Grumman Iron Works Group Build

Aggieman wrote:

Paul, another great looking Cat! My sympathies for your airbrush issues.  If you want to finish the two builds you mentioned after the GB deadlines passes, that is fine with me.  I will still post them as completed builds for this GB.

That would be cool. Testors said I should get a replacement in a week or two, so hopefully I should have em done soon

Paul, another great looking Cat!

My sympathies for your airbrush issues.  If you want to finish the two builds you mentioned after the GB deadlines passes, that is fine with me.  I will still post them as completed builds for this GB.

Got one more.....

This is an Academy Tomcat from the original boxing. I used CAM decals for the VF-102 markings. This model was built in Nov 07, and was originally intended for the Tomcat GB, though it missed the deadline by a few days.

My airbrush is out of commission right now....so unless Testors overnights me a replacement, I doubt I am going to be able to finish the Italeri and last 32nd scale Revell. I might be able to get the Fujimi Tomcat finished, as I had intended on using a rattle can for the all white finish.

Paul,

Thanks for the kit review.  I do have the CAM cockpit for one of my planes, and I also have the Eduard photoetch set for both planes.  I have no idea when I will get around to building one or both, but you have gotten me to thinking about them once again.  I also have the CAM "D" model upgrade set as I plan on making the origingal Tamiya kit into a late model cat.

As far as your photo is concerned, the lower aircraft reminds me more of what I used to see on the flight decks of my ships.  Lots of touch-up spots on different panels.  There used to be a guy in my model club that was involved with aircraft maintenance, and he explained how the touch-ups were a normal part of airframe maintenance, and it was only every five years or so that a plane would be repainted.  Of course the CAG aircraft were kept nice looking, but the rest of the planes in each squadron looked pretty worked over.

1:48th Academy F-14A Tomcat

This is from Academy's "Bombcat" release. It includes the newer NACA gunvent, LAU-138A/A BOL Chaff rails, LAU-138 rails, BRU-32 bomb rails, LANTIRN, GBU-31, GBU-24 as well as updated front gear doors to include newer ECM buldge. The tails have been updated to include stiffener plates. Though the base molds are the same, the new parts are a HUGE improvement over the original Academy kit from the 1980s

Gonna end this GB with a bang!

Here is the Academy Tomcat almost complete. I am waiting on the white parts to dry, and then waiting 24 hours for the MM acrylic to cure before applying a coat of future. Still shooting for early next week completion...you can't really tell from this shot, but I did an extensive "patch work" paint on the top. Used 3 different shades of grey. Also, when masking certain areas, I didn't press the tape down all the way. So I had seapage under the tape. I did this on purpose. I then went back over the seapage with the base color...this came out splotchy and a slightly darker shade of the base light ghost grey...just like a jet on the carrier deck

Here is the second Academy Tomcat.....

Just need to paint the skunk stripe and then some detail painting. Should be done sometime next week.

Hey Scott,

In my opinion, the Revell kit cannot be beat. The cockpit is very good right out of the box whereas the Tamiya kit requires an aftermarket resin 'pit....unless they did some serious retooling, the Tamiya kit has decal instrument panels. Also....the aforementioned raised panel lines. Not that big of a deal to rescribe when you are building a 48th or 72nd scale kit....but in this big scale, I could build two Revell's in the time it would take to rescribe the Tamiya. And of course....the price tag....the Revell kits can be found between 30-50 bucks while the Tamiya hovers around the 150-175 range.

Both kits are A models, so that is a push....I do beleive some of the later boxings of the Tamiya kit do include a newer NACA gunvent and some other goodies.

I am shooting for something like this for the VF-24 build.....

Paul,

Please post any photos of the well-weathered Tomcat, as I have been thinking about doing the same with one of my Tamiya kits some time. 

I am also wondering, how does the 1/32 Revell kit compare with Tamiya's?  I know that folks have always complained about the half-and-half mix of recessed and raised panel lines on Tamiya's kits. 

John,

yeah it's certainly getting that way....I don't think I could ever get tired of building Tomcats!

