A Clowder of F-14 Tomcats

[Brigbeale]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Great to see these together Brian , looking good, the Sharpie for the ejector handles is inspired, will try and remember that .

Nice hauls off Ebay too. You're gonna have to start to think of ways to get them past SWMBO without being discovered at this rate 😉

Great work

Chris

She already knows

The F/A-18D nearly made it through the door un-noticed, but the delivery man had to go and say something!

SWMBO heard and wasn’t impressed😖

[Thom216]

51 minutes ago, Brigbeale said:

She already knows

The F/A-18D nearly made it through the door un-noticed, but the delivery man had to go and say something!

SWMBO heard and wasn’t impressed😖

The delivery man is obviously not a modeller if he doesn't know the unwritten code.

[Brigbeale]

My son had an accident at work yesterday trapping his finger and practically tearing his fingernail off, which meant me collecting him and taking him to hospital. They re-dressed it and told him there’s no lasting damage, other than having to wait for his nail to grow back and the usual ibuprofen/paracetamol medication for pain.

That in turn, meant I had to wait until evening to go and collect his car from the works car park, which meant no modelling last night.

The main thing is my son is as ok as he can be health wise.

 

But, previously, I’d been filling divots and gaps in preparation for painting.

The canopies were further masked and flat black paint was airbrushed on.

 

SWMBO asked me previously what Easter egg I wanted. I said I didn’t want one as I need to keep the fat intake lower than I had previously. I didn’t like the reading on the scales the last time I stepped on them. 
At the very moment she asked me, I was on eBay and came across another pair of Tomcats for sale. 
Giving her my best pleading look, I ‘negotiated’ these instead of an egg.
One is an Italeri painted up in Iranian colours (getting a repaint in US colours) which apparently tail-sits when the wings are swept back. The other is another Revell partially built but in primer. 
They also come with their boxes, sprues, decals and instructions, so I put a bid on them.

This morning I won them with the only bid of £20 with free postage.

I’m well happy with that!

 

So now it’s 4 Tomcats on the go once they turn up.

I can do the fiddly bits while I’m waiting.

Edited March 1 by Brigbeale

[bigbadbadge]

Is this one going the way of the Hawks Brian😃

I hope your son is okay too fella, sounds a nasty, always a painful is an injury to the fingers. 

 

Nice haul too and with SWMBO approval too, we'll done, buy yourself a small chocolate egg and eat it when everyone is out, you then get the best of both worlds,  just remember to get the chocolate wiped off your chops and teeth before she returns 😉

 

Chris

[Brigbeale]

I have been making the Aim-54 Phoenix missiles and the outer fuselage pylons for them.

The Airfix ones were previously built on Thursday and had Mr Surfacer on the seams which was sanded back tonight. One had to be re-cemented as it peeled apart at the nose end for some reason. 
The Revell ones went together tonight with no issues at all - just seams lines to clean and some fine gaps to fill.

 

The pylons were assembled as well. I’m not sure if it’s easier to fit them to the Tomcats and fight to mask around them or leave them off until the painting is done.

I’ll probably do the latter.

 

I bought an amazing tool as well.

I’d been looking at roundel masks for RAF WW2 and post war/present but the cost stacked up if I bought all of them (which probably could be used more than once but the listing didn’t say).

I was watching someone building a Tomcat on YouTube and this tool was used to make the wheel masks.

Paused the video to get the tool name - DSPIAE Integral Stepless Curcular Cutter. 
I have the compass style one but it doesn’t do the circles small enough for what I need.

This tool can cut circles from 1 to approx 50mm (IIRC).

A quick Google search and I found them going for about £50 but the Scale Model Shop was selling them for £20, so I ordered one.

it arrived and I gave it a go - it’s absolutely brilliant. 
The 10mm hole was cut perfectly round and clean so either the circle can be used to mask round windows, wheels etc or the outer can be used to mask for painting coloured circles. I did two more holes - one 2.8mm and one 5(ish)mm. They were cut cleanly as well.

The tool is easily adjusted and has concentric circles on the transparent centre to help line the tool up.

For £20, it’s an absolute essential for my toolbox and I’m very happy that I’ve bought it.

 

[Brigbeale]

I mounted both of the current Tomcats onto wires for priming this morning. The other two are currently winging their way to me😜

The Airfix had the wires pushed into the intakes as there’s nowhere in the exhausts to support the weight. The Revell had the wires inserted into the empty engine/exhaust ‘tubes’.

