Christer A Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 I don't think I've ever built a Tomcat before, not even in my youth, so it's about time to do something about it. In three weeks time I get access to our newly built house that comes unfinished on the inside, so guess what I need to do? Yes, starting this kit off course? What could possibly go wrong with that approach? As a serial kit-starter i need to break out a new box now and then. Said box does look nice, but the contents are probably even better! Last year I started another swinger for the Tonka GB. That one was filled with so much resin that only @trickyrich can handle, but it sort of went quite well. "Well" as in it now painted, but no decals or kabloey stuff to hang on it. This time I'll just use the bare minimum: I managed to acquire an Areomaster sheet, so that I can do a nice sharkmouthed F-14. It's not sized 100% to Tamiya but I've checked the sunburst fin decal and that is a decent match to the fin so it might turn out fine. My plan for attack will be to start with the three bits that always is a hurdle when I do something modern. Weapons, landing gear and ejection seats. We'll see how that goes... 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 Nice..... though I reckon you need more AM stuff! Actually the Quinta cockpit and new can is all you need. I ran into the same issue with the tail decals for my F-14D, seems there's a bit a variation in the fins between the Hasegawa and Tamiya beasts. Overall shape they are pretty close, but the differences are in the panel lines, up to 3mm in places. Doesn't sound much but when you need to line up decals on these lines! They may have based their decals (I think they may have) on the Hasegawa model. The problem area (fro me) was with the decal lined up with the rear edge, the leading edge of the decal didn't line up with that front panel line. Hopefully they used the Tamiya model for the base. I know most of the later ones did and most mention they are suitable for all manufactures. I ended up chopping up the decals for the Ventral fins on mine (they were black) and using them to fill in the missing bits. It worked out ok, you can sort of se where they were stitched together but later weathering hid all that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 13, 2021 Author Share Posted September 13, 2021 The decal sheet is from 2006 when the Tamiya wunder-kit was only dreamed of. I did a photocopy of it though, and cut out the fin decal to see how it matches, and I thought it looked pretty good actually. The ventral fin could be messy though! If it all goes pear shaped I'll try to se if I can fool someone to make masks for them and then just paint the buggers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 hopefully they won't give you too many issues. That fine white trim line would be the issue on the ventral fins. Masking could be an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted September 13, 2021 Share Posted September 13, 2021 6 hours ago, trickyrich said: hopefully they won't give you too many issues. That fine white trim line would be the issue on the ventral fins. Masking could be an option? Masking is always an option. Being 1/48, it's not too preposterous of an idea...especially if done prior to install on the airframe. Hell, it might even be easier than the walkways I just did on my F-16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 14, 2021 Author Share Posted September 14, 2021 Masking is certainly an option! I did some proper measuring of the ventral decal and it looks like a good fit, but after separating the fin it was almost impossible to not glue it in place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 Now that is a cool choice of markings! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 19, 2021 Author Share Posted September 19, 2021 Plan of attack was Weapons, landing gear and ejection seats. How did I fare? Best laid plans and all that...but _I made a start with the landing gear. Lots of lovely cast plastic pieces fitting together like they're meant to. Very strange sensation! I did find a little hole in the expansion tank/thingie on the nose gear that was filled. Strange to find that little hole there though. Did I do something wrong? Probably... Time to study all references on how all brake lines and hoses are routed. Just having the metal parts looks a bit bare. Eduards Brassin wheels looks really good though! Ok, so while the glue is setting over there, let's make some missiles! I'm going for a balanced load of 2 of everything, since that appears to have been more common ? Not totally convinced by the cleverness in the 2 piece Sidewinder bodies, quite tricky to get a decent join. At least with my clumsy hands. The Sparrows was also not impressive, where you have to glue some long pieces to the outside of the main body without any guidance as to where it should go. The Phoenixes looks lovely though! The whole lot was painted and then got the first set of decals. Once again I ran into problems with the Sparrows. The yellow markings appear to be too short? Has anyone else experienced this? The tanks gave me a start too! Nasty join line all the way round. That might've been my fault though. Well, a nice little sanding should take care of that. Last up for today's update,the bang seats. The plastic one looks great, but the Brassin bits are at another level completely. Should be fun to paint all of them just to see how it turns out. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Wow! Great start 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 Excellent start!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted September 19, 2021 Share Posted September 19, 2021 That really is a very nice start, I wish I had the brains to get the weapons and undercarriage out of the way at the start of a build, would make getting a model finished much easier. Great choice of squadron too, my favourite US Navy markings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 It is a great plan to do those bits first but : I just wanted to experience that legendary Tamiya-fit. Honest! I'm not at all diving deeper into subassemblies, oh no sir! 