1/32 F-14D Super Tomcat WIP

Lol, I think so too, I think the Tomcat is the only western jet to have the menacing presence of the Flanker or Fulcrum, other western fighters to me always looked somewhat friendly, do you know what I mean? Perhaps it's because I grew up with western aircraft around when my dad was in the army. Who knows?

Friendly?   Hell, son; that's the sound of freedom!   (sorry, I had to get that out- its an American thing)

It certainly has a more organic shape and flow than it's F-15/F-18 brethren.   I think it has a slightly bulkier shape and more predatory character than the Flanker.  

I think from a head on approach those three Flanker, Fulcrum and Tomcat do have a very aggressive look, I never got that from any other aircraft. F-16, Mirage 2000, Tornado, F-15, etc.... Those first three are like the alpha male versions of aircraft, an unforgiving look.

I got a little work done the last few hours...  mostly just basic painting.

Last night I hand painted the resin wheels and wells with MM panzer grey as primer (it was conveniently on hand) and shadow base and then let them dry so I could paint them gloss white today.   I wasn't too concerned with good painting technique so much as filling in the dark voids so the white paint would stand out better...

Early this morning I airbrushed the wheels flat black and the wells flat white and later this afternoon I used gloss white to finish off the wells and hubs.   I'm going to let these cure for a few days before I start detail painting.   Looking at the reference pics, theres a ton of detail and not a lot of color to these areas.

And finally I hand painted the main cockpit pieces flat black so I can throw some grey on them tomorrow.

looking relly good so far. great start!

Dre I have always wanted since I really got into model building, to use a resin cockpit let us know hpw the fit is, and also who makes that resin cockpit you are using?

Dean, all the resin used in this kit will be from Aires.   Brilliant stuff and highly recommended.  

So far the fit is tight, possibly too tight, and just a little off.   The cockpit tub rests directly on top of the nose wheel well and both are used to locate and place the other.   I think that I've done the major trimming and grinding to get them both inside the fuselage halves, but some plastic thinning may be needed.

The NACES seats don't really fit as well they ought to- they're just 'in there'.

And today's work consisted of airbrushing the cockpit tub, sidewalls and RIO center console dark gull grey, followed by a casual shading of higher wear areas and highlights with a lightened mix of the grey.

The IP clusters, rear deck and canopy frame were painted flat black and then a list misting of panzer grey was added to highlight areas to break up the black.  I usually don't use extreme shading percentages when I paint, so some of the effects are barely discernible now and will be most likely gone by the time I start weathering.

I'm going to let these parts and the wheel wells cure for a few days before I start getting in there and painting the details.  

I've gotta say the comparison between the resin and plastic is like night and day, that detail is incredible.

In 1/32, I'd say the choice is obvious, even over PE...  shame that 90% of the wells are just variations of white.  

Really? I would have thought there would be a multitude of wires to paint various colours?

Actually, you don't want a lot of color in there.  "Skydraul" (a brand name now as generic as Kleenex) is tinted red so that leaks will "show"

Which is also why the panel rabbets on naval a/c are red, so that the open doors/panels would be visible in a white on white on white work environment.

Or, so I've been told --brownshoes have been known to pull a blackshoe's leg when they think they can get away with it.  (ABM occasionally forgetting that the Deck Department has a bunch of layabouts who can be put to work with needleguns to chip paint . . . berthing compartment paint, for instance <G>)

Last night's work consisted of doing some simple seam work on all the wing assemblies that I built up last week.

Since the fit of the parts is so good and clean, there's actually very little clean-up to be done, but I do like to be thorough...   A mix of white and green putties thinned with MEK was lightly brushed onto all the seams and join lines that needed it.  Once fully cured (say about 2 days, given the humidity) I can go back and begin wet sanding and polishing these areas.

this shows the seam filling on the leading edge of the wings- this will be hidden by the flaps but I thought the area needed that extra effort.   I used strips of masking tape to mark off the area I wanted to fill and then added the putty mix.

I also began a rough seam sanding and putty spotting on the 2 drop tanks as well as some putty work on 2 AIM-54's.   I chose the two missiles  (out of 6 total) that had the cleanest join seams to be used on the model..   A little wet sanding and polishing and these will be ready to paint and use.

Slow and thorough is the way to go...

What does wet sanding do that normal does not?

It doesn't rough up and score the surface quite as badly as dry sanding, in fact it is closer to polishing than sanding.

I've found that it's just easier and quicker to wet sand pretty much everything, and it gives a better result.

If you look closely as the drop tanks, you'll see the roughed up areas where I started with 400 grit sandpaper- smooth, but not deeply scored by the abrasives.   Once I work out the putty, I'll go over the entire thing with finer grits until it's uniform.