Both were then primed with plastic primer and left outside until the primer had lost the shine from the fresh paint.

The wings were given a tentative push to make sure the primer hadn’t stuck them while it dried - both sets of wings operate normally.

Edited March 3 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

The undersides and nose of the Airfix Tomcat received a coat of Mr Color of white. It turned out very well and was put in the cabinet to await the upper surface colour.

 

While searching for a better colour call-out for the wavy demarcation lines (the old Airfix ones are a bit vague), I came across a GWH plan for the same aircraft with better imagery but in colour.
I found that the elevators, flaps, ailerons upper surfaces and rudders are all supposed to be white as well, so they will need painting.
It also stated on there that the upper surface grey was a different one to the paints I had bought for Tomcat painting, so it was off to the model shop again to get the Mr Color H325 Gray FS26440 which is a creamier grey when compared to the other greys I had.

I also bought H327 red FS11136 as it is a slightly darker red to the shine red I have.

 

So, last night I started masking the Tomcat for the wavy demarcation line and also for the white band on the nose - which would also have a yellow/radome coloured tip (I mixed this up using a Yellow/Desert Yellow mix - it seems a little bright, so I’ll repaint it I’m a mor mute colour).

I tried thin tape but it wouldn’t give a smooth wavy line - maybe it was just me after the day I had.

I decided instead to use white tac spaghetti and my usual cheaper low tac masking tape.

Masking the air intakes was a bit of a pain but I finally got there.

 

I applied the FS26440 to the upper surfaces by spotting between the raised panel lines to give more solid patches and then moving the airbrush away to shade the area over. It’s an ok result considering one coat. 
I don’t like leaving the tape on painted surfaces for extended periods of time so I pulled the masking off.

 

 and any other relevant emoji you care to imagine.

Despite giving the two Tomcats the usual wipe down with IPA, the plastic primer and off white pulled away with the tape.😫🤬. I didn’t even press the tape down - it was left off the pair more as a shield. It just touched the paint while handling the Tomcat for the top coat.

Not just little spots either - which could be just touched in with a brush - oh no - big swathes came off even though I’d further de-tacked the already low tac tape - you might guess what I said as a was not a happy bunny!

 

Thats twice I’ve had this happen with the Simoniz plastic primer. The Halfords one was better at this job IMO, so I’ll go back to that or try the Vallejo primers. 
The nose was fine though even though it had Tamiya tape over it.

 

Still it’s modelling and these things happen - deep breath - think positive……

I will have to sand the areas to blend them in, re-prime (maybe with a Tamiya XF roughly the same colour as the primer and then, as I have to use more white anyway on the upper control surfaces, repaint the affected areas. 

My concern is the masking for these areas and whether it will happen again.

 

On the bright side though, the Tomcat is looking good in its early paint scheme.

Still waiting for the other two Tomcats to show up though

Edited March 5 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

I set about repairing the paint on the underside, where the plastic primer had pulled away when the masking was removed, by sanding the edges down with course and fine papers. The areas were given a clean with IPA to remove dust and any contaminants left from sanding.

 

With the small disaster in mind I started masking the upper main wing control surfaces and rudders in readiness for receiving their coat of off white.

Using my AK tape cutting board, I cut strips of Tamiya tape approx 1.5mm wide was applied them to the wing surfaces using the raised panel line to set them against - and using the Revell kit for reference.

With the wings done, I masked the rudders in the same fashion, but I also masked the fin top at the same time to receive the red paint which is required for this scheme but is not included in the decal sheet. 
Not wanting to use tape on the paint to block in the rest of the areas incase the paint came away again, I came up with the idea of using paper with Tamiya tape stuck to the edge but overhanging by about 1-1.5mm. I measured 8.5mm from the edge, drew a line and then set the 10mm tape against the line.

I worked out that the angle for the top was approx 62.5 degrees so the paper was cut accordingly and the tape was applied. The paper masks fitted exactly, so more paper strips were added to block off the rest of the fuselage.

 

Time ran out of my usual modelling session so I extended it in order to paint the upper control surfaces.

Once painted, the masking was cautiously removed and for the most part, the grey paint stayed put. It was just the spot on the port wing and a tiny spot at the base of the starboard fin. 
I’ll do the underside repairs later today.

 

 

[Brigbeale]

Also, the other two Tomcats turned up via Royal Mail.

