Farewell F-14 Tomcat Group Build - Start now, ends 12/31/07

Hey thanks for the links and pics Chris, great stuff. I have a few books for reference and the documentary aired on the History channel 'Modern marvels - F-14'. Its well worth checking out if you're a tomcat fan and an get hold of it. I have also been getting pics from www.airliners.net. There is some great stuff there I have found.

I am planning on using the grim reapers decal sets that came with the hasegawa kit on both models. The set with the grim reaper on the tail fin and teeth on the nose for the hasegawa kit and the other set for the academy. cockpit, I will read through the material you guys have directed me to and show you my progress.

 Dont worry mph34, no lawsuits ;) glad I found this forum/thread and a whole bunch of people building the same aircraft.

 I have done quite a bit on the academy kit and I can see what you are saying, the hasegawa kit seems a lot more involved, but I will take my time with it and see how it goes. I can always build another one later ;)

cheers

Silentmodeler,

Your tomcat is looking good so far.  

My only comment is that you need to make sure that the dark grey pieces behind the wings end up with a dull coat on them when you are finished.  The areas are actually pieces of canvas on the real planes, and are never glossy.   

As far as the weathering is concerned, it depends on how beat-up you want the plane to appear.  The service crews rarely painted the entire planes, but for erosion/corrosion control would repaint chipped and worn areas with whatever paint was available.  If you want to show a plane that has seen a lot of service, you can really go overboard just on this process.  The plane that I was modelling was the CAG plane for the squadron, and those aircraft were usually pretty clean compared to the rest in the squadron.  I remember the plane being the first one that I saw onboard the ship that was not "dingy" and beat-up in appearance; as compared to the ones I had seen on the Eisenhower.  On my model I simply used an oil wash to show some minimal weathering, and to accent the panel lines.

Looking at the photos that have come out since the tomcat squadrons began to dwindle away, it appears that many squadrons were able to repaint at least some of their planes; making them look as good as new before retirement. 

Ish,

Nice job on the cockpit and forward wheel well.   What did you use for the off-white on the cable bundles?  It looks very convincing!

Thanks for the compliment, Scotty.  If I recall, & its been about a year since I painted that, I thinks its just plain old radome tan mixed with a little white. I've been meaning to dirty it up a little using pencil graphite.  Hopefully, I'll do that today.

Ish 

This where I stopped on the Monogram VF-11 build.  I think the best way to reproduce the look of clear or colored lenes is with clear or colored styrene.  I've never seen paint  really produce the right look for lights  to my satisfaction, so I added clear red styrene to both anti-smash lights on the tails.  Next, I'll mask off the red area for the fin flash, & paint the tail gull grey, & do a little touch up paint where the white is showing around the light.

I added some styrene tubing to spread out the fuselage for a better fit, & less sanding.

You can also see more of the colored styrene I added for the upper nav lights.  I figured it was easier to just ad a small rectangular piece, & then mask off the shape of the light than it was to try & sand & file the styrene to small triangular shape of the light itself.  I think I might have to try paint next time...  Here is another shot showing the lights.

You see the white lines behind the RIO's seat?  Well, that was another idea gone bad.  This was well before I bought the DACO book.   I was wanting to dress up that particular area (I don't remember why now), & I took a look at both the BB & Aries pits.  Well, the Aries pit has what looks like structural beams there, where the BB pit is flat, with just rivet heads for the most part .  I thought, cool, those beams can be made with styrene strips.  Fast forward to getting the DACO book, which has pics of that area, & guess (Aries) which pit (Aries) got it WRONG (Aries!). So I go looking around the web for pics of that area to see if it was an early A model that Aries based their pit of off.  Nope. I found better pics of that area in the walk around section of ARC.  Shiznit.  I just sanded the strips down flush with the rest of the deck.

Here's the MLG leg that I reinforced with the paper clip. I've built several of the Monogram kit since the early 80's, &  that little freaking plastic locater pin at the top of the gear leg can very easily get broken off if you aren"t careful.  Ask me how I know. I  drilled a small hole in the fuselage for new metal pin go through.  I just need to cut some more of it off. Don't think it will break now. 

Moving on to the Hasegawa VF-101 build, this is as far as I have gotten besides the cockpit.

