F-14 Tomcat Group Build idea...

Hey everyone, I've been offline for a while .... but when the F-14 GB was still an idea, I posted about wanting to participate.

I got the Revell-Monogram 1/48 F-14D for my birthday (January 21) and have made some good progress on it, but have mostly been concentrating on my F-117 for the Stealth GB (it's amost done!).

I finished the cockpit this morning, and it doesn't look as good as some of the Cats I see on this thread but I'm still learning how to properly thin my paint so oh well. I'm very satisfied with my results so far. Anyway, enough rambling, now that I'm back in the game with my computer I was wondering if I could be considered a participant of the build with my project. Hoping to receive some good news.....

On a different note, however, the pics I've seen look GREAT. Huge cudos to everyone who's shared their progress!!

aaaand on another note, I was thinking about doing this model and giving it to my uncle when I'm done with it. He's a higher-up at the Naval Air Station in Key West and does stuff he's not allowed to talk about, but I've been looking around lately for records of what squadrons have been stationed there and when. I want to doll up my bird as a plane that is either there now or has been in the past ... my search has thus far been fruitless, but does anybody have an idea on how I could go about this? Thanks in advance---

Jon - I still like this kit too, I'm just a bit sanded out at the moment. And I'm having alot of fun with my Honda RC211V. Once I've finished that, hopefully within a week, I'll pull the old cat back out and start sanding again.
bstrump- I want to give something like that a go on my bird. There's just something I don't like about pre-shading. So I might try post shading this time, it might give me some more control over the outcome.

BSTRump : yours is 72 ? wow i tot it was a 48 nice cant wait to see the finished cat

sorry guys i should have put some photo in here but anyway i on the way of getting a camera . hopefully a cheaper one

well better to work on the cat again thanks guy for all the photos.

There is some fantastic news!!! The week begins anew and I have some good bench time planned for this week and weekend!!! After having a two week drought I am eager to get back in the game and seeing everyone's work I am inspired.
bstrump, Mitch, and uscusn- I really appreciate the photos you guys have been sending in and keeping us updated.
Steve- I've seen your work on the ARC site and it's incredible.
pingtang- as much putty and sanding as I have put in so far this kit still seems to be a good one.

Thanks Mark! Yes, we are going to have some great looking Cats and I can't wait to see them all!

What a great build! Your weathering system seems to work well. I am contemplating doing something similar. We are all going to have some great looking Cats!

Steve, Daniel and Jon, thanks for the kind words! The weathering was done like this. First I lightened the base coat with about 15% white. Then I oversprayed straight FS36440 in random spots to simulate the spot priming that always gets applied at sea. Next came the wash and wiping that off added more contrast. Finally, I ground up a pencil on some sandpaper and applied the dust to the model randomly with a brush and blew off the excess.

Dang bstrump- I can only hope my 1/48 comes out anywhere near as good as your 1/72. Very nice work! Excellent weathering on those panels!

That looks great bstrump. I like the shading on the grey, how did you do it? Thanks for the pics.

Very nice - I like it!

QUOTE: Originally posted by sentry nice work bstrump . is it a hasegawa bird ?

Thank you, sentry! I appreciate your comments. It's actually Academy's 1/72 scale kit that I think was engineered from the Hasegawa kit.

nice work bstrump . is it a hasegawa bird ?

Well guys, I've got updated progresspics for you tonight. I'm just about there but I'm still working on the wheels and weapons.



These are the best three shots I could come up with. I'm not there yet with my camera skills. Hope you like.

hi guys, been a long time, school and endless softball training has kept me away from the bench and the site. im finding it hard to put in modelling time these days, hopefully i will be able to work on my cat next weekend or something, or during the chinese new year break.

happy modelling, all !

P.S. gret looking progress there , mitch

yahoo the cold temps have finally left us and we shall be in the 60s the next few days. i now have a chance to paint the cat and i hope to have it all finshed in the next few days. so look out here comes the playboy bunny.

BTW, MACooke, too bad about the AB. If you're looking to buy one cheap try Dixie Art Supplies. dixieart.com Their prices are incredible and they have free shipping in the US.

MACooke, you're too funny! You trying to be another BlackWolf or something? Bust some Heads? Taze someone? Show 'em the law?...

BRING IT ON !!!!!!

Loooking at your pics, Mitch, it looks like the Has 1/48 kit has all the same fit issues as the 1/72 kit. I guess all their kits from the late '80s/ early '90s had loads of fit issues. Glad you're having fun with them as well.

yeap thanks guys again for welcoming me in. I really hope i can get some photos out as well, But then i need to get a camera first . very soon i hope. better tomorrow.

thanks erh Macooke for the sand paper info . i will try to get some 600 grit type as for the time being i something use 1000 grit , sand like ages any nice work on the shading too most cats are heavuly weather as i see it.

i stop my cat for quite awhile due to intense fitting , sanding , adjustment and well so on... but i did i control myslef for other projects . ( afraid if i do the cat will be in the drawer)

And also this GB did encourage me to keep on it though. Last night i attend the hydrualic actuator for hours though as the part is small. it need not be there but wat the heck i just put it in.

anyway steve its ok of your GB , if i got another cat i like i might even join in yours i still in the look out for other cats .

thanks guys

jon: yes, you do detect some pre-shading. I was playing around with my airbrush, pretending it was a DA instead of a SA (yeah, right), and I decided to practice finer lines by pre-shading my 'Cat. I figured that if I messed up something, so what? I'm building my 'Cat to be heavily weathered. If I have to re-shoot an area two or three times, it'll just add to the overall effect.

