1:72 Fine Molds Grumman F-14D Tomcat "Anytime, Baby!"

[Navy Bird]

10 hours ago, Roberto said:

This one looks like a great kit, and you're doing a great work on it.

 

Thanks Roberto. It's been fun so far!   

 

*****

 

Perusing through the rest of the instructions, I find that Fine Molds include a "supporting stand assembly." That surprised me, as I've never had a Tomcat model need weight in the nose, even when the wings are swept. Then I noticed the fine print: "The model will stand without supporting stand." Well, I'm glad we cleared that one up.   

 

Now I'm wondering what the supporting stand is used for. I can find no other reference to it. Is very strange, no?

 

I assembled both wings and just had to try them out:

 

 

You may notice that I've added the spine. As I've said before, the fit was great. I thought at first that Fine Molds forgot that the F-14D had extra antennae bumps on the front of the wing gloves, but it turns out they are provided as separate parts. I haven't test fit them yet, but I guess if you want to share the fuselage with the F-14A kit that's how you need to do it. Hope they don't end up looking like they're scabbed on.

 

I've got a few more seams to clean up with Mr. Surfacer, and then I think we'll be dangerously close to putting some paint on this baby.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[giemme]

On 15/10/2021 at 21:39, Navy Bird said:

BTW Giorgio, you win. I can't add the main gear legs now as they will interfere with the painting the wavy demarcation line between the Light Gull Gray and White.

Well, I'm breathing better, already    

 

Looking sweet with her wings on!  

Ciao

[FortyEighter]

Nice work so far and a great choice of scheme - I nearly went with "103" myself.

[Terry1954]

Awesome looking Tomcat coming together there Bill. I just so love that aircraft!

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

I'm off next week to sunny climes, sandy beaches, and that damn mouse again. Jeez. You'd think my wife, daughters, and grandkids would be over it by now. Oh well, I suppose somebody's gotta do it - gotta keep the economy going. See you guys on the 8th of November.     🌴  🍹

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Thom216]

Have a bit of fun in the sand for us!🏖️

[ruudster]

Enjoy the family time and the mouse Bill!

[Navy Bird]

6 hours ago, Thom216 said:

Have a bit of fun in the sand for us!🏖️

 

2 hours ago, ruudster said:

Enjoy the family time and the mouse Bill!

 

Oh it will be a blast. Me and the old lady, three kids and their spouses, five grandkids...and I think a few in-laws thrown in for good measure. All I need now are Chevy Chase and Randy Quaid - then it will be a real vacation!    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

I survived Florida. Somehow.

 

I spent a grand total of five minutes on the Tomcat today, adding these cool PE vents. I think they will look better than the moulded-in versions.

 

 

I also began masking off the intakes, to be followed soon by the cockpit, so I can spray some white on the underside. I will also use the white to see if any seams need to be worked on further. So far, I have avoided any putty, just some Mr. Surfacer 500, and things look pretty good. Paint will show all though!

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Roberto]

 Very nice.

[Jabba]

A lot of work to get this one this far. I have one of these in the stash, plus I have built their A version. A nice kit to build, but I found requires a bit of patience to line the parts up.

[Navy Bird]

Yikes! Looks like I only have a month or so to finish this bad boy. Time to step it up (maybe I can use this as an excuse to skip the upcoming holiday). So, let's see - I haven't forgotten this build and have actually made a tiny bit of progress. First, the Light Gull Gray has been applied. I think I still want to clean it up a bit, but that shouldn't take long.

 

What did take long was masking around the open bays in the nose, and the air brakes in the back. 1:72 scale can be so much fun. (Oops, I forgot to do the recesses for the stairs.)

 

 

 

And those lousy air brakes - the red was applied over white.

 

 

 

There's more masking ahead, for the smaller details as well as the anti-glare area in front of the windscreen. I have to say I really am impressed by how well this build has progressed. My hat is off to Fine Molds as the fit of the parts is extraordinary. The windscreen and canopy have a bit of the "omega" cross-section (first time I've seen that on a 1:72 F-14) although there is a slight seam to clean up.

 

I also need to get her up on her legs so @giemme can cringe.   