They were extremely well packed. The seller obviously thought about their trial by post and took steps to avoid damaging the Tomcats by wrapping the kit box (which had the remaining unused parts from both kits inside) in plastic and then double side taping it to the shipping box to keep it from moving around. The only casualty was a ventral fin off the Revell ‘cat.

 

So an inspection of the Tomcats.

The Italeri (Esci original moulding with recessed panel lines) is painted in IRIAF colours and is built with gear down. The wings do sweep, but it’s a two handed affair and there’s a lot of up and down movement on the wings, but they sit level when the wings are forward.

Speaking of sitting level, the Tomcat sits level when the wings are forward, but when they’re swept back, it tail sits, so some nose weight needs adding somehow. I’ll sort then when I repaint it.

 

The Revell one is more or less built up to the same stage of the original two that I am building. It needs the pilot seat fixing in and the canopy adding.
The AoA probe is broken off so I’ll replace that with a 3D printed item.

The seams weren’t taken care of, so they will need sanding and filling.

I looked down the air intakes to see if the compressor fans had been painted but - no fans! 🤔 Just plastic with a circle on them.

I checked the sprues but they weren’t there and the it occurred to me.
They’d been fitted back to front, so I looked in the exhaust holes and bingo! Compressor fans facing backwards.

Ok, they’re fitted incorrectly, but can I get the intakes off to get access to them? I don’t know. 
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not going to affect the Tomcat as a whole so I might just let them be.

 

 Anyway, piccies.

Edited March 6 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

The undersides of the Airfix Tomcat were repaired with Tamiya XF-83 Sky Grey for a primer and then overpainted with Mr Color Off White. Not 100% perfect but varnishing and some light weathering should help on that front. Also being underneath, they won’t notice so much.

 

I found out of the red paints I had, Mr Color shine red was the nearest to the red in the Wolfpack decals, so that was airbushed onto the tops of the two fins.

 

I later discovered that the primer I had used wasn’t actually plastic primer - it is acrylic primer - which is probably why it peels off so easily - which it did again in one spot when removed the masking on the fins after I had painted the red on. I just touched the paint in with a paintbrush again.

[Selwyn]

On 2/13/2024 at 9:03 PM, Brigbeale said:

Things started off in an optimistic mood this evening with the intention of bringing the Revell Tomcat to the same dry fit of the fuselage/wings assembly as the Airfix Tomcat.

 

First thing to do was assemble the wings - and that’s when it came to a crashing stop!

Both upper wings had a downward curve to them along their length - on more so than the other. 

A trial fit of the under wing showed one of them didn’t sit flush without a lot of pressure to the underside of the upper wing.

A trip to the kitchen to boil the kettle and a trip to the shed to retrieve a flat bar meant I could clamp upper wings straight and trickle water over them to soften the plastic enough to reshape it. Once I’d used the whole kettle up, cold water was run over them to cool the plastic and set them straight - which worked.

The lower wings were cemented in place but that end still needs clamping with a bit of force more than my plastic clamps can manage so I’ll see what I can work out tomorrow.

 

Despite that, I was able to dry fit the wings into the upper and lower fuselage sections. 
The glove vanes are a bit confusing as the instructions say don’t glue them on the pivot point, BUT, although there’s a small pin on the wider end, it doesn’t connect to anything - the main wing gearing is nowhere near them, so why do they need to be not cemented? They’re going to be!

 

I looked at the colours for the intakes as they will need painting before the intake housings are put on.

40 minutes it took me to find a decent set of instructions giving the FS numbers for the different paints - it was an Acedemy and Great Wall Hobbies kit instructions which gave the relevant information. I can go out merrily tomorrow and get the paints I need.

But as I was clearing things away, I closed the Revell instructions and on the back page in the bottom right is the colour call-out with FS numbers on it - although one of them is still different to one of the required greys.

 

Still here’s the two Tomcats together- the Revell has the cockpit dry fitted.

 

I’ve also been on eBay again.

I bought another Matchbox Phantom (PK412 with no box but with an extra set of decals) and also a Matchbox Piston Provost (PK-30 with no box) to go with the recently finished Airfix Jet Provost.