AD 160 was not carrying any flares in any of the pics I've seen of the underside after it was painted in the retro  scheme, so I'm filing the area out, & will blank it off with styrene sheet.  The thin area of the MLG bay where the strut part goes needs another coat of white paint.  The fwd part of the well I've already weathered a bit with a sharp pencil.     Here's the other view.

I'm not going to be able to hit the bench till Monday (killer work schedule), so I hope to have some more pics in about two weeks.  I'll still be checking the boards every day though.

 Scratchbuilt, I replied to you PM.   

Ish

Your builds are looking great Ish. I took some pics of my hase cockpit, thats as far as I have got on that one. I will get some pics of the academy one soon.

I am building the Hasa 'F-14D VF101 Grim Reapers' 1:48 kit. I started filling some of the gaps even though you don't really see this area on the sides when finished, but I am practising I suppose.

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My first attempt at painting the cockpit was a disaster, I had nearly finished it and had a thinners accident :P

I stripped the paint off best I could and re painted it. The pilots instrument panel is just resting in its place in the pictures.

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There a few little details still to go on, but thats most of the cockpit finished. I was wondering should I spray a clear coat on it? I have found out that the Australian eqalivent of 'future' is 'Johnson's Pledge one go'. Or at least I have been told that it is the same. Should I give it a light coat of that? I know there are plenty of problems with it, but its the most complex of the few I have built, the others being WWII. I will have the canopy closed, so I am reasonably satisfied with how it turned out.

 happy building everyone

sb

I think you did a pretty good job on the pit, Scratch. I'd leave it as is.  The pits were always flat, no gloss coat needed.  Only other comment, which may not be worth worriyng about at this point, is that the pit looks kind of a blueish gray, instrad of the normal, more nuetral looking  dark gull gray these pits are normally painted in.  Heck, it might just be the flash.

Ish

Ishthe47guy wrote:

I think you did a pretty good job on the pit, Scratch. I'd leave it as is.  The pits were always flat, no gloss coat needed.  Only other comment, which may not be worth worriyng about at this point, is that the pit looks kind of a blueish gray, instrad of the normal, more nuetral looking  dark gull gray these pits are normally painted in.  Heck, it might just be the flash. Ish

I'd second Ish's comments.  You have done a nice job there.  I wouldn't apply the Future .  Again, the cockpits are dull and flat; and since you are going to have the cockpit closed, any effects that the Future would provide will be lost. 

Thanks for the comments guys, I kind of overdid it a bit. I mean I kept trying to improve it and I dont think I have the skill yet to get the look I see a lot of people getting. It probably looked better when I painted the tub and panels and then did a dry brush over the panels. That looked pretty good, but I reckon you just have to try to imitate the great stuff you see and hope one day you get as good as good.

As for the colour, I think the flash is making it look much bluer than it really is. A lot of reference pics I have seem to have a blue/grey colour, not as bright as say an early MiG, but they did look blueish. Here is a pic without the flash, its not the best but it looks closer to the actual colour I painted it. It was a colour I mixed myself using tamiya enamels. Hopefully it will look better when fitted when you can only see parts of the blue/grey.

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I was wondering what paints you guys use? The guy at the shop where I bought this model told me a lot of people like the vajello acrylics. I like the sound of using acrylic, I hear its faster drying and quicker to clean up than enamels? I have also bought myself an airbrush, its an aztec, I wanted double action and I like the idea of the changebale nozzles. I was an auto painter for a few years in a previous life and the aztec really appealed to me. But I have found that shooting thin enamel through the general purpose acrylic nozzle sometimes produces spattering. I can almost adjust it out, I am hoping a more suitable tip will do the trick.

I should probablly take all my questions to another post, sorry, back to the tomcats! 

cheers

scratchbuilt wrote:

