1/48 F-14B BuNo 163225, VF-102 'Diamondbacks', OEF, 2002. Finished 14/01.

[DaveJL]

Double post.

[Col.]

Tidy work so far Dave.

[DaveJL]

Thanks Col! The kit is a joy to build. Think I’ve said it in a previous build, but pity Tamiya wouldn’t tool every fast jet possible

[DaveJL]

A bit more done this afternoon. Firstly all the intake parts were sprayed and assembled. The intake trunks just need masked off and the forward parts sprayed Dark Ghost Grey:

 

 

The wing assembly was next:

 

 

I was then able to close up the fuselage and add the 'beaver tail', the AN/ALR warning receiver at the leading edge of of the intake fairing, intake ramps and arrestor hook housing. The fit is so good you're almost offended when you need to use glue.

 

 

The intake ramps up to the actuator will be grey also. Finally, the wing glove pylons were assembled and the BRU-32 bomb racks fitted into the Phoenix pallets.

 

 

Hoping to get the necessary parts of the intakes sprayed grey and fitted over the weekend.

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

[Ale85]

I've planned the same sbject for a next future. So, i will follow your wip wiht a loooooot of interest

 

[Jabba]

As normal with the Tamiya Tomcat coming along at a great pace.

[Col.]

On 11/29/2021 at 10:31 PM, DaveJL said:

Thanks Col! The kit is a joy to build. Think I’ve said it in a previous build, but pity Tamiya wouldn’t tool every fast jet possible

Give them time. Although it could get expensive!

[DaveJL]

 

22 hours ago, Ale85 said:

I've planned the same sbject for a next future. So, i will follow your wip wiht a loooooot of interest

 

Thanks mate, hope it's of use to you!

 

11 hours ago, Jabba said:

As normal with the Tamiya Tomcat coming along at a great pace.

I may have mentioned before it's a great kit

 

5 hours ago, Col. said:

Give them time. Although it could get expensive!

Worth it for a stress and fuss free build - therefore a stress and fuss free hobby 😆

[DaveJL]

More done and it's flying together (that age old pun!)

 

Firstly, the intakes were masked off. I maintain the most difficult aspect of this kit is getting those flipping masks in place in the intake trunking! Anyway, we got there in the end:

 

 

Going by the Fightertown instructions, the correct colour for these areas is Dark Ghost Grey, so on it went:

 

 

Now, I initially thought the trunks looked way too dark in contrast with the white of the intakes but I came across the below link which has a great picture of the intakes of a VF-102 jet at the time of Enduring Freedom (the officer in the image is Commander Mike Vizcarra, the RIO of my particular jet here so I could maybe assume that the jet in the image is indeed 163225).

 

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-unknown-story-of-the-f-14-tomcats-that-diverted-to-pakistan-during-operation-enduring-freedom/

 

You can also see the difference between the Light Ghost Grey of the undersides and the DGG of the sides of the fuselage. An interesting read too. Back to the plastic, I strongly recommend removing the masks before any further assembly as they are an absolute pain to get off later. This was a tip that I gave myself, that I promptly forgot on my last build so I'm glad I remembered again

 

Next up was the fitting of the Quickboost TCS pod:

 

 

Just remove the small tab on the kit and it's a perfect fit:

 

 

Landing gear was assembled:

 

 

Then popped in with the rest of the individual bits to be painted:

 

 

Fuselage went together. Clicked in place, almost forgot that we need glue for this hobby:

 

 

I've only fitted the rear bomb racks and pallets for now as the forward ones look to have a Dark Ghost Grey nose section and Light Ghost Grey rears so easier to paint off the airframe. Next job will be to fit the pilots' coaming then fit and mask the windscreen and canopy. It's pretty much ready for the painting process then.

 

Sorry to keep rambling on, but this kit is just a delight!

 

More soon and stay safe

 

Dave

[Col.]