Sorry coming in late to this but as a general heads up for people I thought I would mention the canopy issue on the Matchbox Phantom. The way Matchbox moulded  the kit  had the canopy frames  moulded onto the fuselage sides. The clear parts are just that, they are just the  "windows" of the canopies and when glued on have a too flat profile, and it doesnt look great.  I have seen attempts of open canopies on this kit but people tend to just set the clear parts open leaving the frames on the fuselage, and it looks horrible! 

The solution is to cut out the frames on the fuselage  sides (The frames are clearly marked) and replace the entire canopy with one from another kit or aftermarket that comes as the canopy with frames. I personally used a Haseagawa canopy on my kit  and it was a perfect fit, and the final result  looked fantastic.

 

Selwyn

[Brigbeale]

This primer issue is really beginning to bug me.

Still working on the Airfix Tomcat - as I’m almost afraid to even handle the Revell one incase the primer falls off - I discovered that the wing tips are grey front to back which meant airbrushing the ends of the wings up to the edge of the lightly detailed aelerons.

Using the thin strip method, I masked the tips and also the demarcation line on the port wing where I had touched it in as the hand painted touch-up was a slightly different shade. Ok in theory but when it came to remove the very de-tacked masking tape a section of the off white came away. 
I touched it in with off white, but again it’s a lighter shade. 
I’ve had enough of messing around with this problem of the primer lifting off, so I’m just leaving it and I’ll weather it out later.

 

The upper grey surfaces (which were matt) received a coat of Humbrol Gloss Cote to receive the decals and weathering. 
The two ventral fins also received their coat of Mr Color Gloss Shine Red as there’s VF-1 decals to be fitted to them.

 

With the nightmare I’m having with the primer issue and the fact the Revell Tomcat has demarcation lines which will need masking off, I decided to try to remove the primer.

My initial thought was to use Dettol but that would also get in the cockpit and intakes so I just as quickly dismissed that idea.

I have a pot of Mr Color Paint Remover so I gave that a go. 
Using a cotton bud I did a trial run on the rear centre section underneath (between the engine housings). It took a few seconds to start working but it’s removing the primer very well without damaging the plastic. The downside is it’s going to take a fair while, but it’s got to be better than the alternative.

So, I at least have a way forward on the Revell Tomcat.

 

Once the primer is removed,, I might just as well bring the other Revell Tomcat up to the same stage (fitting the forward seat and canopy). I may have a look at the compressor fan issue as well while I’m about it.

Edited March 10 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

The Airfix Tomcat received it original decals this evening.

Considering their age, they went on well. It was just the backing paper which went a bit gooey, which meant the decals had a quick swish in clean water once I’d removed them from said backing paper. 
Only one split but that was my fault as I still had a finger on one end while I pulled the other end from the paper. It went back together once applied with no seam visible.

 

I spent the last 10 minutes or so of my modelling session cleaning more primer from the Revell Tomcat. 
 

While putting the Tomcats away, I glanced at the restored F-16 in Thunderbird colours and thought a size comparison was needed.

I have a part started Airfix F-15 upstairs in the stash (which was cheap because it is missing the nose cone which will probably need 3D printed replacement). I should get around to it sometime.

[Brigbeale]

I wanted to add some stencilling decals so I borrowed some from another Airfix decal sheet (A05013) which I purchased off eBay. I’ve bought another set to replace them as I plan to do one of the others as a Black Aces Tomcat.

I also needed a couple of ‘USS ENTERPRISE’ decals to fit between the glove vanes and wings on each side. I simply photographed the one from the Bounty Hunters version from the original decal sheet and printed a pair on clear decal paper.

It occurred to me that I could have done the same with the stencil decals and saved myself a fiver. Oh well - it’s only money.

 

34 ‘NO STEP’ and 6 ‘NO STEP/PUSH’ decals were applied to the wings and elevators and upper fuselage, while the two walkway decals were applied to the top of the air intakes. 4 x ‘BEWARE OF BLAST’ decals were fitted to the undersides of the exhaust housings. All done using the A05013 instructions on Scalemates as a guide.

 

The decals are glossy in finish but I need to give the Tomcat another coat of gloss varnish anyway as I need to mask the leading edges and wing fold recess off for painting.

It’ll also help seal the decals down as well.

 

More primer was removed from the Revell Tomcat so the underside of the main fuselage is pretty much clear. It’s slowly getting there.

 

 

[Brigbeale]

Things started full of anticipation of everything going as planned - then fate stepped in………

 

I decided to pay the leading edges of the wings.

