Hasegawa F-14A WIP (Finally Completed)

Oh thats a neat trick you did with the radar screens. Very nice.

The screens look awesome!

Toshi

Very cool!  The radar display looks very convinving!  I may have to try that...

Thanks for sharing Plasticjunkie! Are you using any AM parts? or all OOB? And very nice technique on the screens, I will be using that!

Thanks fellas!

Hogfanfs

this one is OOB except for the decals. The details are really nice but a bit over engineered with a high parts count.

Magnificent cockpit on one awesome subject. I've had a Hasie F-14 on my wishlist for quite some time. I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes in your able hands PJ.

Oh that looks to be off to a nice start. 

BK

Ah! My favorite plane, and one of my -second- favorite markings (after Jolly Rogers, of course).  Its a shame Wolfpack didnt survive the Superhornet transition.

I love the Pack as well. They were actually gone long before the Super Hornet transition. In 1993, the Navy decided to go with only one Tomcat squadron per airwing. The squadrons that were TARPS capable were usually the ones who survived, hence we still have VFA-2 Bounty Hunters but not VFA-1 Wolfpack. It would be great to see Wolfpack markings on an F-35!

Thanks again fellas and hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day.

Did some work to move this build along a bit. Got the rear fuselage together. It needed some putty to fix a not so good fit along the leading edges and rear sides. PPP was used and it dries within a few minutes.

Did I say not so good fit? The front fuselage and rear section do not match! I thought I screwed something up but several online build reviews verified I wasn't the only one with this problem. The top part of the join is almost a perfect match but the bottom belly side has a very visible step!

A partial solution is to use some scrap sprue as spreader bars to minimize the alignment problem. I cut some sprue pieces and carefully ued a sanding stick to get a fairly decent fit. The spreader bars were Tenaxed in place.

The step is almost gone. I could not get the fuselage to expand out any further.

The Aim 54 pallets will cover most of the small step.

I will go with two Aim 54s on the front belly pallets and one Aim 7 on the center rear station. The wing pylons will have Aim 54s and Winders.

Howdy Ernie,

Sure is great to see another WIP from you. I am learning much and TY for the info from your expert handy work. 

My modeling has been on hold for a little while. my "semi anual" job just ended after working 72 hrs this past week parking 6000 cars and trailers at the Daytona Speedway car show. Now for a little rest and back at my 1/48 HSG F-86 Mig Mad Marine I bought at the show.

That's coming along nicely.  I really like what you did with the radar displays.

Mike

Thanks Mike. Glad you like how the IPs came out.

Great to hear from you again JJ. Parking that many cars sounds like a huge udertaking. I'm certain you were more than happy to get done with that job.

This Hasegawa kit is a bit over engineered and a lot of things could have been simplified. For example, the nose gear is maded up of 12 parts, the mains are 8. The intakes is another bunch. Some parts fit good and others do not, requiring trimming and sanding. Usually Hasegawas have a good fit but this one requires a little help. None the less it's a great looking model.  

It's about ready for paint which I hope to get on by tomorrow. The tail fins did not line up either cause the mounting tabs were too long. I had to slice off a bit from each tab to make the fins properly fit on the rear fuselage.

Hasegawa does not include any weapons in the kit so their weapons set was used. The Aim54s were drilled for mounting pins made from stretched sprue. Corresponding holes were drilled on the pallets and wing pylon mounts.

I was very surprised and pleased to find the Aim54 pylon mounts included in the kit!

It looks different than the common Sparrow set up. A Sidewinder will be on the top rail.

The tanks, tail hook assembly and weapons were all assembled, sanded and polished and ready for paint. The kit includes several different chin pods ranging from early to late updated  A Tomcat.

I just need to add some small parts, mask the canopy and windscreen and it will be ready for some color.

Its funny, although I build mostly 1/72 I dont recall my 1/72 Hasegawa Cat to have had that front fuselage cross section mismatch (still, I built that mid-2000s, I think I should check my logs), but do remember that problem with the Academy kit.

Anyway, looks like you got that fixed.

Another update. Did the preshade using black and random patches of tan. The canopy exterior was sprayed black so it will show up as the interior frame color once the gull gray goes on top.

The black adds some texture to the panels and the tan gives some discoloration once the top coat goes on leaving very subtle shadows. This breaks up the monotone color scheme.

Further washes will weather up the finish once the decals are applied first.

This is going to be a nice-looking model!

Thanks Jim.

Prepping for decals by polishing up the paint and glossing it up.

I really do love the F-14 and can't wait to see this one done.

BK

Great tip on the tan preshade Ernie. TY for that info and I'll file that for future referance. This one's going to be a killer I can tell.

PJ, the 14 is looking really good! And that is a great tip on using the tan for the pre-shade! I wish I would have seen this a few days earlier, I would have tried that on my Star Destroyer!

I really like your pre shading and the effect you achieved with it. Nice work indeed.

I am definately watching this come together so I can paint my modern kits and make them look good like this.

BK

Thanks so much fellas for the very nice comments! Building Tomcats is addicting cuz there are so many schemes that you just must have a bunch. I have nothing new to post since the cat has been sitting in my display case so that the Future cures.

I will hopefully start decaling tonight and maybe I will have some progress to post later on this weekend. 

I can't wait to use the Flory Washes to further enhance the surface details.

Got some work done on my Tomcat. Got the cans painted in MM metalizers.

got most of the large decals on. The smaller ones will be next.

El Coyote's tail markings look super cool.

Got the missiles painted and ready for their stencils.

It's beginning to look like a Tomcat.

 Notice the helicopter kill mark above the stars and bars.

Looking good, PJ! It's coming together very nicely! Was the helicopter kill mark apart of the decal set?