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Oh, I forgot to mention - I knocked the model off of my workbench (which is 46 inches tall by the way). It bounced off of the carpet and onto the tile floor. It made a nasty noise. But, other than a small scuff, there is NO damage. No seams popped open, the fins didn't break, nothing came loose, etc. The photos above were taken after the drop. How did I ever get so lucky?   

[giemme]

45 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

I also need to get her up on her legs so @giemme can cringe.   

I'm cringing already...     

 

She looks beautiful, Bill! Very neat paint job!    

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

She does look beautiful Bill. 

 

53 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

First, the Light Gull Gray has been applied.

 

Which LGG did you use?

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

Which LGG did you use?

 

The "identity crisis" brand - Gunze Sangyo GSI Creos Mr. Hobby H315.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Wings unlevel]

Looks stunning already.

[Thom216]

Lovely work. Can't tell that it banged into the hard deck.

[Navy Bird]

1 hour ago, Thom216 said:

Can't tell that it banged into the hard deck.

 

I'm still counting my blessings.    

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Jabba]

Looking very good with paint on, especially like the work done to get the air brake areas done.

[Navy Bird]

Slowly...more detail painting and assembly. More minute masking is necessary for the lip of the intake - I always save that one for later. Anyway, I painted the rudders and stair wells white, and added the separate piece for the cockpit deck along with the instrument panel coamings. I "tried" to simulate the canvas covers on the coaming with paint and a Future wash - not sure it's entirely successful but I think it will do for now. I also painted up the exhausts with a couple of different shades of Alclad, and added the non-glare area in front of the windscreen. Progress, I guess.    

 

I finished adding the PE to the landing gear, and it should look a bit more dramatic after a wash.

 

 

The gear struts and linkages were added to the airframe, and she's up on her legs.

 

 

You can see that I've added a medium grey wash to the struts. I don't want to go too crazy with any weathering as photos show this aircraft as quite clean.

 

 

 

Just for giggles, I posed the exhausts in place (they're not glued in yet).

 

 

I just need to finish the last of the detail painting and it will soon be time for stickers. Fingers crossed that it doesn't smack the deck and bolter again!     😬

 

Cheers,

Bill

[giemme]

The cat in its proper stance! Love it! (and such a neat, clean job too)    

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

Fingers crossed that it doesn't smack the deck and bolter again! 

 

Then make sure you trap the third wire this time!

 

Excellent progress Bill, she's looking lovely.

 

Terry

[Navy Bird]

I spent today fooling around in Corel Draw. Why? Because of this:

 

 

The drop tanks have the classic VF-31 markings. Felix himself is included on the decal sheet I have, but the words are not. I did a quick (read: not thorough) search for other decal sheets that may have these words but I didn't see any. I also couldn't find any fonts that resemble this. So what to do? Fire up Corel and make it myself! I started with a serif headline font, converted the letters to curves, and played with nodes all day. Here is my result:

 

 

I think this is close enough. When the time comes, I'll scale this properly and print it out on clear decal film. The words on the starboard drop tank lean the other way (of course) but this was a quick fix in Corel. I just copied the port side artwork and skewed it. The black drop shadow skews along with it without any issues.

 

OK, back to working on the model...   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[dnl42]

This is looking great! 

 

16 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

So what to do? Fire up Corel and make it myself! I started with a serif headline font, converted the letters to curves, and played with nodes all day. Here is my result:

 

That's a pretty good match! Perhaps they did the same thing?

[Navy Bird]

Intake lip painted aluminum, the AN/ALR-45 antenna scabbed onto the leading edge of the glove area, tyres painted and mounted, navigation lights painted on top and bottom of the glove area, and three of the equipment/maintenance bays painted with zinc chromate yellow - I forgot that some of these are white and some zinc yellow so I had to mask them again. Ugh. You think I would learn. I used the reference photos in the DACO book and photos of this specific airframe.

 

 

 

I don't think there is any detail painting left - might as well get some shiny stuff on her and start the stickers. Speaking of stickers, the anti-glare area in front of the windscreen is from the Hasegawa decal sheet, and it was one of those very thick Hasegawa decals - but it settled down quite nicely. I hope this bodes well for the rest.

 

Cheers,

Bill