Hobbyboss F-14 first glimpse

[Matt Roberts]

I received a heads up this morning that The Chinese website scalesky.com has a first look at the new Hobbyboss F-14A that is due for release in a couple of weeks in Asia if the preorder dates are correct.

http://www.scalesky.com/review/model-kit/0...14a-tomcat.html

If your computer does not automatically translate via google translate, just search it and input the web page address along with The correct translate languages - it does pretty good on his site.

If you click on the thumbnail pics you can get a full size (well for The computer) pic. I goofed on trying to link the pics, I'm working on it

<EDIT> got a couple pics saved...so here they are

Three quick observations. The engine - exhaust - parts sprue has the aft end of the engine nacelle included so it'll match the engine with the fairing (square or rounded) If you have built and updated an Academy or Monogram 'A' model to a 'B/D' you know that you have some putty time in getting the fairings to match The later versions. Also The 'beavertail' that is The aft end of The fuselage between The engines is included with this sprue allowing for The later style with the later variants.

The airbrake area looks to have some structural details that I am unsure if The Hasegawa has (it has been a verry long time since I built a Hasegawa Tomcat, pre-marriage IIRC when I had unlimited money and time!)

Also take a look at the ejector seat molding, each seat is on a separate sprue so The later seats should be accomodated in The later kits.

The ordnance loadout looks to be a 'standard' early interceptor load, Phoenix, Sparrows and AIM-9L Sidewinders. I am not sure if The 'Lima/Mike' Sidewinder, they are virtually identical, is the correct version for a 1975/76 vintage Tomcat. Tanks and TARPS are included. The bombcat options are not in this release.

<edit> ok I didn't get the sprue pic to save, so here are a couple of the nose. Now much to the horror of those who hate open panels, the left nose is pretty much open for avionics and The gun. The right side as the refueling door separate - which is a good thing as modern (yeah I know they are retired) Tomcats had The door removed as it had a habit of blowing off into The right engine. Iranian ones were the first one I recall seeing with this option.

I'll leave it for the Tomcat experts to see if the electronics (cockpit/instrument panel, ecm fairings, etc) are correct for this version.

Thanks to scalesky.com for posting this info

Happy Thanksgiving (for us Stateside) and for our British cousins Happy ThankGodThey'reGone day

Matt

[pigsty]

I am not sure if The 'Lima/Mike' Sidewinder, they are virtually identical, is the correct version for a 1975/76 vintage Tomcat.

Doubtful, as the AIM-9L was first introduced in 1978 (although there might have been test articles on some F-14s, they wouldn't have been on squadron aircraft). The more likely for that vintage is the AIM-9G. However, this (or the indistinguishable AIM-9D) should be relatively easy to pick up elsewhere.

Did you know 2012 will be the sixtieth anniversary of the Sidewinder?

Edited November 24, 2010 by pigsty

[Matt Roberts]

By the end of the 70's the missiles I remember seeing were AIM-9Js which is the one that the Iranian Tomcat is most often seen with. Perhaps as each missile appears to be separate HB may have done the right thing and done a Juliet/Papa for that release.

Matt

[daz greenwood]

Awwwwwwwwwwww lovely

I shall be saving to get myself a couple of these beauty's

[rafrobbo]

I'm not a Tomcat expert so don't know if it's detail supposed to be there, but it looks like big ejector pin marks on the inside of the airbrake & undercarriage doors. With the other detail included, it won't be easy to fill n sand!

Maybe a test shot so time will tell on the real thing, but if it builds easier than the Hasegawa F-14's then I'm tempted to replace the lump in my cabinet at present!

[pigsty]

By the end of the 70's the missiles I remember seeing were AIM-9Js which is the one that the Iranian Tomcat is most often seen with. Perhaps as each missile appears to be separate HB may have done the right thing and done a Juliet/Papa for that release.

Matt

I don't think the AIM-9J was a Navy missile, though.

[Mike]

First impression ain't bad... I've not seen all the pics yet, as the site's painfully slow, but I'm still trying.

