F-14 Tomcat Group Build idea...

tahts interesting, dan, both the academy and hasegawa 1/48 cats have the same problem.....

I've just been spraying the flat white for the intakes and wheel wells. That's a fun colour to work with isn't it? It seems that you always need another coat. I sprayed it and it looked fine, then when I came back later, it looked crap.

Anyway, I got to do some thinning of parts, and I've gotta say, that it makes a huge difference. I thinned out the leading edge of one of the intakes and compared it to an un-thinned one, and it looks heaps better. Definitely worth 10 minutes of sanding.

pingtang: funny, I had the same thing happen when I sprayed white for the intakes, burner cans, and wheel wells. Good thing I'm not painting the old gull grey & white scheme...imagine having to paint the entire undersurface white. No thanks.

What kit are you doing?

actually, i dont fear white anymore, i find that priming with tamiya white primer makes painting white a snap. it isnt cheap though.

Sometimes I prime with Gunze Mr. Base White and other times I use Humbrol flat white as it has coarser pigment giving better coverage.

Anyone ever "prime" with cheap spray cans from K-Mart (or Target, Meijer, etc.)? When I was in my early teen years, and building models, I couldn't buy spray cans of paint, they wouldn't sell to minors (graffiti, y'know). They wouldn't sell me model glue, either. My mom and dad had to go buy all that.

When I was 23 I got carded to buy lottery tickets. Can you believe that? Lotter tickets...in Ohio. Legal age is 18.

Geeeesh......

I used Gunze Aqueous flat white. And it wasn't too bad actually. I'll probably get away with only 2 coats, which is better than the 5 or 6 that you need with some whites.

MACooke - I'm building the Academy 1/48 kit. And like I said earlier, everything is too thick.

reggie - I do that too sometimes, and when I'm feeling really lazy, I'll give it a few coats of primer and leave it like that. It turns out a pretty good white too.

All I use for priming is the cheap stuff in spray cans from Home Depot. Never had any problems with them. You can prime 6 or 7 models from 1 can. And it is much less expensive than model paint primers.

Not much done on my F-14. Had some schedule changes at work. Had to do an 11 hour day today. May be restricted to weekends only for building for a while until this work thing clears up.

I got some more paint on the seats today but they still are not finished. Like some of you others I have been sanding off some plastic for a more in scale look. I'll try those intakes Saturday. Thanks for that tip Daniel. In the meantime I am like Mark(ipms33206), I have a lot of work stuff going on so it'll be the weekend now before I can get those seats completed. They are 70% done and they look amazing. The good news is I'll be posting some pics Saturday evening once I finish these seats! Anyone got any pics they can show us yet??? hehehe. How is that cat going reggie?
Mitch, I bet your F-14 is going to be very nice.

Mate, I can take a pic of my cockpit progress if you want. It's just about finished so I'll take a pic this afternoon. I also gave the white bits another coat today and they look good. Only problem now is the massive seem on the inside of the intake that is very visble. I'm always finding things to fix on this kit.

I've finaly started on my Tomcat! It's Revell diminutive 1/144 offering and it is really sweet! My last Tomcat was a 1/48 Revell kit sometimes in the early 80s, and this kit not only has better fit but way better details than it's old bigger cousin..!

The main bits are already glued together; I sidestepped the cockpit stage, leaving it for later, probably after the painting stage...

Daniel: how do you plan on dealing with the seams in the intakes? I'm sort of "plastering" the entire inside of the intakes with light coats of Squardron white putty, thinned down with denatured alcohol. I'm brushing it on with a 1/4" flat brush. I found this method to be easier than just puttying over the seams. I just have to "smooth over" the brush marks, I use sanding sticks I made with sandpaper and popsicle sticks.

Jonathan: thanks, I think I've retained enough skills to turn out a head-turner. As I stated earlier, this is my first ever use of an entire aftermarket cockpit (Black Box). I am looking upon that phase with both anticipation and trepidation. Kind of like that first date with the girl of your dreams, the one you pursued forever.

I'm still thinking of displaying mine in an airshow static display setting. Having the BB cockpit, the canopy will definitely be open. I remember sitting in an F-14 at the Dayton Air Show when I was a kid, the pilot let me put on his helmet and mask. I was 8, and begged for a ride.

Mate, I'm just chucking a whole heap of Tamiya putty at the seam and sanding with sanding sticks. Probbably not the easiest method, but I might try your method on the right hand intake.

BTW, does anyone know of a good way to thin Tamiya putty? At the moment, I'm using a mixture of putty and CA glue, it dries harder than putty would, but fills better than CA. Only problem is, it dries really quickly, so you have to do the filling really quickly.

Of course, NOW I think of this, after putting countless hours into those intake ducts...are there resin intakes available for the 1/48 F-14?

D'OAH !!

Whoah there...I better not get in over my head. The BB cockpit is enough resin for me for now.

For those of you building the Hasegawa 'Cat, does anyone else have a fit problem with the leading edge of the intakes? Once the upper and lower halves of the rear fuselage are assembled, these forward lips go on, and I have found the fit to be horrible! Horrible, I tell you.

