F-14D Tomcat VF-31 “Tomcatters” – USS Carl Vinson 1995 .... Binned for now!

[trickyrich]

…… and wow the year is really taking off with build #2 and it’s still only January!

 

Well time for Part 5 in the continuing VF-31 build/production line and another F-14 build (I only have another 5 or 6 F-14's to build), this time AMK’s F-14D.

 

 

It’ll be interesting to see how this model compares to the Tamiya beast, as to me it’s almost the perfect model!

 

I have had a sneak look at it already and have compared parts on both, I’ll go into this further during the build. But straight off the moulded detail on the Tamiya model is just so fine a delicate, where as the AMK detail is quite heavy and over exaggerated. Plus I can already see some possible fit issues....so we will see!! 

 

 

Oh and those amazing looking slide moulded stores….. luckily I won’t be using the GBU-38’s (they weren’t operational at this time) as they are all banana shaped! 

 

..and yes what would life be without AM extras! 

 

New cans, really a must with most models, hard to be good resin ones!

 

 

Some wheels another forgotten upgrade, especially when compared with the kit supplied ones!

 

 

The now essential (in my opinion) Quinta Studio upgrade.

 

 

Plus a really nice and comprehensive masking set  from New Wave.

 

 

The kit comes with a set on VF-31 decals, but I have this carrier done plus I have some issues with the scheme, it's not 100% correct.

 

 

So I will be upgrading to the lovely DXM set for the F-14D.

 

 

The scheme for this build is for a CAG aircraft operating off the USS Carl Vinson in 1995, middle one.

 

 

You will also notice the underlining in red of 2 other aircraft, these are future builds which include the Final Flight aircraft. The ultimate plan is to have every jet aircraft VF-31 used, plus an aircraft off every Aircraft carrier they operated off, 15 aircraft in total (6 Tomcats), with maybe a few double ups for special schemes. This will make #5 so only 9 10 to go…. I hope I have enough shelf space!!!

 

Can't with to start this one too! 

[Col.]

Mmmm, resin 

 

Sure there's a few of us keen to see you start this one and how it compares to the Tamiya wonder-kit Rich

[desert falcon]

That‘s a lot of good stuff you have there Rich, will be interesting to follow 👍

[exdraken]

Nice! What did Bomcats carry back in 95?

Dumb Mk.83s?

 

[trickyrich]

GBU-12's and such, all those fun things before JDAM's

[modelling minion]

Should make for an interesting build mate, you are well versed with the Tamiya kit so I will be keen on how you think  this compares.

I like the scheme you have chosen, a nice splash of colour against the grey.

[DaveJL]

Nice scheme Rich. I could be wrong, but I don't think VF-31 had received LANTIRN in 1995 so they could have possibly been restricted to 'dumb' bombs. I have a reference somewhere about it, I'll see if I can dig it out and see what's what!

 

Also interested to see how you'll find the AMK kit. I know you, like myself, pretty much worship the Tamiya kit! I sold my AMK kit and used the funds for another Tamiya example

[trickyrich]

9 hours ago, DaveJL said:

Nice scheme Rich. I could be wrong, but I don't think VF-31 had received LANTIRN in 1995 so they could have possibly been restricted to 'dumb' bombs. I have a reference somewhere about it, I'll see if I can dig it out and see what's what!

 

Also interested to see how you'll find the AMK kit. I know you, like myself, pretty much worship the Tamiya kit! I sold my AMK kit and used the funds for another Tamiya example

I think you're right about the Lantirn pod, I can't find any photos of a VF-31 bird from the USS Carl Vinson with the pod fitted. I do know by 1997 they had them but by then they had changed carriers and were now on the USS John C. Stennis, which is the one set of decals I'm missing. Twobobs & Fightertown do sets, but are very hard to find or very expensive...... in case of the TowBobs set someone want $100 USD for them!!!!

 

I may have to resort to fitting "dumb" 1000lb's, though I have read they did do some live firing drops of 4 x 2000lb's!!! Now that would have been interesting.

 

 

[81-er]

As I've obviously missed the previous builds, what's behind the desire to model all of the VF-31 birds?

 

James

[DaveJL]

13 hours ago, trickyrich said:

I think you're right about the Lantirn pod, I can't find any photos of a VF-31 bird from the USS Carl Vinson with the pod fitted. I do know by 1997 they had them but by then they had changed carriers and were now on the USS John C. Stennis, which is the one set of decals I'm missing. Twobobs & Fightertown do sets, but are very hard to find or very expensive...... in case of the TowBobs set someone want $100 USD for them!!!!

 

I may have to resort to fitting "dumb" 1000lb's, though I have read they did do some live firing drops of 4 x 2000lb's!!! Now that would have been interesting.

 

 

4x MK.84, 2x AIM-9 and 2x AIM-7 would be a nice load out! I'll dig into my references and see what I can find. I do know VX-9 dropped 4 GBU-31 JDAMs in one run during testing so I'm sure bog standard MK.84s would be no issue! 