The old Airfix call-out states silver, which I felt was too bright. I considered Tamiya Metallic Grey but that’s probably too dark so the happy medium which I had was Tamiya Flat Aluminium. 
I got some tape and de-tacked it as much as I could before it wouldn’t stick thinking it would be good to make off the leading edges.

The masking itself was pretty straight forward as was applying the Flat Aluminium in light coats - although I forgot to paint the stabilators and realised half way through cleaning the airbrush. Once I applied the paint to them, the airbrush was cleaned again.

 

Then I started to remove the making. First the tail fins - ok but a small bit of red and some grey came off the inner face of the port fin - no real problem there.

The stabilators were next - no issues at all - great.

Then I remove the main wing masking.

As you might have guessed already, more paint came away with the tape due to that damned primer.

 

It wasn’t just the upper surfaces either

 

So, after a little rant and half a vision of throwing the Tomcat across the room (which, thankfully I didn’t), I calmed down and got the Tamiya Meduim Sea Grey out and touched in the bare plastic with a fine point brush.

Once that had dried sufficiently, the top colour coat was also touched in as was the red fin tip.

Gingerly, the Tomcat was placed upside down on the bigger of my 3D printed stands and I painted over the grey areas with the Off White. The patch in the middle of the wing needs another coat and maybe a light sand when it’s dry to even it out a bit.

 

Once the Tomcat was again the right way up on the stand, and the paint is drying, it doesn’t look overly bad. It’s noticeable as it’s brush painted as opposed the airbushed  surrounding areas but with a very light sand with the highest/finest grit wet/dry, it will hopefully blend in further once the matt varnish goes on.

 

That now gave me an issue to think about.

The anti glare panel needs adding, but I daren’t mask the nose section up as it’s probably the first area that the eye gets drawn to.

Hmmm.

I then remembered that Italeri use decals for the anti glare panel and there is a spare in the box from the extra pair of Tomcats I bought.

The issue is that it’s the one that goes right to the point of the nose whereas the one I’m after needs to be shorter and rounded at the front. 
So, I’ll search the internet for an image and print my own on clear decal paper.
The IRIAF Tomcat has that decal already applied, but if if weren’t for the primer issue, I’d cut a mask -  it as said earlier, it’s not worth the risk.

Edited March 18 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

I made the anti glare panel decal from an image in the internet of the Italeri decal sheet.

it was carefully cut from the decal paper and applied, but the ink started to disintegrate as it was being rolled down with a cotton bud. MicroSol was used to pull it down further.

While that was setting, I used some Ammo Mig Starship Filth Filter on the upper surfaces to give a more dirtier look to the fuselage. I found it was better to use it neat from the bottle using a bigger flat brush. It was given a minute or so to dry a bit and then rubbed off with a kitchen towel in the obligatory direction of airflow. The wing fold areas were given a second coat and the wings were swept with a cotton bud to give the curved dirt effect. I left it as being lightly stained.

The undersides we’re given a similar treatment and the overall effect is quite good IMO.

 

The exhaust casings were painted with Vallejo Aluminium and Tamiya Metallic Grey.

 

The now dried anti glare panel was touched up with Tamiya Flat Black and while doing that the canopy detached. It was only tacked in anyway so it’s not a problem as I was considering having the cockpit open on this Tomcat.

[Brigbeale]

Things have been progressing on the Tomcat where I could due to other activities including refitting the turbo back on my son’s partner’s Mini - although it threw up a half engine light due to the diverter valve on the replacement turbo. Investigations are still ongoing on it.

My son’s two Minis (Classic and 2002 Cooper S) both needed new front brakes fitting.

One of my step-sons asked me to help take a chimney down off his friends’ uncle’s bungalow. Things were going fine until one of those ‘I’ll nod my head and you hit it’ moments arose. A brick was loosened up and I went to take it off to get it out of the way. At the very time I grabbed it, my step-son decided it needed another tickle with the club hammer and promptly hit the end of my middle finger. The pain made me feel sick and woozy so I sat down caressing my left hand.

Fortunately,I can move it and as I write this (with both index fingers), the pain has subsided. My finger tip is turning a lovely shade of purple-black and is slightly swollen, but at least I can use it now.

 

So back to the Tomcat.

Despite the light weathering effect, it still looked too clean, so using my cheapo powders, I dirtied it up some more trying not to go overboard on this one.