Thanks for the comments guys, I kind of overdid it a bit. I mean I kept trying to improve it and I dont think I have the skill yet to get the look I see a lot of people getting. It probably looked better when I painted the tub and panels and then did a dry brush over the panels. That looked pretty good, but I reckon you just have to try to imitate the great stuff you see and hope one day you get as good as good. As for the colour, I think the flash is making it look much bluer than it really is. A lot of reference pics I have seem to have a blue/grey colour, not as bright as say an early MiG, but they did look blueish. Here is a pic without the flash, its not the best but it looks closer to the actual colour I painted it. It was a colour I mixed myself using tamiya enamels. Hopefully it will look better when fitted when you can only see parts of the blue/grey. I was wondering what paints you guys use? The guy at the shop where I bought this model told me a lot of people like the vajello acrylics. I like the sound of using acrylic, I hear its faster drying and quicker to clean up than enamels? I have also bought myself an airbrush, its an aztec, I wanted double action and I like the idea of the changebale nozzles. I was an auto painter for a few years in a previous life and the aztec really appealed to me. But I have found that shooting thin enamel through the general purpose acrylic nozzle sometimes produces spattering. I can almost adjust it out, I am hoping a more suitable tip will do the trick. I should probablly take all my questions to another post, sorry, back to the tomcats!  cheers

No problem with all the questions.  That is how we all learn.  Remember, the only stupid question is the question not asked.

I use acrylic paints almost 90% of the time.  The only time I don't use them is if there is a color that I need that isn't available in arcylics.  My arcylics are about 40% Tamiya; 40% Polly Scale; 20% Model Master.  They each have pluses and minuses; but I'd say I lean more to the Polly Scale line.  I have had better results with both the brush and the airbrush.  The clean-up is ALOT easier as well.  I have only started using a little Windex with the clean-up (from someone's suggestion here on the Forum).  Seems to take less work to clean the brushes.  I have not had a chance yet to see how it cleans up the airbrush....  The one thing to keep in mind is that arcylics dry faster than you might be used to.

ish and scratchbuilt,  nice job on the tomcats!    really enjoy looking at the pictures and the comments you all made  im still learning about tomcats since its all time my favorite jet fighter. 

As for paint,  i mostly use model masters/testors  but im starting to like tamyia paints since it works pretty good. 

hello all

Im working on my flight deck in the catapult section since i need a break from decals on the tomcat. I was looking at different carriers flight deck for weathering and i didnt know that carriers do have 4 catapult section   since i can find 4 JBD on USS Abraham Linclon. 

the lines for the catapult section is 2 striaght white lines?

heres the link so you know what i mean

http://www.navysite.de/cvn/cvn72_5.htm

Scotty  since i know u used to service on some of the carriers or anyone else,  where on the carriers do mostly jets take off?  by the big number such as 65, 72, and so on or by the landing strips area?  let me know  thanks  wish me luck on weathering

 Silent, if you look closely at the deck, the crew is spelling out "RIMPAC 2006".  The #3 JBD is right under the bottom of the "C" & "2". You can see the track for the #3 cat leading away from it. As for the #4, take a look at the #3 track again.  Notice there is another cat track converging on it? That's the #4 cat track.  Follow that track aft, & at the end of it , there is a space in the deck, then a much smaller rectangle.  That rectangle is the #4 JBD. The answer to your other question can be found on the same site: http://www.navysite.de/cvn/deck.htm.

Ish, a fellow New Yorker

Hope everything else is going good in your life, man. I'm cramming of sorts, trying to get this & any other modeling project done in the time I have left remianing before I head back to the sandbox for another year.

Scratch, check your e-mail.  I sent the pics using another email addy.

Ish 

Ish and Scratch,

 Nice job on the cats so far!

As far as your questions go scratch, I agree with the consensus in that the cockpit should be flat in appearance, with the exception of the display screens.  I use almost nothing but acrylic paints these days on my vehicle kits (I still like Humbrol enamels for figures) except for colors not available, and the Model Master metalizer line of paints.  Model Master is the most available line of paints in my area, so I use them the most, and I think that since their acryl line came out, they have the best acrylic paint available.  I do have some Tamiya colors and a few Gunze paints as well.  These paints seem to airbrush fine, but I have had limited success applying them with a brush for small pieces and touch-up work, where the MM line seems to work just fine. 

Silentmodeler,

So you are basing your model on my old ship.  Nice choice!

The flightdecks in the photos are mostly weathered to the point that it is difficult to see all of the colors.  The other link that was provided by Ish shows a few examples that are easier to see.  Anyway, I think that the lines you are mentioning are the ones that denote the landing area (they start at the aft end of the ship and run off the flight deck at the forward end of catapults 3 and 4).  There are actally several lines there as you have double lines on the sides and a single line down the center (which is typically sectioned with white and yellow areas).  In some of the photos, you will see a red and white line which is next to the catapults themselves, and are used as safety lines to keep people clear of the catapults when in service.

