First of the first - 1/72 F-14A 157980 - DONE

[Dermo245]

Hi all and looking forward to this one!

 

I'm in with the first F-14A Tomcat in 1/72...specifically this one. Kit will be modified as necessary to backdate it to a prototype, with decals from the good people at Caracal Models CD72106 - F-14 "Tomcat" - The Early YearsCaracal.

 

Photos to follow soon, good luck with your builds and happy modelling.

All the best,
Dermot

Edited January 24, 2023 by Dermo245
Completed!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome aboard, this is the one that crashed not to long after that photo was taken. 
 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/219802

Edited September 26, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Col.]

Cool. Which kit are you using for this one Dermot?

[Dermo245]

On 9/26/2022 at 11:50 AM, Col. said:

Cool. Which kit are you using for this one Dermot?

 

Thanks Col. Since there's going to be some scratchbuilding, have decided to use this D-model and backdate it accordingly - I think it's a re-pop of the early Hasegawa F-14A.

Might add some better seats from the spares, maybe a small resribe.

Cheers!
Der

Edited October 4, 2022 by Dermo245
Updated

[CT7567]

Watching this thread with great interest, as I have the same Caracal sheet and long-term plans for a similar project (possibly using the Matchbox kit as a starting point as it retains some of the prototype features not present on any other kits I'm aware of).

 

On 10/1/2022 at 8:31 AM, Dermo245 said:

Since there's going to be some scratchbuilding, have decided to use this ancient kit - I think it's a re-pop of the early Hasegawa F-14A.

 

Having one of the Hobbycraft and a couple of the "old tool" Hasegawa in my Tomcat stash, I can confirm the two are not directly related.  Hobbycraft's kit may have used the 1st generation Hasegawa as a starting point, but if so it is a crude (at best) copy.  Sure anything you need to revise or replace to match the prototype airframe will be a vast improvement!

 

 

[busnproplinerfan]

I want to do this one to as well as the mock up model 3oh3. Does the Hobby craft have the beaver tail? I understanded from reading about it, the wings never swept on this one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Dermo245]

On 10/2/2022 at 4:01 PM, CT7567 said:

Hobbycraft's kit may have used the 1st generation Hasegawa as a starting point, but if so it is a crude (at best) copy.  

 

 

 

You're not wrong there! I might be re-thinking my plans about a source kit....🤔

 

On 10/2/2022 at 4:26 PM, busnproplinerfan said:

Does the Hobby craft have the beaver tail? I understanded from reading about it, the wings never swept on this one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I think the Matchbox kit and maybe the Airfix kit have the beaver tail? So I'll need to modify that along with other bits.
You sound spot on about the wings - any video I've seen only shows the wings sweeping on the second prototype, dubbed '1X'.

 

Cheers,

Der

[busnproplinerfan]

2 hours ago, Dermo245 said:

 

You're not wrong there! I might be re-thinking my plans about a source kit....🤔

 

 

I think the Matchbox kit and maybe the Airfix kit have the beaver tail? So I'll need to modify that along with other bits.
You sound spot on about the wings - any video I've seen only shows the wings sweeping on the second prototype, dubbed '1X'.

 

Cheers,

Der

The Hasegawa F-14A(early version) has it as well as three gun vent covers. I bought that kit just for it, it's hard to find. I did cast copies of the beaver tail since it's a separate part in the kit. If you have problems making one let me know.

[Dermo245]

14 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

The Hasegawa F-14A(early version) has it as well as three gun vent covers. I bought that kit just for it, it's hard to find. I did cast copies of the beaver tail since it's a separate part in the kit. If you have problems making one let me know.

I never knew that, nice one thanks!
I'll try my best at bodging a replacement tail, see how I go.

 

Cheers,
Dermot

[busnproplinerfan]

11 minutes ago, Dermo245 said:

I never knew that, nice one thanks!
I'll try my best at bodging a replacement tail, see how I go.

 

Cheers,
Dermot

Tailspin Turtle has good links for references on here. He's been helpful with US navy planes. It's a buildable part, once I saw it in person I saw how it's shaped. The F-14 kit marked "early version" is a bit hard to get.

[Dermo245]

Right so, after some more thinking today, I'm going to with a D-model (Revell) but backdate it to the prototype.

It's better plastic with engraved detail so should look much better (hopefully) than the Hobby Craft one.  Changes I can see are:

 

- Change gun fairing

- Taller fuselage strakes

- New fuselage profile behind wing sweep

- New boat-tail

- remove ECM bumps

- new engine nozzles/exhausts
- A-model cockpit

 

I've been inspired by @Jabba 's build of an early prototype using the Matchbox kit  and I'm going for the best-viewed-from-6-feet approach here.

And all being well, I'll aim to finish it by 21 December which was the date of the first flight. 😎

 

Onwards and upwards!

Cheers,

Dermot

[theplasticsurgeon]

On 10/3/2022 at 4:40 PM, Dermo245 said:

 

You're not wrong there! I might be re-thinking my plans about a source kit....🤔

 

 

I think the Matchbox kit and maybe the Airfix kit have the beaver tail? So I'll need to modify that along with other bits.
You sound spot on about the wings - any video I've seen only shows the wings sweeping on the second prototype, dubbed '1X'.

 

Cheers,

Der

Airfix, is this what you're looking for?

 

Matchbox has the same, and has slightly bigger fences atop the fuselage.

[Dermo245]

Nice builds TPS. 👍 thanks for sharing.

 

If you also look behind the wing pivot on the Matchbox kit, the sweep area is more square (like the prototype) than the Airfix version.