Hiya fellas- okay I got a little bit done today. I skipped working on the seats to start on those trunks and I at least got them nice and smooth, though with this kit that is not easy at all. Where that zigzag seam on the inboard side is I use Mr. Surfacer 500 which is a thin putty from Gunze Sangyo. It's great stuff if you can find it. I found some really skinny yet flexible sanding sticks at Hobby Lobby and attach them to a pencil and have at it. Once the primer is dry I'll shoot some gloss white. The seats are still waiting to be finished but I think I made some good progress that'll be furthered this weekend.
pingtang- I have heard you can thin squadron putty with denatured alchohol. Or use a cotton swab dipped in it to smooth the seam enough to sand it smooth. Might wanna ask the fellas in the Tips and Tech's forum to confirm that.
Mitch- I think you should roll with that display idea. I really think it would look pretty swank. How do you like that Hasegawa 'Cat? The only thing I can recommend is that you prime that BB Cockpit with a resin primer. The finished result will be a looker.
Are you gonna superdetail that cockpit on that 'Cat djmodels1999? Cause if you are it's going to be amazing! I remember your 1/144 Rafale and that was fantastic. Here's a question: Has anyone ever superdetailed a 1/144 cockpit?

Jonathan: I like the Hasegawa kit. It's sort of a...a...uh, words fail me. I built one back in the early 90's. Well, I started it in '93, shelved it a year later. Got it out of mothballs and got about 85-90% done by '99. Then my dog, Caesar, knocked it off my desk with his tail, then inadvertantly stepped on it. Oh, Caesar is a 170-lb. Great Dane.

We sold Caesar to someone with lots of land.

So, to make a long story short (dont' you DARE say "too late"), this -D model I'm working on is actually my third attempt at building the Has 'Cat. I like that, the Hascat. If I actually finish this one, I'm gonna put it in a hobby shop, so that it won't fall prone to some strange accident here at my home. With two toddlers running around, it needs to be out of here.

I like the kit, but it sure could be a better fitting kit, IMHO. Hasegawa's F-4 line are great kits, their fit is awesome!

Oh yeah...what is resin primer? Who makes a good one? Where do I buy it? How is it applied...regular brush or airbrush?

Questions, questions, questions...

Actually it's from Gunze Sangyo called: Mr. Resin Primer Surfacer (love those names) lemme fetch the bottle and I'll give youa product code... uh, GNZB-517. It runs about 5 bucks a spray bottle. I've had this one for a year and primed numerous resin parts and I still have half a can or better left. I got it when the LHS guy told me on my first resin purchase that they needed to be primed before painting with acrylics, ect. It's a really light gray, and acrylics and enamels really stick well and you don't have to re-coat. You might be able to spray it with any other primer and I got taken on a sale but who knows. It's the LHS guy and he knows I am a sucker! By the way- it comes in a spray can.

Thanks for the info on resin primer, Jon...

Here's my first try at posting pics. First photo is of the main gear well, before applying an acrylic wash (Tamiya "German Grey" thinned w/ isopropyl alcohol).



And here is the main gear well after the wash.



I'm still trying to get my digital camera to focus up close on things. It's quite tricky.

Daniel, try to mix the putty with a little bit of nail polish remover.

QUOTE: Daniel, try to mix the putty with a little bit of nail polish remover

Thank for the tip mate. I'll give it a go.

MACooke - The wheel well looks good, and the wash turned out nicely. It really gives it some depth.

Wow, for a Hasegawa kit, this thing does not fit very well. Case in point: the forward intake "lips" which sort of help blend the upper and lower halves together. Except that tons of PUTTY are used to blend everything together!

Look at these:

Looks like the academy kit. Except that the seems are on the underside on the Aca kit. This GB should't be called the F-14 Tomact Group build. It should be called the "filling and sanding group build".

pingtang: you got that right! At least you only have seams on one side - the Has. kits have 'em all around.

I wonder what an F-14 would look like wearing USAF camo, SEA 4-color? (Grey under w/ green/green/tan on top) Hmmmm....theoretical "what-if's"...

my cat is going well, i would post progress pics but MACooke has posted progress pics already, and mine look identical to his - surprise surprise cos we are both working on the same 1/48 hasegawa kit. i havent been highly motivated to do much work on it lateley cos im kinda tired, but hopefully i can show some cockpit shots before monday

Here's mine - 1/72 Italeri / Kitech re-box

Just awaiting Decals and final weathering.

Hey skii, that 'Cat looks great! Pre-shaded panel lines?

armorman, I'm having trouble finding resin primer. Anyone besides Gunze Sangyo make it? Thanks.

QUOTE: Originally posted by MACooke Hey skii, that 'Cat looks great! Pre-shaded panel lines? armorman, I'm having trouble finding resin primer. Anyone besides Gunze Sangyo make it? Thanks.

Thanks MACooke - post shaded only, just base colour and the middle of each panel sprayed a lighter colour .

Looking great skii. The shading looks awesome. I might try some post shading on my cat. Any tips? And, do you think there is any advantage over pre-shading? I imagine you'd have more control over the outcome.

Thanks for the pics.

QUOTE: Originally posted by pingtang Looking great skii. The shading looks awesome. I might try some post shading on my cat. Any tips? And, do you think there is any advantage over pre-shading? I imagine you'd have more control over the outcome. Thanks for the pics.

Hi Pingtang

I prefer to post shade mainly because I just don't trust my ability to pre-shade, I use a very cheap airbrush with cans of compressed air - I'm pleased to actually get paint to come out of the nozzle some nights - anyway its difficult to get the paint mix and consistency right, thus hard to paint the fine black panel outline and then thin coats necessary to paint the pre-shade effect.

I find it far simpler to simply paint an all over base coat, then on the finest setting possible 'dust' each panel centre a lighter shade, a coat of future/clear and a wash, and thats me done :)

Maybe one day when I get a nice Iwata and compressor I'll try the pre-shade route, but this method seems to serve me ok in the mean time!