DaveJL Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 Hello all, Here is a bit of a side project I'll shortly be starting to run alongside an entry for an upcoming Group Build... Tamiya's 1/48 F-14A Tomcat, this time marked as BuNo 160665 'Ghostrider 114', flown by none other than Maverick and Goose. It's been done before, but sure, what's not to like?! After seeing Top Gun Maverick twice, and re-watching the original, a plan quickly formed! 160665 was delivered new to the Navy in 1977/78 and was serving with VF-51 at the time of Top Gun being filmed. It was transferred to VF-101 when VF-51 was disestablished in 1995 before being scrapped in 1997. The kit: Extras: I'll be using a Quinta cockpit set, Quickboost ejection seats, Quickboost chin pod with bullet fairing (the TCS was still relatively new around this time and those pods were rotated through the deploying squadrons), Furball tail stiffeners, Furball walkway decals, Tamiya detail set for the canopy mirrors and nose probe, Galaxy mask set and the wonderful Fightertown 'Best of the Best' decal sheet (which will be utilised for a further Top Gun themed build!). Scheme and some references: Great balls of fire! Dave 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tojo72 Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 (edited) Going to be a very cool build Edited June 10, 2022 by Tojo72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbojock Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 Nice one. Following with interest. jj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Thanks chaps. Finally made a start on this one over the last few days; it's been loitering at the side of the bench for too long now! Firstly, various fuselage parts assembled: Wings, fins and pylons: Hangy stuff. Not much on this one - just the 2 fuel tanks, 1 AIM-9 and an ACMI pod, pinched from a Hasegawa weapons set. The main work has been in the cockpit. The Quinta set just brings it to life! Hope to get some work done on the main fuselage tomorrow. Cheers and stay safe Dave 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Looks to be a super kit and your cockpit details look amazing. Mind you, if you were modelling the one that they "borrowed" from the second film, you could leave out about half of the cockpit detail! And the nose wheel... Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 4 minutes ago, AdrianMF said: Looks to be a super kit and your cockpit details look amazing. Mind you, if you were modelling the one that they "borrowed" from the second film, you could leave out about half of the cockpit detail! And the nose wheel... Regards, Adrian Thanks Adrian! It is a fantastic kit, easily (in my opinion of course!) one of the best out there, though I am slightly biased toward the F-14 I'd looked at modelling the example you mention, hadn't thought of those details though! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Great start with that cockpit, and awesome subject! I can’t believe they actually scrapped the real Tomcat from the movie, it should have been preserved as a piece of iconic movie memorabilia! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 9 minutes ago, Lord Riot said: Great start with that cockpit, and awesome subject! I can’t believe they actually scrapped the real Tomcat from the movie, it should have been preserved as a piece of iconic movie memorabilia! Thanks mate! It is a shame but suppose they didn't think of it at the time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 (edited) 'Talk to him, Goose!' A very cool idea. Will be checking in. And I would guess the reason it was scrapped would be the same as almost every other Tomcat - to keep parts out of Iranian hands. Edited October 17, 2022 by Thom216 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 Impressive cockpit !! Well done Man !! Can I take a seat at the bar, beside Penny ?? Sincerely. CC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 18, 2022 Author Share Posted October 18, 2022 17 hours ago, Thom216 said: 'Talk to him, Goose!' A very cool idea. Will be checking in. And I would guess the reason it was scrapped would be the same as almost every other Tomcat - to keep parts out of Iranian hands. Thanks mate! I forgot about the Iranian aspect. 17 hours ago, corsaircorp said: Impressive cockpit !! Well done Man !! Can I take a seat at the bar, beside Penny ?? Sincerely. CC Thanks CC! You can, provided there's no phones on the bar. You know what the penalty is I sound like a broken record at times but this kit is just a dream to work with. The front fuselage went together with a click of the fingers: I then moved on and fitted the Quickboost chin pod. As I mentioned in the initial post, at the time of filming the TCS pod (the one with the round lens at the front) was relatively new to the fleet squadrons and very much sought after, so the deploying squadrons had precedence over the rest. The bullet fairing is effectively a cover for the removed TCS. The Quickboost part is very nice, and only requires the removal of the small ridge on the kit to fit. I set that to one side and started work on the intakes. After a couple of coats of white, it was time to mask up and spray the remaining areas with Light Ghost Grey. Unlike the D and later A boxing, this initial release didn't come with intake masks. Easy to sort, as I simply removed a couple of templates from one of my D kits, traced round it onto a Tamiya masking sheet then cut out. Easy peasy (if you have a D kit that is ) A quick squirt of paint and they're done. Just remember to remove the masking now, as it is an absolute pain to remove later! (I know, I've forgotten, on several occasions!) Then two clicks of the finger later and the main fuselage was assembled: Beautiful aircraft, wonderful kit, great film. Speaking of which: More soon and stay safe Dave 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 More progress. Fuselage halves together. Perfect fit. I've long retired from the wrestling needed with this area of the Hasegawa kit Undercarriage assembled: Other than that, I've just about got most parts ready for priming: Will be able to get some initial bits of painting done over the next few days all being well. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this. More soon and stay safe Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Must resist, must resist..... I have one of these looking at me from the stash your great work isn't helping me resist it's opening.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Paulaero said: Must resist, must resist..... I have one of these looking at me from the stash your great work isn't helping me resist it's opening.... Do it, you won't regret it. Pure modelling joy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 I have 20 + projects on the go so the launch F-14 will be my reward ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 16 minutes ago, Paulaero said: I have 20 + projects on the go so the launch F-14 will be my reward ..... A fine reward if ever there was one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 21, 2022 Author Share Posted October 21, 2022 A little more progress to show. Painting has commenced, starting with some of the sub assemblies. Coamings first: Note the canopy ejection handle from the Quinta set added to the forward coaming. Exhausts next. Sprayed with a mixture of metallics (white for the 'cans') then given a wash and weathering. One open, one closed. This was a common occurrence on the P&W TF-30 equipped F-14A - as hydraulic pressure bled off as the engine shut down, the nozzle of the first engine shut down would open fully, while the last to be shut down would close. There was no hard and fast rule, as far as I'm aware as to which engine was shut down first but from my primary references (the Daco book), it appears that the starboard engine was shut down first. Finally for now the seats. Decals added from the kit along with the Quinta ejection pulls: More soon and stay safe Dave 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 A little progress on this one. Struggling with enthusiasm for builds this last week. Anyway, the AIM-9 training round and ACMI were in need of decals. Luckily, I have this sheet in the stash: Et voila: Fuel tanks painted and dirtied up with some oils: A few other odds and sods: Hoping to get more done over the weekend. Stay safe Dave 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 Rooting for yah! This build is looking fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 28, 2022 Author Share Posted October 28, 2022 1 hour ago, Thom216 said: Rooting for yah! This build is looking fine! Thanks mate! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackroadkill Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 Somehow I managed to miss this; will follow along with a (distant!) view to a similar build myself, one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 On 10/28/2022 at 11:01 PM, jackroadkill said: Somehow I managed to miss this; will follow along with a (distant!) view to a similar build myself, one day. Thanks Jack, hope it's of some use to you! A little more progress to show. Canopy parts were sprayed black and then the whole airframe was primed. The surface details on the kit really jump out under a lick of primer. One thing I'd noticed from watching Top Gun more times than I can remember, is the colour of the walkways on some of the airframes - appears to be a sandy-grey colour so I mixed up a concoction from XF-20 'Medium Grey' and XF-59 'Desert Yellow.' Sorry for the crappy screen grab but hopefully you can see the contrast in the greys: Will overspray it lightly with the top coat of grey and add some oils. I had some spare masks from a New Ware sheet from a previous build that came in handy: The undercarriage and arrestor hook were completed on the side: Next up will be the pre-shading but will be a week or so before I'm back at the bench. Off to Budapest for a couple of days this coming week. Cheaper than staying for two nights on a 'staycation' 😆 More soon and stay safe Dave 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 Not much to show other than a pre-shade. Rough as a badgers as usual, more so this time as I didn't notice until I'd nearly finished that I'd knocked the pressure up on my compressor and the paint was spitting a bit.. no harm done 🙃. Should be able to throw some paint on this week. More soon and stay safe Dave 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted November 8, 2022 Author Share Posted November 8, 2022 Good progress to report. Painting was done over the last two days, with the TPS colours sprayed on initially then all blended and faded with mixtures of the 3 shades. I had made a faux pas and fitted the large TACAN antenna aft of the cockpit which is incorrect, so this was chopped off and the correct, shorter, antenna fitted. Various panels were then highlighted and areas oversprayed. Happy with how it looks thus far. 114 appeared to have a full panel in Light Ghost Grey so this was masked and sprayed too. Red edging was applied to the undercarriage doors with the, now trusty, Sharpie. What a revelation this has been for this tricky job! Next jobs will be to mask and spray the undercarriage bays, paint nav lights and various vents. More soon and stay safe Dave 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 8, 2022 Share Posted November 8, 2022 Ooh, filing that one away! I have a black sharpie and some fine liners and a pencil, but I’ve not tried coloured ones. Colour scheme is looking good! Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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