Esci 1/72 F-14A 9054 decal options - colors?

[ruudster]

I'm at the stage in my Academy 1/72 F-14A build (a lovely kit) where i need to choose my color scheme.  So i have the SS 72-351, Hasegawa's JFK F-14A sheet, and the Esci 9054 sheet.

 

On the Esci sheet, i do not have the instructions, i am having a hard time finding reference pictures and can't find the instructions online.  I have found one picture of the VF-2 option (NE210) and it seems to be FS 16440?  The VF-103 option, i have not found any pictures of any VF-103 plane from the 80's that has the interior of the arrow filled in.  I also do not know what scheme it might have used.

 

I do really like the VF-143 early TPS scheme.  IIRC Andy Mullen wrote about it but i can no longer find his F-14 page.  The sheet seems to be missing the 110 that goes on the top of the wings, and the stars and bars for the top of the wing seem to be medium blue (which will make them very hard to see...).

 

I like the VF-14 JFK decals as well.  The instructions have you paint the whole plane FS 36320 (dark ghost gray) but the pictures i have found do show a very faded TPS scheme.  Strangely, the medium gray has hardly any blueish to it and is barely darker than the side color (faded 36320).

 

Any guidance or directions to where info can be found would be great!  Thank you.

[Giorgio N]

You have already found the right colour for the VF-2 aircraft, this scheme was in overall FS 36440.

The VF-103 aircraft was in standard TPS, FS 35237, 36320 and 36375. The style of arrow in the Esci kit is correct for a short period in the '80s but I'm not convinced by the colours used to print the decals (I have that kit in the stash).

Which aircraft is represented in the Hasegawa sheet? I can look for it if you can give me a serial number and a timeframe

[ruudster]

Thanks Giorgio.

The VF-14 is AC112 that can be seen a few times about 1/2 down on this page:  http://www.seaforces.org/usnair/VF/Fighter-Squadron-14.htm

The Hasegawa sheet only gives the serial numbers for AC100 and AC201 (both all 36440 schemes in high viz).

 

The VF-143 is this scheme: https://www.facebook.com/cvw19752015/photos/when-the-tactical-paint-scheme-tps-was-still-just-an-ideaan-extract-from-the-pag/473905989698401/ but then AG110

[iainpeden]

2 hours ago, ruudster said:

I'm at the stage in my Academy 1/72 F-14A build (a lovely kit) where i need to choose my color scheme.  So i have the SS 72-351, Hasegawa's JFK F-14A sheet, and the Esci 9054 sheet.

 

 

Any guidance or directions to where info can be found would be great!  Thank you.

Be very, very careful about planning to use the Esci sheet. They are very old and have a tendency to fall apart  if "water" is mentioned in their hearing. They will certainly need a coat of decal film, or two, and do then try to use something you don't need for the actual a/c being modelled as a test piece.

[ruudster]

2 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Which aircraft is represented in the Hasegawa sheet? I can look for it if you can give me a serial number and a timeframe

AC112 is listed as 159595 in the 1988 Koku-Fan F-14 Tomcat issue.  Here is a picture of it after the cruise (?) https://www.airfighters.com/photo_400_79625.jpg

The pictures on the Seaforces website are from the 1986 time period.

[Giorgio N]

1 hour ago, ruudster said:

AC112 is listed as 159595 in the 1988 Koku-Fan F-14 Tomcat issue.  Here is a picture of it after the cruise (?) https://www.airfighters.com/photo_400_79625.jpg

The pictures on the Seaforces website are from the 1986 time period.

 

She looks in standard TPS, although there are a lot of touch-ups visible in that picture, typical of an aircraft at the end of a cruise

[Billy54]

I'm not trying to muddy the waters here but depending on what part you used for the "gun gas purge vent" may determine your finished scheme. If you used part A10 (per the instruction sheet on page 2) then you aircraft may have to be finished in BuNo 159588 or earlier. Unless of course you have photo documentation to the contrary.

 

There were 3 different "gun purge vents" used on Tomcats and the Academy kit does include the other two, parts A9 and A11 (possibly for future releases?) Part A9 was retrofitted on some earlier Tomcats 

 

 

[Giorgio N]

I had left the VF-143 aircraft for last as I was sure I had a couple of pictures of these early TPS painted Tomcats... none of AG-110 unfortunately but a couple of AG-107 and one of AG-111 around the same time.

Both are in an unusual pattern, for example the outer surfaces of the two tails look in 35237 rather than the 36320 of the final scheme... or maybe the 36320 used came very dark for some reason. The way the colours are distrubuted on the radome is also different. Lower surfaces may be in the lighter FS 36495 on AG-111, consistent with the very early drawings of this scheme, while they look in the final 36375 on AG-107... but it's not easy to tell colours on the undersurfaces in general.

Some of the markings on the darker surfaces seem to be in 36495, looking almost white in pictures. Others don't look so light.

Unfortunately I only have one B/W picture of AG-110 as represented in the Superscale sheet. The contrast of the various markings doesn't look as sharp as in the previous aircraft, so it's likely that this used 36375 for these and likely this was also the colour on the undersurfaces. The scheme looks quite standard.

The national insignia on the top of the wing should be contrasting, but I can't see how this can happen if the sheet supplies 4 insignia that are identical in colour... I did use this sheet many years ago and I remember replacing the insignia with spare decals from the Italeri kit. And yes, the "110" for the upper surfaces are missing...

[ruudster]

Thanks Giorgio.  The Detail and Scale F-14 Colors and Marking vol 2 (Atlantic Squadrons) has a B&W picture of AG110 and a B&W and color picture of AG107.  The tail really looks like 35237 and the bottom color has more contrast than i'm used to seeing between 36320 and 36375.

 

The VF-143 was my first choice, but the missing 110 on the wings has thrown me away from it.  The Facebook picture up above is in color and you do not have to be on FB to see it.  I also have found one picture (in color) of AG110 sitting on the tarmac after the cruise (it has the pilot/WSO names on the canopy rail and is very worn).

[ruudster]

This:

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-photo-vf103-26.htm

looks like the Esci VF-103 Sluggers scheme.