Finished Hasegawa 1/48 F-14A Jolly Rogers

Thanks,

The AIM-54s and their decals came from the Hasegawa weapons set B.  The AIM-7s and their decals came from the weapons set C.  The AIM-9s came from an Academy F-15E but the decals came from the C set.

Fly-n-hi,

Very well done! As for the ordnance...are those the kit decals or Two Bob?

Awesome build...I am very impressed...

The movie was filmed in '79.

Some of the birds still had white upper moving surfaces and undersides all white,as does your model, and some were all gray.  VF-84 had begun to use the smaller sized US insignia under the cockpit by that time too, but you don't see any in the film.

I've always liked that period because it offers alots of marking variations.

I love the subtle weathering on this bird.  I tend to get a bit heavy handed, when it comes to weahtering.  This looks perfect  

-Fred

Thanks again guys. 

Mike, the Tomcats in The Final Countdown have the all grey paint when looking down at it from above.  When VF-84 first got their Tomcats in 1976/1977 the spoilers, flaps, and stabilators were white on top.  I think they changed over to grey in '78 or '79.  The Final Countdown was filmed in 1980 or 1981 I believe.  The Jolly Roger scheme didn't change.  I could be wrong about all of this so take it with a grain of salt.

The kit was originally an -A.  I don't know why the glove vanes aren't molded in but since they are supposed to be retracted anyway I didn't botter to do anything about it.  Maybe they were molded in and I sanded them out.  I don't remember now.

Looks awsome!! Great job. I got a F-14A that i'm fixing to start, but it's the Revell one so i'm not gonna have all the aftermarket stuff (I wish I could get a cockpit at least). Mine will have VF-1 markings.

Again, great looking 'Cat!!!

That is really a beautiful model!  One of the finest Tomcats I have seen to be honest.  Superb weathering, and the glowing slime lights are over the top!

Fly-n-hi,

Very nice build on your Tomcat.

I'm curious about what you said regarding the markings being too early for The Final Countdown movie appearance. 

While Tomcat markings were changing during the late 70s when the film was made, there were certainly VF-84 F-14s that looked like your model in the film, or am I missing some fine detail?  VF-84 resisted the change for as long as they could.  There are a couple of shots where you can see a Jolly Roger bird in all gull gray.  The Phoenix missile palets are still white so you need to look close, but the wavy line isn't there.  Again, is it something I'm missing?

One other thing.  Was your kit originally for a F-14D?  Your model doesn't show the retractable glove vanes that could extend from the fixed wing glove's leading edge.  Or at least my aging eyes can't see them in your photos.

Good catch on the engine exhausts.  Lots of Tomcat builders don't catch that.  (I notice it because on an A model I built I mixed the open and closed nozzles, but got tham on the wrong sides!)

Nicely done. Your tomcat looks great.

Thanks for the comment.

Yes, that is normal exhaust configuration when the engines are shut down.  It has to do with the hydraulic pressure which is dependent on the engines.  The nozzles would be symmetrical if the engines where running and set at the same throttle setting.

Great looking Tomcat & in my favorite markings.  Thanks for sharing.

Regards,  Rick

Thanks guys.  I appreciate the comments.

Butz, I used to be more of an AF guy as well but lately alot of non AF subjects have been catching my eye.  Usually my builds come a a result of a movie or video game.  This Tomcat was inspired by...you guessed it: The Final Countdown, although this is a pre The Final Countdown paint scheme.  I did a Harrier because of True Lies and I did a Superhornet because of a game called Over-G Fighters.

I just built the 1/48 Hasegawa F/A-18F and that thing practically put itself together.  So this kit's fit issues are a bit frustrating.  In addition to the forward fuselage seam and the beavertail seams the hatches that cover the vulcan gun are a pain in the butt.  The fit is terrible and required putty and some styrene to fill them.  I guess this isn't an issue if you are going to pose them open.

The slime lights will glow brightly for about 10 seconds and then stay dim for about 1 to 2 minutes.  They also react to UV light.  The thicker the lights the longer and brighter they will glow...but they do have texture so you can't make them too thick.  They are kinda gimmicky, sure, but the color of the glow-in-the-dark paint is almost an exact match to the real lights.  The decals are way to yellow.  I applied the two slime light decals on the back of the fuselage and applied the Fly-n-hi effect over the yellow part and it looked really good with the black outlines.  I wish I had done that on all the lights.

The weathering was a combination of pre-shading, Pro Modeler wash and pastel chalk.  The model was primed with Tamiya Grey Primer and pre-shaded with Tamiya X-18 Black.  Then I applied the Aqueous Hobby Color H307 over that.  Then I applied Testor's lacquer glosscoat over that.  The lacquer melts the acrylic and blends it together a little bit...but don't spray it on too thick or it will really eat up the acrylic paint.  After I applied the decals and put a satin clear coat on it I washed it with Pro Modeler Dark earth wash.  Then I touched up some spots with chalk.  I didn't want to over do it because this is supposed to be a 1976/1977 version of the plane which still had a relatively new paint job.

I took a few more pics.  I adjusted the intake ramps to accurately reflect their position on the ground with the engines shut down.  The kit has you build them in the supersonic configuration.  Also, I thought that the intakes were pretty easy to make seamless.  I just brushed on several layers of Tamiya X-1 White.

(pics are all in the opening post now thanks to photobucket)

That's a great cat you have there considering the fit problems you encountered. While I'm here, I wuold like to ask, are the exhaust  really like that? I ordered them from Aires and I got one of them  feathered and the other one opened exactly  like what you have. Is this prior to take off?

Beautful job with a difficult kit,looks really great.

Outstanding looking!  And once again the slime lights are a unique touch.

Howdy,

 First off, your Tomcat kicks some serious butt my friend..!!  I am more into the Air Force a/c but this is one of a few Navy a/c builds that really caught my eye.!! (I do have a soft spot in my heart for the ol Tomcat)

I really like the over all apperarance, the weathering and of course the "Slim" lights.Nice touch btw..  I am glad you touched on all the issue spots because I too have this same exact kit in my stash..!!

 It is interesting that Hasegawa is really well known for their detail but their fit quality on the other hand is so so. It seems like every other kit I have built had some sort of fit issue(s) and others went together well.. This includes their latest releases too.

 I have a few questions for you, when you did your weathering/panel lines, how did you go about doing it? To me at leat it looks like you did a pre shade?

 With the "Fly-n-Hi" effect, how long does the glow n the dark paint last in terms of glow?

 Thank you again for sharing this gem with us!!

Flaps up,

Mike

Rangers Lead The Way