

The Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet is the second generation F/A-18 following on the the F/A-18C. The F/A-18E was developed from the original Hornet and while it may look alike its very much a new aircraft which is 25% bigger. The US Navy managed to keep the F/A-18 designation partly to make the US Congress believe it would be a low risk development from the original aircraft (not the first time in US Aviation this has happened). The new aircraft was ordered in 1992 with a first flight in 1995. The aircraft introduced a new era in electronics including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, bigger displays and a helmet mounted sighting system. To date the Super Hornet has replaced the legacy Hornet in all US Navy operations apart from the USN Aerobatic Team The Blue Angels, and even they will have transitioned by 2021. As well as the E model there is the two seat F model, and the latest development the G or "Growler" Electronic Warfare Aircraft. 

 

The new top gun film has unfortunately been a victim of the Covid with the release date being put back again but Revell have released various models in a tie in with the studio. Here we get to see how our favourite US Navy fighter Pilot is doing. Fans will be glad to know he is still in the Navy and not reduced to flying plane loads of rubber dog  out of Hong Kong. Though with his record we are not shocked to see he has not climbed very far up the USN promotion ladder.  He now has to train young pilots which remind him of himself for a new dangerous mission *yada yada yada". Que all the same stuff from the original with some equally good, if not better? flight scenes. Though unfortunately this time the rather excellent Grumman Tomcat (we miss you!) has been replaced by the new Boing Super Borenet. It seems to have now replaced everything in the USN  The reviewer makes no apology for his fondness of the Mighty Tomcat, and derision at its replacement *(this may not necessarily reflect the views of Birtmodeller.com and its owner)  There have been 1.48 ones and Snaptite one, now we have 1/72.  It would seem overall that the 1/72 modeller has come out of the lottery on re-issued kits the best which must be a result of it being the one true scale  

 

 

The F-14

Here Revell have re-boxed their 1999 kit. The only issue with this is its a D model F-14. The tooling is nice with plenty of details in the cockpit and wheel bays, all panel lines are recessed. A full weapons fit including recon pods are included in the kit. Construction actually starts with the main fuselage part, and the intakes, however this step just involves opening up some holes that are needed.  We when move into the cockpit so dont fret. The four part seats are built up and installed into the cockpit tub. The instrument panels and control columns go it. The instrument panels and side console details are provided as decals. The cockpit then sits on top of the front wheel bay, and all of this is closed up into the front fuselage parts. The front coming then goes on and a part goes behind the rear seat. On the underside a fuselage insert goes in as well.

 

 

 

Now we turn our attention to the wings. The left and right main wings are assembled these are of conventional upper / lower construction. These are put to one side and the full length intakes are then constructed and added into the fuselage, the wings can now be added in on their pivot points, this completes the mid fuselage section.  The rear fuselage parts can then be assembled; once done all three fuselage sections can be joined. At the rear then the exhausts can be assembled and added in.  Continuing at the rear the tail planes, vertical fins, under fuselage strakes, and the arrestor hook all go on. We now flip back to the front of the aircraft with the cannon insert and chin pod going on. The front landing gear and gear bay doors go on; these being followed by the mains. Last up the canopy goes on.  6 Phoenix, 2 Sparrows and 2 Sidewinders are included in the kit. 

 

 

 

 

The F-18

Here Revell have re-boxed their 2009 new tool kit. This kit features quite restrained recessed panel lines Assembly starts with the cockpits. There some surface detail to the panels, so you have the option to sand this off and apply the decals supplied or paint it. The ejection seats come in 3 parts and have moulded in seatbelts and side framework. With the pit assembled and placed into the lower fuselage, effort is turned towards the intakes.  they are nicely shaped and backed by the engine compressor rather than being void. With the cockpit and intakes fitted to the lower fuselage, the top half is then attached followed by the nose cone.  The tail panes are connected through the rear fuselage so they can be adjusted to suit the angle you desire. The wings inboard of the wing fold are moulded integral to the fuselage with the outer sections being attached separately, unfortunately they cant be fitted in the folded configuration without some work by yourself. Also the flaps and moveable surfaces (other than the tailplanes) are fixed, so again, there is no option to show them in the parked drooped state.

 

 

 

 

Moving on to the exhausts and undercarriage. The exhausts are adequate. The plastic is rather thick so Id be tempted to thin the plastic out to give it a more accurate scale thickness. The undercarriage has plenty of detail and a wash will really bring this out after painting. Construction finishes with fitment the clear parts, various antennas, aerials and boarding ladder which adds a great visual to the displayed kit. The canopy and windscreen are very refined free from distortion. The HUD is rather thick and you may want to replace this with a piece of thin acetate.