 

I got the Airfix wheels and tried them on but I wasn’t happy with them as they looked too small and too skinny. 
For a comparison, I got the Revell ones, but they looked too thick and they’re slightly mis-moulded.

Hmmm. I checked the Italeri tomcat wheels and they looked about right - anyone else thinking of Goldilocks and the Three Bears?

I copied the design and 3d printed a set. The first incarnation needed tweaking so a second set were printed. Much better but two didn’t print for some reason. I’ll re-reint them later.

A tweak with a drill and they fit the Airfix axles nicely.

They’re currently undergoing the painting process as are the original nose-wheels which appear to be the correct size.

 

I also masked and painted the Aim-56 Phoenix missiles. 6 Airfix with white bodies and grey tips, and the other 4 Revell ones with grey bodies and white tips.

I’ll fit the decals before they get attached to the Tomcat.

 

The gear bay doors were next on the agenda. I used a red Sharpie to represent painted edges. It’s quicker and easier than painting them. They were attached as well as the outer fuselage weapon pylons (being refitted as I knocked them both off due that primer).

Edited March 24 by Brigbeale

[Brigbeale]

Using my new DSPIAE PT-C stepless circular cutter, I cut the masks for airbrushing the wheel centres. This tool makes the job an absolute doddle.

The wheel centres were then airbrushed with Mr Color Off White.

Once the paint had dried, the wheels were fitted to the undercarriage legs.

I’m happy with the way the wheels turned out although the picture highlights a little white in the tyres which should hide once some wash is added.

 

The arrestor hook had been painted white previously and is still on the sprue. I needed to add the black stripes to it which meant spending some time masking it up to airbrush the black on. I could have done that but I didn’t. Using an image I had, I counted 9 black stripes, so I used a fine Sharpie to colour the two end ones and then one in the centre. I repeated colouring in the ones half way in between until I had an arrestor hook with evenly spaced black stripes. I need to drill two holes in the fuselage to fit it though. There’s no mention of drilling holes in the instructions and I don’t see them drawn either. Still - no biggie.

 

The final few minutes were spent trying out the Aim-54 Phoenix decals. They apply ok, but the only problem with these decals is that they’re a little thick. Copious amounts of Microsol was used to get them to conform to the fairly tight radius of the missile body. The instructions for the later Tomcat kit say to fit 4 each of the rear decals but the top ones will be hidden when the missiles are fitted so I left them off.

[Brigbeale]

The Airfix Tomcat is all but done. 
I need to add some yellow strips to the sides and wing tips (Friend or Foe)?

 

The Aim-54 Phoenix missiles were decal led up and later fitted once the Microsol had gone to work.

The nose gear doors were fitted after they had the red outlining done.

With regard to the arrest or hook, I found in the instructions there should be a small block with the hole to receive the pin on the hook bar itself. This was missing from the kit, so I made a replacement from a spare bit of white plastic from another kit.

 

The Tomcat received a coat of Galeria Matt Varnish through the airbrush. I find it works better this way.

The canopy was unmasked and fitted in the closed position as it 1) keeps the interior of the cockpit dust free and 2) it occurred to me that the cockpit would be open and crew less only if the boarding ladder was extended. The streamlined look is shown off more with the canopy closed anyway. This left a rather ugly seam where it joined the fuselage, so I used the decals to cover the seam. The centre screen was painted with Tamiya Clear Green.

The navigation lights were also painted red and green where required. The ones near the glove vanes were done freehand as I didn’t want to risk anymore masking being applied.

With the Goshawk

 

And with the Thunderbirds F-16

[opus999]

That AIrfix Tomcat looks fantastic!  I like how you dealt with the nose gear bay -- that was a big turn off for me when I tried building this kit.  It's really too bad about the primer.  It interesting how much this build mirrors my experience.  When I got back into the hobby, my first build was a double build of an Airfix Tomcat restoration (I'd originally built it in high school) and an new in box Airfix Tomcat from the '70s.  I finished the Airfix, but I used Testors Acryl primer and had the exact same paint-pulling issues you have had.  It drove me mad!! So I can really empathize with what you're going through.

 

I never finished the Airfix Tomcat and it became a paint mule.  I have some nice decals for it, though.  Maybe I ought to clean it up and finish it off.

 

Also, I wanted to mention for paint removal -- I've used Mr. levelling thinner and it takes paint of so quickly it will make your head spin, but it leaves the plastic untouched.  So, that's a thought if you want to speed things up.