The Academy build I finished a couple weeks ago had some different colored panels and lines. The reference I saw from the VF-21 aircraft was more or less an overall color with not much changes. As it was the CAGs bird, they kept it painted in pretty much the same color....it was painted in a gloss gull grey, which was much easier to maintain. The real discoloration happens on the TPS painted aircraft....that paint job seems to be next to impossible to maintain at sea, so you end up with about 50 shades of grey on the aircraft. The next big scale Tomcat I am doing (which may or may not get finished in time) is a VF-24 Renegades bird in TPS....that one will look like it took a detour through Sherman Williams

DONE!

Here is the second 1:32nd scale Revell F-14A Tomcat.

VF-21 Freelancers

Paint was done using MM flat gull grey with MM gloss black on the tails and ventral fins and MM flat black on the skunk stripe. Weathering was done with pastel chalk ground into a powder and mixed two parts water to one part powder. I left the weathering solution dry over night to make sure I got a good base. Then, with a paper towel and a few Q-tips wiped it in the direction of airflow. Then, I followed it up with Tamiya Weathering Master Set B "soot". The helmets were spares from a couple 1:32nd scale Hasegawa kits in the stash. The instrument panel cowlings were covered with kleenex tissue and then painted brown to provide a canvas appearance.

Thanks Scott. To be completely honest (I know many will take this as blasphemy...) I am not a huge fan of the Hasegawa Tomcat. It is WAY over engineered, and I have found the moldings to be horrible. They have more flash than an early 80's Revell kit, and I have actually seen places where there wasn't enough plastic to fill the mold and the plastic is so thin you can almost see through it. Not worth the 60-80 dollars they are charging for them...plus 17 to 20 just to get weapons. With a little patience and some hard work, the other guys make a damn good Tomcat.

Anyway....here are some post decals pics of the latest 1:32nd scale Tomcat...

Here is the Academy 1:48th.....This one is the "Bombcat" boxing...

It comes with BOL rails for the Phoenix pallets.

And finally....the Italeri Tomcat....

Paul,

Again I compliment you on your fine work!

I typically stick to 1/72 when it comes to Tomcats, but I do have the "Vandy 1" Hasegawa release in 1/48 as well as both the first and second release 1/32 Tamiya kits.  I built the Monogram kit in 1/48 several years ago when it was first reissued with a small fret of photoetched parts.  Thanks for letting me know a little more about the Academy kit, and who knows, maybe one day I will add it to my ever-growing stash.

Just got home from work to find the wife and kid gone out for a bit of shopping...time to hit the work bench!

Here is some close ups on the finished "canvas" and cockpit....

tinted the front windscreen with Tamiya clear green....

Aggieman wrote:

Wow Paul, I'm thinking you should be the resident expert on F-14 kits!  Are you wanting to add all of these additional kits into the GB?  And is this latest big scale the Revell kit?

yeah, I've heard that. I am doing "The Tomcat Project" over at the ARC site...it's a 1:48th scale comparison build using 5 of the 6 manufacturers...I was unable to find the old Revell Tomcat (and from what I have heard, not being able to find it was the best thing that could happen).

I would like to add at least the latest 32nd scale and the Academy and Italeri 48th scale.....the Fujimi will be a bonus if it gets finished in time.

Thanks Andrew!

The Tomcat makes for an awesome model subject, and since there was so many cool schemes it is hard to run out of different markings.

To prove that....here is another 32nd Tomcat coming to a finish...

I have just attached the tissue to the instrument coamings using white glue. Once it dried, I trim it down and paint the tissue brown...this will give it a nice textured look that will look like canvas. Once I finish that, I just need to attach the windscreen, give it a good coat of future and bring out the decals.....this will be a mid 90's bird, so I am going to make this one quite a bit dirtier than the last big scale one I did.....I hope to also have another Academy 48th scale and Italeri 48th scale and maybe a Fujimi 48th scale finished in time for the GB.

Paul outstanding work there.  Tomcats are so cool. Can't wait to get one.

