1/32 F-14D Super Tomcat WIP

This should be awesome! Where do you put such a beast??

Ah ha! So here it is lol, good to see this Dre, I am curious as to what kind of a kit it is (how good I mean) I will be watching with interest.

Dean, from what reviews I've read online, it seems to be a great kit and that Trumpeter has upped their game on this one.  I'm still a few days from actually beginning work, so we'll see.  But, if its anything like their other recent releases then it ought to be relatively easy to assemble.

Jester- "should be" is the operative phrase, lol.   I'll worry about storage later- (I'm trying to get some of my big birds into a local shop for display).  A friend just got the Airfix 1/24 Mosquito- now that's a BIG model.  

Looking forward to seeing this one,should be an impressive build

f14 tomcat freak- thaks for the heads-up on that.  Zactoman seems to be fixing a lot of Trumpeters molds- same intake issue with their 1/32 Su-27's.

What is off about the intakes?   I hadn't read of any issues with them...

Tojo72- I hope I can do all these parts the justice they deserve.   It should be a fun project in a short time frame.

If you build that Flanker anytime soon, I've got a Flanker family-only GB going.   I would be happy to have you join in.

I started it last year and it has no set end date, so jump on in.   My Su-27UB C got derailed by some bad paint issues around the engine panels.   I'm going to have to strip and sand them clean before I can move on with that one.

The GB is here:   http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/29/t/143692.aspx

ok cool. btw what paint was used on your engine panels?

A mix of both MM enamels and MM metalizers.   I was trying to mask the different panels for various heat effects, but the tape stuck too well to the paints and is now a part of the paints itself.   It really is ugly.

I use mm metalizers along with alclad.. try using post it notes as they are extremely low tack..another good choice would be frisket film

Lol, every time I try to use post-its for masking I just end up blowing them away...   I've never had Tamiya tape do this to paint and I laid on the masking tape after a full 2 weeks of curing the base colors.  Oh, it was a grand plan to include the Alclad clear colors too...

ik how you feel been down that road myself. just finished my Tamiya 1/32 f-15c I sprayed the fuselage with tamiya grey fine primer and the resin exhaust nozzles were primed using alclad white primer. I used my Tamiya tapes on both areas after the mm metalizer and alclad was used with no problems.. metal finishes are very thin and have very little bite to them. since I have been using primer I havnt had any issues.

Since I'm waiting on a reference book to arrive, I didn't start this build in the cockpit, but with the wings and other easy to glue assemblies...  so, last night's work.

main wings and flaps.   Still a lot of cleanup and seam work to do.   Really nicely molded parts and the leading edge flaps are molded in one piece, so no nasty seam work there.

rear stabs and tail fins, cleanup to still do..

AIM-54's and fuel tanks...  the molding on the weapons is just fantastic (I have no idea if accurate, though).

Trumpeter has done some really nice engineering on this kit- well above their usual efforts- and most of wing seams fall along natural panel lines and are on the underside of the wing!   Very little cleanup to do here.

Based on the little bit of work I've done, this is a fantastic kit and possibly the best effort by Trumpeter that I have in my stash.  

Loving your build so far. I have this model in my stash as well as the f-14b. Just wondering what reference book you're planning on using?

Tates, I'll be using "Uncovering the Grumman F-14 A/B/D Tomcat" unless it proves unsatisfactory.

I'm looking forward to this one Dre, can't wait to see what your skills can do.

Thanks, I'm just trying to keep my fingers out of glue-softened plastic.

Awesome project. Looking forward to see this build

Jester75

This should be awesome! Where do you put such a beast??

In the hangar bay of course!

If only I had such a display space...  

Is it gonna be wings forward, flaps down? Or flaps up so you can sweep the wings?

I built the Revell 1/32 tomcat years ago and it was huge, but I did mine in a 3 tone grey camouflage pattern as I thought it looked great but where to put such a model lol. I guess if we cared about such things we wouldn't buy them.

As of right now, I plan on doing flaps up and swept for display and storage...   let me dig through some photos to see if I can leave a little leading-edge flap drop.  I would like to leave just a hint of that red showing through the acres of grey paint.

I don't know if I have the weathering chops to show one that has been at sea...  wow, they're just filthy.

You know there are decals for some really colourful Tomcats, I remember seeing years ago in a magazine a picture of and F-14B or D I think D and it was in an immaculate 3 tone desert sand camouflage with a white belly. It looked superb, I think it was a splinter camouflage. If I see a picture I'll send it to this thread.

I appreciate that, but this one is going to be all grey with lo-vis markings...  but the Tomcatter's decals are nice.

Fair enough, I will be doing the Tomcatters, I like the Felix picture holding the cannon ball, the funny thing is, to me the F-14 has always been a grimy, dirty airplane and all grey, it never suited any other colour to me.

I know, right?   .

That's why I want to do the lo-vis decals- there's just acres of surface area to paint in an unappealing grey monotone and then weather.   The only color I want to see peeking is the red warning paint.

Using some of what I did to that Su-25's camo, I ought to enjoy painting this beast.  

We joked about weathering Russian aircraft, I think, judging from a quick look at photos, that an operational Tomcat may even exceed Ivan for dirtiest aircraft awards.