Ah right I see, I heard a story today from a frien who was the manager of the old model shop in Belfast, there was this customer years ago, well many years he was a tradesman had his own company, a millionaire, in fact he actually tiled some of Saddam Husseins palaces of all things, anyway this guy wanted to buy a radio controlled helicopter for he father, only he was going to fly it. He was meeting the guy who owned the shop who competed in world championships in something to do with radio controlled aircraft. So he was meeting Des (the owner) and learning to fly the helicopters and as he got better he decided to go and get the expensive helicopter, money was no object to this guy so he chose a massive Hughes 500 model, with literally every detail, and a turbojet engine the whole kit cost in excess of £10,000 the engine and rotors were £6000 so it was a pretty expensive piece of equipment. So the guy was supposed to meet Des in order to fly it outside, there are a few of disused military airfields around the country so model radio controlled aircraft are usually flown there. Anyhow the guy came in one day with bandages all over his arms to Kevin (the manager) angrily asking for Des, so Kevin was a bit confused as to why the guy was so annoyed but he said wait and he will be here soon. So Des arrives and the guy goes nuts calling him all sorts of names I cant say but not hard to think what, anyway Des takes the guy into his office and asks what happened. The guy said the helicopter nearly killed me, Des wondered how this happened as he was not supposed to use the helicopter until he met Des so he could learn how to properly fly it as it had more power than any other model he had flown. So the guy explains that he took his dad into the living room to show him the helicopter (the blades were 12ft and carbon fiber) and wanted to start the engine (I know what you're probably thinking) so he started the engine inside his house, an actual turbojet and obviously the blades were rotating, he gave the controls to his father who was about 80 and Des had on the controller a sticker saying to to touch the extra power switch (this gives the helicopter the boost needed to perform tricks). So what does the old man do? He hits the switch, the helicopter shoots up, smashes the lights, the carbon fibre rotors shatter, sending shrapnel of the former lights and blade everywhere in the living room, the helicopter drops and smashes into the floor, destroying a table, and what was left of the rotor blades was shredding up the carpet and spinning 6tf or so helicopter around the living room effectively destroying the entire contents of the room. In a panic the guy grabbed the helicopter which was working its way underground via his carpet and tried to grab the blades which were spinning (that's the reason for the bandages) putting him in A&E. I don't know how but he managed to stop the helicopter possibly using the controller I assume but he was asking for a refund and wanted Des to pay for the damage, basically the guy was to told to get lost for being so stupid.  I could not believe the story it was so funny! Thought I'd share it with you Dre, also thanks for the tip.

Nothing like bags of money and no common sense...  (kind of like building 1/32 jets!)

Back to wet sanding..  try it if you haven't, you'll wonder how you got by without it.

I know right lol, he also had a Ferrari 360 Modena, and the servicing charge? A normal service for a car, £12,000, but I suppose if you can afford the car you can afford the charge. Anyway thanks for the tip I will try it.

Eh..  If I had that kind of money, I'd probably have a few nice toys too! (certainly an Aston Martin Vanquish V-12 in the garage).

I'd be buying an Ex Russian AF Mig, and learning to fly it!

And sadly, it would probably be more reliable than the Vanquish.

Lol, well that's what happens when you buy a car made completely by hand! An Aston is a work of art, I mean every panel is shaped with a hammer! I would be the same as you only I would have the DB9.

I know a guy here in town who had a Vanquish- said it was the biggest PITA and would never run right due to electrical problems (Lucas, the Prince of Darkness??).   But man, what a sound when it did run right... like angels in ecstasy.

Lucas light switches have three positions; on, off and flicker. 

The company motto? 

"We invented darkness!"

Gary

The say that too about Alpha Romeo's that you have not experienced what a car can be until you own one, then go through the painful experience of everything breaking lol. A guy I know had a DB9, he drove it for a few years and he liked to put his foot down, but he forgot to top up the oil in the engine, a slight mistake lol, and he drove it from Portadown and completely shot the engine to s**t. So he got rid and bought a Bently continental instead which is one big fast car! But I always preferred the Aston, but like your friend, his was being fixed half the time he owned it as well.

I should play the lottery or be born rich...  

Born rich? Nah man, where would the satisfaction of actually saving and owning something you worked for be? Well they say money doesn't bring you happiness, it just buys you loads of stuff that does lol!

I've done a bit of clean up work last few nights on the previously assembled wings and weapons, primarily sanding and polishing seams and a little PE workout tonight.

After tonight's effort, here's a pile of ready to go plastic stuff.   There's enough plastic here to make several 1/32 kits...

oooh... shiny PE stuff.

it was kind of slow going placing all those access panels into place- I used a pencil to line up the little ones.  The leading edge dress up is very tasty- it should look great in red.

the edge flaps are big solid pieces with little clean up needed and they both get a bit of flash.  (edit to add- there's a ton of sink holes on the underside, but they'll be hidden when installed so I'm not going to do anything about them.)

since I was working on wings, I went ahead and added a slime light to the left stab.   I need to find some glow in the dark paint for these....

and finally..  this is why I wet sand and polish every seam I can reach these days....

Credit to Trumpeter so far- the molding and fit on the pieces I've used thus far has been fantastic.

I might start detail painting the wheel wells tomorrow ...

That's a fantastic looking kit of a beautiful aeroplane, she's going to look spectacular when you finish it!

Look at the detail with the photo etch Dre, if there is as much for the trailing edge flaps, I really would urge you to have the wings open. Space can be an after thought, I mean, I build 1/32 jets in a one bed city apartment so basically I am saying just build it in most elaborate fashion possible!