More Power Scotty wrote:

Paul, Not that I need another Tomcat kit in my stash (or probably any kit according to my spouse ), but I am curious as to how well the Academy kit went together.  Your finished product looks very nice indeed! I arrived on the Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1986 during an overhaul and the ship was just transitioning from the A-7 to the F/A-18.  At the time, I thought that the Hornet was "the" plane (probably because they were new).  That alure started to fade when I watched my first air operations.  When an F/A-18 is sitting on the catapult ready to launch, it shakes violently with the wing tips moving up and down about a foot.  When a Tomcat was in the same position, it sat as steady as a rock!  I am glad that I served when there were still so many Grumman planes onboard, and the airwing was still made up of the same aircraft when I arrived on the Abraham Lincoln.  The Hornet was a great replacement for the A-7, but it is only a partial replacement for the Intruder, Tomacat, and soon to follow Prowler.  I keep thinking of eventually building an F/A-18 with a kit-bashed E-2 radar dome on top for the future nothing but F/A-18 airwing the Navy seems to be heading towards.

Scott....if you have ever built the Revellogram Tomcat, then you will feel right at home on the Academy kit. You can employ many of the same tricks, like removing the gear from the wings and notching the end so you can fit them after putting the fuselage together. I do prefer them over the R/M kits because they are well detailed, come with a good assortment of weapons and gas tanks. The "Bombcat" boxing includes new NACA stype gun vents and tail stiffener plates on the vertical tails. It also has many of the later bumps and lumps like the GPS dome and bumped nose gear door. The nice thing about the Bombcat box is it can be updated to a "B" or "D" with no resin....just some spare parts from a Revell kit and some clever putty work and you are in biz.

Plus, you can get two of them for what a Hasegawa headache...oops, meant kit, would cost you

Paul,

Not that I need another Tomcat kit in my stash (or probably any kit according to my spouse ), but I am curious as to how well the Academy kit went together.  Your finished product looks very nice indeed!

I arrived on the Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1986 during an overhaul and the ship was just transitioning from the A-7 to the F/A-18.  At the time, I thought that the Hornet was "the" plane (probably because they were new).  That alure started to fade when I watched my first air operations.  When an F/A-18 is sitting on the catapult ready to launch, it shakes violently with the wing tips moving up and down about a foot.  When a Tomcat was in the same position, it sat as steady as a rock!  I am glad that I served when there were still so many Grumman planes onboard, and the airwing was still made up of the same aircraft when I arrived on the Abraham Lincoln.  The Hornet was a great replacement for the A-7, but it is only a partial replacement for the Intruder, Tomacat, and soon to follow Prowler.  I keep thinking of eventually building an F/A-18 with a kit-bashed E-2 radar dome on top for the future nothing but F/A-18 airwing the Navy seems to be heading towards.

Here is the Academy Tomcat.....

Decals are Aeromaster "Anytime Babe! Pt. VI" using the VF-14 Tophatters markings from Desert Storm. Paint was MM acrylics, dark ghost grey over light ghost grey.

Weathering is dark grey pastel chalk mixed with water and some liquid soap (1 part chalk powder to 2 parts water). As this is a Desert Storm era Tomcat, I wanted it to look like it just flew through a crap storm, so I applied the wash to it once and wiped it right away. That gave me a good base of dirtiness. Then, after a couple of days I came back. I had left the solution in the cup and let the water evaporate a bit, leaving a dark sludge of chalk powder on the bottom. I then covered the entire model with this thicker "wash" and let it dry completely. After a couple hours, I came back and wiped it off, making sure to go with the airflow.

August 31 is still a long way off....I *may* not be done yet.....=)

Scott, thanks for the info...I have been eyeing that kit at the LHS for some time. I think I have a reason to pick it up now.

Thanks for the words on the Tomcats.

I think you don't even need to have served, if you are a naval aviation buff, how can you have anything but a soft spot for Grumman? There was a while there in the 80's where almost everything on a carrier deck was Grumman. I just wish that I had gotten my A-6 and EA-6B kits sooner, I would have loved to build them for this build.

raptordriver,

Nice job on the Wildcat!  Is that the 1/32 or the 1/48 scale version?  I have both of the Revell-Monogram kits in my stash (as well as the 1/48 Tamiya and 1/32 Trumpeter kits).  Considering we went to war with those planes, their durability kept us in the fight.  Also, being a former carrier sailor, I have a soft spot for all Grumman aircraft.