 

[theplasticsurgeon]

29 minutes ago, Dermo245 said:

Nice builds TPS. 👍 thanks for sharing.

 

If you also look behind the wing pivot on the Matchbox kit, the sweep area is more square (like the prototype) than the Airfix version.

 

I hadn't noticed that before.

I see your ideas are changing.  Here's the Revell F-14D that I build last year, are you sure you can make the prototype from that?

[Dermo245]

1 hour ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

I hadn't noticed that before.

I see your ideas are changing.  Here's the Revell F-14D that I build last year, are you sure you can make the prototype from that?

 

Well that's the plan anyway! 😂

[CT7567]

On 10/3/2022 at 1:48 PM, busnproplinerfan said:

The Hasegawa F-14A(early version) has it as well as three gun vent covers. I bought that kit just for it, it's hard to find. I did cast copies of the beaver tail since it's a separate part in the kit. If you have problems making one let me know.

 

Just to clear up potential confusion, the Hasegawa 1:72 F-14 kits that offer the early or late beaver tail as separate parts are the "new" tooling (2nd generation, originally issued circa 1988). The "old tool" Hasegawa Tomcat first issued c. 1977 has always, to the best of my knowledge, had the "late" beaver tail design molded integral with the rest of the rear fuselage upper and lower halves.

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-00544-f-14a-tomcat-atlantic-fleet-squadrons--120633/timeline

 

More detail on the variations can be found at the M.A.T.S. site (a vast wealth of Tomcat resources):

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-beavertail.htm

 

[busnproplinerfan]

8 minutes ago, CT7567 said:

 

Just to clear up potential confusion, the Hasegawa 1:72 F-14 kits that offer the early or late beaver tail as separate parts are the "new" tooling (2nd generation, originally issued circa 1988). The "old tool" Hasegawa Tomcat first issued c. 1977 has always, to the best of my knowledge, had the "late" beaver tail design molded integral with the rest of the rear fuselage upper and lower halves.

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/hasegawa-00544-f-14a-tomcat-atlantic-fleet-squadrons--120633/timeline

 

More detail on the variations can be found at the M.A.T.S. site (a vast wealth of Tomcat resources):

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-beavertail.htm

 

Yep, helpful. I have the 1977 and 2008 kits, they are quite different from each other but both decent. Does all the new tool kits have the beaver tail?

[CT7567]

3 minutes ago, busnproplinerfan said:

Yep, helpful. I have the 1977 and 2008 kits, they are quite different from each other but both decent. Does all the new tool kits have the beaver tail?

Far too many re-releases of the 1988 tooling to say definitively, but I believe at least "most" boxings do include the early and late beaver tail parts - I can't verify whether "parts not for use" may have been gated off for some issues, but the base tooling has both versions on sprue 'K.'

 

Also worth noting, the "early" tooling has been re-released at least as recently as 2008.  Aside from parts count, the immediately obvious differences between the early and late toolings include:

 

'77 Tooling:

- Raised panel lines

- Full missile load

- No PE parts

 

'88 Tooling:

- Scribed panel lines

- No missiles included

- Small PE fret

[bushande]

That is indeed an awesome project. I still have two original Grumman company images of the first and last flight of 157980 signed by Robert Smythe, the test pilot who flew her on her only two flights and I also have a thick block of titanium removed from her wingbox after she crashed, which I received from Robert Santiago, the chief flight engineer on the first test flights.

 

Will be watching this with great interest.

[busnproplinerfan]

58 minutes ago, bushande said:

That is indeed an awesome project. I still have two original Grumman company images of the first and last flight of 157980 signed by Robert Smythe, the test pilot who flew her on her only two flights and I also have a thick block of titanium removed from her wingbox after she crashed, which I received from Robert Santiago, the chief flight engineer on the first test flights.

 

Will be watching this with great interest.

Neat piece of it to have.

[Dermo245]

Thanks all and finally started on this.

Cockpit is for the A and have started to convert the beaver tail to a boat tail.

 

Revell_F-14_prototype_1 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Also started on the fuselage extensions from plasticard.

 

Revell_F-14_prototype_2 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
Dermot

On 10/24/2022 at 6:08 PM, bushande said:

That is indeed an awesome project. I still have two original Grumman company images of the first and last flight of 157980 signed by Robert Smythe, the test pilot who flew her on her only two flights and I also have a thick block of titanium removed from her wingbox after she crashed, which I received from Robert Santiago, the chief flight engineer on the first test flights.

 

Will be watching this with great interest.

 

That's a very cool gift to have!
Are you able to share the company images or are they copyrighted?

[Col.]

Good start to the conversion work Dermot

[Jabba]

A lot of good work to get the differences between the Prototype and production models correct. I cheated and used the Matchbox kit.

[Dermo245]

3 hours ago, Jabba said:

A lot of good work to get the differences between the Prototype and production models correct. I cheated and used the Matchbox kit.

 

That's not cheating - that's being creative!
If I could find a Matchbox kit, that's definitely the way to go - much less plastic bodging needed 

 

Cheers,
Der

[Dermo245]

Happy new year all, here's to a better one! So with the finish date fast approaching, I need to get the finger out and not have another shelf-of-doom kit..

 

Got the new overwing strakes finished and happy enough how they turned out.

 

Revell_F-14_prototype_3 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

Wings primed and painted white. Then masked for the Light Gull Grey.

 

Revell_F-14_prototype_4 by Dermot Moriarty, on Flickr

 

More soon! Take care and happy modelling.

Cheers,

Dermot