[trickyrich]

6 hours ago, 81-er said:

As I've obviously missed the previous builds, what's behind the desire to model all of the VF-31 birds?

 

James

 

to be honest I don't know why I originally started building VF-31 birds, but it has now sort of evolved into an obsession! The nice thing is that pretty well all the different schemes for all the different aircraft they operated are available... though some are a bit expensive. As mentioned the scheme for birds operating of the USS John C. Stennis is the only one I'm missing. Have all the rest (and models) for every aircraft since the Panther.  

 

4 hours ago, DaveJL said:

4x MK.84, 2x AIM-9 and 2x AIM-7 would be a nice load out! I'll dig into my references and see what I can find. I do know VX-9 dropped 4 GBU-31 JDAMs in one run during testing so I'm sure bog standard MK.84s would be no issue! 

 

That loadout sounds like a goer for me, plus it'd look pretty awesome..... Mk84's are certainly "earth movers"!!! 

[helios16v]

They may have had ground designators for GBUs as well.  The LANTIRN allowed the birds the self designate, but don't believe it was necessarily a requirement for delivery.

[DaveJL]

15 hours ago, trickyrich said:

 

to be honest I don't know why I originally started building VF-31 birds, but it has now sort of evolved into an obsession! The nice thing is that pretty well all the different schemes for all the different aircraft they operated are available... though some are a bit expensive. As mentioned the scheme for birds operating of the USS John C. Stennis is the only one I'm missing. Have all the rest (and models) for every aircraft since the Panther.  

 

 

That loadout sounds like a goer for me, plus it'd look pretty awesome..... Mk84's are certainly "earth movers"!!! 

Would look good, something different for a load out!

[Col.]

Why VF-31? 'Cause Felix is one cool cat  

[trickyrich]

Time to start this adventure or misadventure depending on how I look at it……

 

…... first off I must stress all comments here are only my opinion, based on having built 2 Tamiya F-14’s and now this AMK F-14D (and probably a few other models in my life time)….. so be warned! 

 

My most basic assessment so far with this build….and I have 5 or 6 more F-14D’s I want to build…… is that they will ALL be Tamiya models!!! If I had another AMK F-14D in the stash, I’d be selling it cheap just to get rid of it.

 

At its most basic this is an over engineered and poorly realized model, not helped by plastic that is rock hard and instruction so vague I had to grab my Tamiya ones to try and work out where some of the parts go, and minor fit issues all over the place

 

I do like some of the ideas used on the model and what they wanted to achieve but how it’s been done in most cases is almost unforgivable.

 

There are lots of steps and photos missed as I was a bit frustrated……. most of the time and could be bothered to take any.

 

So off we go in no particular order….

 

….... so the engine was build up then cut in half ready for the new ResKit cans. Again I ask myself why is there this desperate need by manufactures to do this?? There is no way in heaven or earth that you will be able to show this off on this model. So why not spend the time and effort on areas of the model that matter…. oh and the kit cans are pretty basic, so resin AM is a must here.

 

 

Next the cockpit was readied for painting and the Quinta update, it was here I discovered they used plastic with similar properties to granite!! I swear it took over ½ hour to remove the raised detail, that plastic is so hard!

 

 

It’s now painted and given a wash, need to finish this of then a flat clear and some detail painting before the Quinta update.

 

 

While I was around the cockpit I started on the canopy, you have 2 choices here, the complete clear moulded one, complete with 2 mould lines running down each side of the canopy……..why????

 

 

Or the canopy frame in which you insert the clear bits last (only one mould line this time), awesome idea but……. fit is a bit so so and mine was bent and a bit crushed. I straightened as best I could and added additional parts to it and painted.

 

 

 

It slides into the front fuselage section with some effort, this complete fuselage section, is it better than joining 2 bits together?..........will see.

 

 

The rear control surfaces have sections inserted into them, the panel lines are meant to hide these joins, and it would if these insert bits weren’t so thick! I’ll have to sand them both back, not an issue as they completely forgot any detailing around the pivot area on most of the tail surface. I managed to get glue clover the place, but not an issue now.

 

 

The U/c and bays were assembled and painted, the instructions were super vague here with the main gear that I had to use the Tamiya ones to help work out where the parts go.

 

 

That structure on the upper left is for the moving ramps in the intake, you can have them positioned in Supersonic, Trans Sonic, and No Sonic. I could say why...but won’t. Well, the fit of the actuator parts is super poor, you will need to do lots of sanding here to get profiles right (important for later on), note 2 of these actuators are not visible at all, and one partly, so again something simpler and better fitting would have been nice.

 

The rear upper fuselage section, the inner strakes are moulded separately, while the outer ones are not, have no idea why, you need to clamp the inner ones to remove/hide the join. Plus the upper glove cover, you get a choice of 2 depending on how you want the wing (and no way in hell I’m doing this one with flaps & slats down!!!!!), after careful fettling I still have a gap….out with the sprue for this.