 

 

One of the great features about Revell kits in general is the abundance of ordnance that they include in their kits and this one follows suit. Due to this boxing and the aircraft only shwn with tanks some of the aramamnets in other boxings are not here, However he following is included in the kit:

 

• Aim-9x Sidewinder x2
• AIM 120C AMRAAM x2
• Mk83 Iron Bomb x2
• Wing tanks x2
• Centreline tank
• BLU-109 x 2
• AN/ASQ-228 Advanced FLIR pod

 

 

Markings

The single decal sheet for both kits contains markings for the film aircraft. These are by Cartograf so there should be no issues there.

 

 

Conclusion

If you really want some models from the film. Then these are them. Otherwise its a good opportunity to pick up a couple of the newer tool aircraft from Revell not seen for a while.

 

 

 

 

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit

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[cf18hornet]

Because I want to build a Super Bug from the movie I wanted to first check out some reviews of the kit itself. I couldn't help but notice something very wrong with the insignia decals. What is going on with the national insignias for both Super Hornet and F-14?? Why did they design them like this because the are completely incorrect? I also noticed a lack of bureau numbers for both jets as well. There may also be other issues with the decals upon further investigation but that's for another time.

 

Mark

[Julien]

10 hours ago, cf18hornet said:

Because I want to build a Super Bug from the movie I wanted to first check out some reviews of the kit itself. I couldn't help but notice something very wrong with the insignia decals. What is going on with the national insignias for both Super Hornet and F-14?? Why did they design them like this because the are completely incorrect? I also noticed a lack of bureau numbers for both jets as well. There may also be other issues with the decals upon further investigation but that's for another time.

 

Mark

The decals are for the movie jet, thats how they are in the movie? who knows the movie is not out yet and who knows what the CGI looks like. As the insignia are like this in all the brands model kits for the movie I would say this is how Paramount want them to look as all of the different brands woulld not make the same mistake. When you say they are "wrong" you seem to be confusing real life with a movie.

[cf18hornet]

3 hours ago, Julien said:

The decals are for the movie jet, thats how they are in the movie? who knows the movie is not out yet and who knows what the CGI looks like. As the insignia are like this in all the brands model kits for the movie I would say this is how Paramount want them to look as all of the different brands woulld not make the same mistake. When you say they are "wrong" you seem to be confusing real life with a movie.

I’m not confusing real life with the movie at all. I’ve watched all the trailers for the movie and the national insignias from the movie clips haven’t been altered whatsoever from real life aircraft. I couldn’t find a single visual reference from the trailers that showed anything like the insignia designs on the decal sheet. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by cf18hornet

[Julien]

Well all the kits have them this way, so it must be what Paramount supplied to the model companies.

[Mike]

3 minutes ago, cf18hornet said:

I’ve watched all the trailers for the movie and the national insignias from the movie clips haven’t been altered whatsoever from real life aircraft.

Trailers don't necessarily represent what's in the film at all.  One that comes readily to mind was Star Wars: Rogue One.  There was a LOT of footage in there that didn't even make it into the movie.  Also, if all the model companies with licenses are doing the same markings, they've been given it from a central source, aka the people making the film.  You can't really rant on about the companies getting it wrong when they've been given information that may or may not yet prove to be incorrect.  At the end of the day the kits aren't really aimed at the "serious" or "obsessive" modeller.  They're aimed at kids, so getting your pants in a bunch over it is only going to raise your blood pressure and irritate those around you

[cf18hornet]

12 minutes ago, Mike said:

Trailers don't necessarily represent what's in the film at all.  One that comes readily to mind was Star Wars: Rogue One.  There was a LOT of footage in there that didn't even make it into the movie.  Also, if all the model companies with licenses are doing the same markings, they've been given it from a central source, aka the people making the film.  You can't really rant on about the companies getting it wrong when they've been given information that may or may not yet prove to be incorrect.  At the end of the day the kits aren't really aimed at the "serious" or "obsessive" modeller.  They're aimed at kids, so getting your pants in a bunch over it is only going to raise your blood pressure and irritate those around you

Trust me. I never got my pants in a bunch over it. I was just simply asking questions hoping maybe someone had reasoning into why they are different. For me it’s an easy fix as I’ll just use correct insignias from the spares box to represent what the real aircraft look liked during filming. I just thought it was strange that the decals would be altered. We’ll just have to wait and see when the movie is officially released. Cheers. 

Edited January 30, 2021 by cf18hornet