The planes (remember, there are still propellor driven E-2C Hawkeyes and C-2 Providers in service) take off from any of the four catapults, depending on what else is going on.  Again, the link is useful in showing different configurations that are used.  For the most part, the flight operations that I watched were made by launching from number 1 and 2 cats so that recoveries could occur at the same time.  If there were aircraft parked forward, cats 3 and 4 would get the business, and on a few occasions we were launching just about everything at once, which required the use of all 4 cats to expedite things.  What does all of this mean to you?  Pick a cat, any cat, and go with it! 

I hope that this helped in some small way, and good luck with the weathering!

thanks Scott,

I have experimented with a few different paints so far. I have found tamiya enamels brush on really well if thinned heavily with shellite. This is basically lighter fluid but cheaper to buy buy the litre. It dries very fast and only works with the flat paints not gloss. I have found its great for brushing on small parts.

Well, I finally got a weekend off from work, a three day no less, so I hit the bench.  I concentrated on completing the boat tail. Since I'm modeling the aircraft at a particular, well-documented instance (its' last flight), I removed the molded-in flare dispenser detail by first drilling a hole in the center, then squared it out with jewelers files.  I just had to add a piece of styrene to cover the openings to finish off.   I glued all three speed brake panels shut (not a huge fan of them being opened on the ground anyway), and put the top & bottom halves together.  The stabs are just in there to see how much of a gap there is between them & the fuselage  Only other thing I got done today was filling & sanding the seams on the left side. 

Not a whole lot of progress, but progress none the less. 

Chris Ish

ish

great processing smiles! 

as for mine   finally got started on the flight deck since the past weeks   i had serveral guest staying over night which put me into halt from doing my projects.   now im free bird lol.  im almost done with my tomcat   just need to put up the missiles and the windows and finish up the decals.  will post up some pictures soon.

Whenever I can, I use clear colored styrene for lights. I think it looks better than paint in this scale. It adds the 3rd dimension that paint can't. The downside is that its not dark enough, especially the green.

The left flap was a real PITA. I had to file down the leading edge of the flap section to get it to go into the wing.

The right went in without much hassle, but I screwed something up..

I didn't clamp it well enough, & the flap moved out from the wing, & left that gap on the inboard section. I also forgot to fill in the actuator cutouts.

You can see the goof a little better in this pic.

Top looks ok though.

Ish

Ish,

 I have a suggestion on the green navigation lights.  Overcoat the light with Tamiya clear green (or an equivalent).  If the color is not dark enough for you (I'm sure that you know when turned off, the lights look nearly blue in color), you can add Tamiya clear blue.  I think that the Model Master Acryl line also has these clear colors.  If you go back and look at the photos of my finished Tomcat, that is what I used (clear green and clear red over the kit supplied clear light pieces).  This is one instance where I have had good success with brushing on Tamiya paints, and I have been using it for my navigation lights for the past several years.

Scotty, that sounds like a great idea!  I've got Tamiya clear Red, Blue & Green in my paint drawer.  I'll try it 2nite.

Ish, never too old to learn another trick 

Hey, I'm glad to see another participant.  Welcome.

Just out of curiosity, when you say F-14A+, do you actually have decals that actully say F-14A+ over the Buno? Those are kind of rare. 

Chris Ish 

jimz66 wrote:

Ok I am going to build an F-14D and an F-14A+ Both from Hasegawa and should finish around the time the GB is done. At least I hope. As far as scale 1/48 as it is all I build as for markings TBD I am not sure yet. I  am going to attempt at some minor cockpit and bomb rack scratchbuilding. May use a couple of kits that I have already slightly begun to save some time. Again not sure on the Markings. May or may not be retro birds.

  I got you posted on the list of builders.  Look forward to seeing your work.  Maybe you will get some of us into gear on our projects..... (starting with the guy that got this GB started)

off the point

since i know some of you are served in the miliarty.  I have grandpa who was served in world war 2,  how can i find the information about him?  since my family told me he was with the tank but they dont know what kind or the name of tank he was in. (since i would like to build a model of tank that my grandpa was in)

wondering if any one of you can help me out how to contact the Army about the information on my grandpa  is there a email address or do i have to write a formal letter and mail it to someone?   you can pm me anytime   thanks