 

 

So I wanted to see how this was all going together, mostly because I was having troubles putting the main gear wheel well together, and there’s a good reason it seems why it’s later in the process. 

 

These photos are in reverse, as I had assembled it, discovered issues, so took photos as I disassembled it.

 

Right, I had gotten this far and started to have issues, those intake ramp units actually have to be mounted to the lower fuselage and not as you would have thought to the upper section. The only alignment guide is those blocks to the right of the wheel well, there's nothing at the front to help ensure they're in the correct position. If you don’t get this right, you’ll be in a world of pain.

 

 

Plus, those long engine/intakes bits, another great idea as it does away with that lower join which can be an issue on the Tamiya model. But the locating tabs are all too wide and mating surface is quite uneven, meaning you get a noticeable join along both sides where it meets the lower fuselage, great engineering poorly executed. Plus, don’t forget the intake trunk! Inside, and there are no instruction as to how to paint the intakes other than greyish white. Tamiya gives you the mask for the grey to white demarcation. 

 

 

Now the engines and main gear wheel wells, the wing bags bit (this adds much needed strength to, same goes with the wing mounts. 

 

 

Still not 100% sure the wings can be fitted after the top fuselage is fitted. Instructions tell you to fit them beforehand. To be antiestablishment I’ll fit them last!!! 

 

 

Finally with the top fuselage fitted, you’ll have the rear fuselage completed, and not without a lot of effort either! If this is anything like their MiG-31, you’ll be punished if you don’t have everything in its exact position. I can see there are going to be fit/joining issues, this will not be fun. 

 

Plus one final thing, they supplier a huge selection of what look to be very nicely moulded stores all done with those clever slide moulds, though again I don’t know why they give you GBU’s with their fins deployed??? 

 

 

This must be the first model to ever include or even show the new Joint Services super-secret GBU-38 “Banana bomb”!!! 

 

 

So am I or have I been a bit harsh so far, yes and rightly so I think. When this model first came out everyone was just raving about it in all the reviews (should no better than to trust them), all those cool new features and the amazing “slide moulding”, a true rival to the Tamiya model. They were even priced at a premium over the Tamiya one as well.

 

So after plonking down my hard earned cash on this model to find it is only marginally better build wise to a Trumpeter (I would almost add Kitty Hawk)model , to say I’m disappointed is an understatement. 

 

I will preserver as it’s way too much money to chuck in the bin, though if someone wants to swap me their Tamiya F-14A/D for this then PM me!  

[modelling minion]

I think that "oh dear" just sums everything up so will leave it at that.

[Bertie McBoatface]

I guess you can either regard it as an opportunity to demonstrate your plentiful skills, or as something to be angry and miserable about. Either way, you'll have lots to document on the way to what will undoubtedly be a lovely model when you have done with it.

[Pappy]

Geebus, I thought the Hasegawa kit was challenging 🤨

 

Keep going - I believe in you!

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[trickyrich]

it really is a yes no as to whether I really want to finish it! I honestly hate not finishing projects....and unfortunately I have a ton of them!!!!  But I don't really want a build i have to fight, if I did I'd be building a resin model (and I seriously doubt it would be any more frustration to build), and I'm planning one of those for the Japanese GB.

 

It is more the case I am seriously disappointed in this model, I had suspect-ions about this model after building their MiG-31, which I think is a far easier model to build.

 

I don't want to trash this build, as much as I wish I could as it is an expensive model, so best to maybe put it aside for the moment..... maybe.

 

I have another couple of projects that would fit this build and would be much more pleasant to build (and quicker), a Airfix B-57G (got all the AM for it) I picked up at my club meet on the weekend, or Revell GR.4, backdated to a Gulf War GR.1, both of course 1/48th.

 

Will have a bit more of a think about it and decide once the Growler is further along.

[DaveJL]

Glad I sold mine now! I looked through it the parts and instructions and just thought the Tamiya kit has everything I need and is probably the most enjoyable model I've ever built. Keep going mate, I'm sure you'll beat it into submission....

 

...or enter a Tamiya kit and actually enjoy the build

[Retired Bob]

Thanks for the heads up with this kit Rich, glad I bought the the Tamiya F-14D.  The only problem with putting it aside will be starting the pain again (I speak from similar experiences)

GBU-38 banana bombs, are they a new secret weapon for going round in ever decreasing circles to hit the target from behind? 

[trickyrich]

for the sake of my own sanity I've decided to shelve this one for now.... else continuing may see it going in the bin. Am super disappointed but I don't want to continue the build for now as I'll just complain and complain.

 

I'll probably do bit is the background when I'm in the mode. 

 

The actual scheme I chose for this build will now go onto another Tamiya F-14.

[Rob G]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:25 AM, Retired Bob said:

 new secret weapon for going round in ever decreasing circles to hit the target from behind? 

 

Diabolical!