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Nice, A. Christer project again! How is house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 Yeah, we'll see how this project goes with all the upcoming chaos. The house is still not ours, but we're exactly 1 week away from getting the keys and finishing off all inspections. Then comes 3 weeks of interior work (painting, putting up wall papers and install the floor) before we can actually move in there. Perfect timing to build a Tomcat! On the other hand, I will get a permanent modelling den in the end! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daryl_five_zero Posted September 23, 2021 Share Posted September 23, 2021 Great start so far! Those brassin seats are a real treat eh? And you're so right about the landing gear. Usually I absolutely dread that part of the build, but Tamiya made it a real joy with this kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 23, 2021 Author Share Posted September 23, 2021 Brassin sets are for sure the simplest and best fitting resin sets I've ever used. The detail level is gorgeous as well, even if they don't get every little thing correct 100% of the time (or so I've heard) but that doesn't bother me all since it looks and handles almost effortlessly. Right now I'm pondering if and how much plumbing to doo in the wheel wells and undercarriage. It's usually fun to do, but it tends to drain quite a bit of enthusiasm in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 Work on the bang seats has actually continued! The plan is still working, of sorts... It seems that Eduard is including a few more stencils than what Tamiya offers. I can't complain to that! I still have all the belt bits left to do. [/url] One of these days it will be done! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Tidy work on the seats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 On 9/20/2021 at 3:51 AM, Christer A said: Ok, so while the glue is setting over there, let's make some missiles! Once again I ran into problems with the Sparrows. The yellow markings appear to be too short? Has anyone else experienced this? The tanks gave me a start too! G'day Christer, I think the 'gap' in the missile decals is deliberate and it is to allow the decal to start and stop on either side on the missile's external conduit (where it would dissappear) as the line does not extend over the top of it. Also, I think you have the yellow band in the wrong spot as the yellow indicates the presence of HE (in this case the warhead) which would be forward of the fins. Brown indicates Low Explosive and in this case corresponds with the missile rocket motor which is correct, cheers, Pappy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 Thanks for the feedback Pappy! Removing those stripes and replacing them with some spares sounds like a feasible solution...if I had some space for modelling. We're at one week after moving to our new house and my hobby room to be is currently used as storage. That will not change for a couple of months yet. Currently the plan is to be finished with that room right before Christmas. To comfort myself, I ordered the Eduard 3D "space" instrument panels since the Quinta ones seems to be sold out everywhere.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted December 15, 2021 Author Share Posted December 15, 2021 That was quite the draining autumn! Now the hobby room is actually finished, and furnished with some IKEA shelves to keep all of the books in. We also decided to move the computer workplace / home office in here as well. I did get one shelf to display some (rarely completed) models too! Happy days. Just to make things a bit better for my hobby, a Sparmax spray booth was also purchased. I hope this could trap some of the fumes, even though I mainly use Tamiya/Gunze/Real Colors "acrylics". It's still untested though! Still think I need a couple of more shelves in the area, but of the small kind. SWMBO has decided that I also must have a painting on the wall (random spray from the Airbrush was ruled out unfortunately) which I agreed to, since it features a few Wellingtons in the clouds Nothing much has happened to the poor little Tomcat, but I did buy a few things from Eduard. Let's see if their not-at-all-a-copy-of-Quinta "Space"-decals was worth the small cost of purchase or not. Quinta:s F14A -decals has been out of stock everywhere! Eduards stuff looks fine though, much better than their etch. Should be an interesting thing to try out. Luckily I managed to get 3 weeks of winter holiday, starting this Saturday so maybe I can get some modelling done. It's about time! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted December 15, 2021 Share Posted December 15, 2021 Super nice hobby room! Enjoy it 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 The hobby room is looking great but really does need a finished Tomcat on one of those shelves 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 Thanks guys! I actually sliced open the Eduard Space package and had a little look around on what needs to be done, and started to harm a few plastic bits. Just a few more hours of work, and then 3 glorious weeks of winter vacation! Too bad that at least one IKEA visit is scheduled 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christer A Posted December 29, 2021 Author Share Posted December 29, 2021 Let's see, where was I? Ah yes, intakes, fuselage and that stuff. That fit is amazing! Such a wonderful kit. I also clobbered together the nose wheel bay, painted it up and gave it a quick wash. All right, let's see what else I can do! I got this kit as a Christmas gift from a friend, but I'm quite sure that he pulled a prank on me. Oh well, I can always use it as a paint experiment... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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