Great progress Dave  

[DaveJL]

Cheers mate!

[Wings unlevel]

Rapid progress!

[Roberto]

Good and fast work!

[DaveJL]

Thanks chaps, building is the quick part, it's the painting that takes the time

[Jabba]

Cracking along and good work with the intake masking.

[DaveJL]

On 12/6/2021 at 7:23 AM, Jabba said:

Cracking along and good work with the intake masking.

Cheers mate!

 

A little progress to show. As mentioned earlier in the build, the F-14B had a more traditional HUD compared to the F-14A, but that of the former did differ from the D. So I chopped up the D specific HUD and modified it slightly to fit the coaming:

 

 

Not the most accurate but will suffice! The coaming was then fitted and once set, the windscreen was popped on and masked up:

 

 

One thing to point out is the 3 small dots in front of the windscreen:

 

 

These are rain repellent nozzles that were fitted to the F-14A/B BuNos 158978 to 162611. They were completely absent on the D model, other than 18 A models which were remanufactured as a D. Just a little touch to add to your build. A gentle sanding and they come off.

 

 

Not much progress, but every little helps! Will make a start on painting bits and bobs fairly soon.

 

Cheers and stay safe

 

Dave

[Col.]

Every piece of progress, no matter how small, is significant Dave and those fine details all help to add quality to the overall finish

[DaveJL]

3 hours ago, Col. said:

Every piece of progress, no matter how small, is significant Dave and those fine details all help to add quality to the overall finish

Cheers mate! Some paint should be on next!

[DaveJL]

Slow progress on this one. Work has been busy and I've been enjoying several pints of Guinness over the last few days. Anyway, this is where we're at:

 

 

Airframe etc ready for primer and pre-shading. I've sprayed the wheels and shrouds and prepped the landing gear for a coat of white. Meanwhile, the seats have been finished. The detail on the Phase Hanger items is excellent. I ended up using Quinta ejection pulls, a leftover from my F-4B. They don't look too bad. (Sorry about the photos, light was rubbish).

 

 

Getting there with the ordnance - just need to gloss, decal and add weathering:

 

 

Went for 1 all green bomb as 2001/2002 seemed to be around the swap over time for the colour of the bomb bodies - the grey being the thermal ablative coating that was applied to USN ordnance.

 

Also ordered a set of the new Tamiya detail parts to try them out. Comes with canopy mirrors, metal pitot tube and some etch belts. 2 sets of each.

 

 

Not much but getting there. Hoping to get a little bit done on the ordnance on Christmas Eve and then I'll get a bit more done on Boxing Day in and around stuffing my face with Turret and drinking beer.

 

Stay safe and Merry Christmas if you don't check in on Friday!

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

Christmas Eve update before I have any more drink. Ordnance is finished:

 

 

Bombs have been adorned with some morale boosting words of support for the chaps on the receiving end:

 

 

The 'grime' was added with some Tamiya weathering sets. The GBUs in my references seemed particularly dirty. Exhausts also done.

 

 

Base of Tamiya Nato Black with the 'petals' masked using the great New Ware sheet. MRP titanium to finish with the inside ceramic tiles suitably weathered with the Tamiya sets.

 

Hoping to get an hour or so done on Boxing Day morning.

 

Stay safe and Merry Christmas.

 

Dave

[Roberto]

Nice progress!

[Sierra Mike Sierra]

20 hours ago, DaveJL said:

Bombs have been adorned with some morale boosting words of support for the chaps on the receiving end:

 

Wow, that's amazing work!

 

Hope you enjoyed your Christmas Drinks 😇

[Thom216]

Love the slogans! Great job.

[Wings unlevel]

No Die Hard lines for any of the GBUs? 🤭

[DaveJL]

Thanks all! Didn't get much done today, got too distracted by a load of Guinness in the fridge!

 

11 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

No Die Hard lines for any of the GBUs? 🤭

No direct quotes, but a few similar expletives