[Robert]

Its a very nicely moulded well detailed kit. I will have to add one or a few to the stash providing it is reasonably priced.

It looks like the Bombcat parts are on the sprue with the tanks and the LANTIRN pod on the TARPS sprue. Hopefully the sprues that are shown are the ones that will be provided in the kit.

Robert

[Spence]

Its a very nicely moulded well detailed kit. I will have to add one or a few to the stash providing it is reasonably priced.

It looks like the Bombcat parts are on the sprue with the tanks and the LANTIRN pod on the TARPS sprue. Hopefully the sprues that are shown are the ones that will be provided in the kit.

Robert

Very nice - it's about time I built a Tomcat...

Spence

[Giorgio N]

Looks nice, although there seems to be a bit too many ejector pin marks on some parts.

A few notes regarding the options: the plane shown on the box art (Bu.No 159008 of VF-32) is quite an early cat, as such I'm not sure it can be made from the sprues shown. First of all while there are options to make a standard boat tail with and without ecm fairings, seems to me that the very early boat tail can't be included. And this plane had exactly this. I couldn't see if the early gun vents are included, might be. However the left fin is the standard model, different from what 159008 had. Finally I've seen the wheel hubs are the later model, not the first one. Can't see if these are included as well.

All in all these are not big issues, as the VF-41 option would have the later tail and fin (but not the wheels yet) and there are plenty of aftermarket options. Sure would have been nice to have the earlier boat tail option possible, as hasegawa did, but the majority of tomcats can be done with these parts. The wheels even if not included can be replaced (the resin boys will sure come to the rescue).

What unfortunately I couldn't see in the sprue shots is if the air intakes keep the same error of the 1/32 trumpeter kit. This would be a very bad thing.

A few other general notes: yes, AIM-9L are too late for the VF-32 option, but this can't be made accurately from the box anyway. Actually they're a bit too late for the VF-41 option, but anyway can be replaced easily. The navy never used the J, that was a USAF version, although widely exported. Iran was the only user of J Sidewinders on the tomcat.

The refuelling probe door is not much a feature of late or early tomcats. It's usually removed when tanking from USAF tankers with the drogue attached to the fixed boom is expected, as it was found that it tends to break in these cases and may get ingested by the engine. As the iranians used exactly the same arrangement on their tankers, they removed it from the start.

Edited November 25, 2010 by Giorgio N

[sxm_m]

First impression ain't bad... I've not seen all the pics yet, as the site's painfully slow, but I'm still trying.

"painfully slow"?

The website server in USA. I think it should not "painfully slow"

What's browser you used?

Edited November 25, 2010 by sxm_m

[Matt Roberts]

I'm not 100% sure but my link may have gone straight through google translate, so that may account for some of the delay.

As part of my rumourmongering I have anything in Chinese automatically translated into english on my system

[Mike]

"painfully slow"?

The website server in USA*. I think it should not "painfully slow"

What's browser you used?

IE8 - I tried again, and it was a lot more responsive - probably just down to the number of people trying to view the pages. I have to say - I liked what I saw, and on the subject of ejector pin marks, all kits have to have them, or they'll stay in the moulds forever, and there's probably a lot more to their placement than we mere mortals know. While it's annoying to have them in undesirable places, I'm sure it's probably necessary, so lets not damn a kit because it has some... just point 'em out & move on. are we not modellers?

* Just placing a web server in the US doesn't make it fast - just as placing one in China or HK doesn't make it slow. it's the access to bandwidth & shedloads of memory that makes a server fast or slow.

[Matt Roberts]

There have been alot of sites pretty slow this week, maybe having to do with The beginning of The Christmas shopping season and I also noticed when The Koreans were lobbing shells at each other the Asian sites I pop into seemed slow this week. I was a bit worried when it took a while for Academy.co.kr and MMZ to pop up!

[Calum]

I hope it's as accurate as Hasegawa (or close to it) because the detail and engraving looks very nice......

[Andy Mullen]

Just about ready to put my Hasegawa stash on ebay, until I noticed it was 1/48