I came "this close" to winning a Badger 155 (-7 set) on e-Bay last night. I had $57.50 in for a max. bid, and I went to bed two hours before the bidding ended. Someone outbid me by $1. Geeesh. Oh well, another time.

Good God! people, will you all quit with the groveling, and falling over yourselves apologizing?? "Forgive me" and "I'm sorry"...geeesh! What happened to men having kahunas? What happened to men meaning what they say, saying what they mean, and to H-E-DOUBLE-TOOTHPICKS with what anyone else thought? (Keepin' it clean!)

Steve, you're one of our thin blue line, get in here and bust some heads! Taze someone! Show 'em the law!! "Take 'em downtown!"

If I have offended anyone in any ways, TOO BAD!



C'mon guys! Let's all laugh, and build some Tomcats! Yeee-ha!!

I just love these "smilies".

Well chaps, I've been away from the GB for a while, but don't worry (if you were worried that is), I'm back now. I haven't had much progress on my build lately, because I got sick of filling and sanding. I need inspiration to get me going again.

BTW, to Chucka and MItch, that's some good looking progress you've got going there. Sounds like you're having as much fun as me.

And to sentry, welcome to the party!! I hope you like hearing people whinging about filling and sanding. I've done my fair share around here.

Hey guys! It appears some of you have taken my question re the ScaleAIR GB way too seriously. Armorman seems to be the only one who understood what I was doing. It was just a rhetorical, tongue-in-cheek observation of the perceived lack of posting in the last few days. Nothing more than an attempt at humour. Honest! To be honest, I've been putting off work on my Cats as well in an attempt to clear the bench of other projects and to do something different for a few days. I'm involved in other GBs as well and, quite frankly, I think I may have taken on too much. Steve, my friend, I'm a frequent visitor to both ARC and ScaleAIR and I enjoy them both. The fact that you're doing a GB as well means that there are more Tomcat models for us to look at. Nothing wrong with that! Unfortunately, I won't be joining your GB because as I said, I have too much on my plate. I do, however, wish your GB nothing but success. Now, to the workbench!

BTW nice work there Mitch! Is that some preshading going on there?
uscusn- how's that Revell Kit? I have one stashed away but I am tempted not to open it. Darren Roberts from ARC's site says it's not bad but not great.
Hey sentry, it's a pleasure to have you here! Can't wait to see those builds!

Steve, first and foremost do not worry about that! I am very happy that I am involved in both now. Your site has proved an invaluable resource in helping me with my build here. In my opinion these efforts are pooled. Please do not worry. I think it was a little humor on bstrumps side. I am completely absorbed in this build here and at your site as well. My problem is I have bogged down due to work issues and have had no bench time in nearly two weeks. I think the others agree that it is fantastic to share between the builds. No worries!

QUOTE: Originally posted by bstrump Now, everyone else, have we all abandoned this GB for ScaleAIR's GB? How's everybody doing? Armorman, MACooke, reggie, pingtang? Just thought I'd check.

Oh, boy.....guys, this certainly wasn't my intention here, and I apologize if anyone took it that way. I just thought that it would be great if we could all pool our efforts, but in no way was I trying to disrupt an ongoing build. I hope that no one thought that I had anything other than good intentions here.....

sentry: Welcome to the GB!

As far as wheel wells, I'm using the kit's wheel wells. I painted them and sludge-washed them before asselbling them into the fuselage half (lower half). I thought about resin after-market wheels, but can't seem to find any.

As far as sandpaper, I do most of my rough sanding with 400 grit, I always sand wet. After I'm satisfied that I've reduced the seam or gap to my liking, I go back and "clean out" putty and plastic residue from panel lines, and I re-scribe them where necessary. I have a sewing needle in a pin vise, I use that for scribing. I usually finish sand with 600 grit sandpaper, again wet. I buy sheets of sandpaper at a hardware store, it's 3M brand.

Good luck!

nice Uscusn , i try the revell kit rist before i jump into the hasegawa. But i failed in even completing it. But luckily i manage to get up the hasegawa one. Now im trying to install hydrualic actuator for both rear wheel wells .

Macooke did u use any resin wheel wells ? what type of sand paper u use? it seems u din distrurb the panel lines. I sand mine but loss most of the line ,have to rescribe again sighs

thanks amor and bstrump for wleocming me in here tq

Here are a few photos, regarding my previous post about the "filler piece" tying the forward and rear fuselage together on the bottom.

The left side doesn't look too bad...



But the right side, totally different story...



The top side joint wasn't too bad, but bad enough...



I'll shoot pics of the bottom joint later, and post. I spent probably close to 2 hours sanding, and sanding, and grinding, and sanding, and Dremeling, and sanding.....

Using the kit seats, I added the Pe belts, incorrectly painted them grey, I have since painted them Sage Green, (OD). Can't see them very well at this angle but I added the side levers as well.

The cockpit tub, I painted the side consoles MM Satin Black will highlight the details Silver, Lt Ghost Grey, Red and Yellow. Some Pe was added to the rear bulkhead between the Rio and Pilot. Pretty much still in a raw state as I added the rudder pedals and still need to install the throttle quadrant.


Next is to detail the instrument panels then get them installed into the tub.

Chuck
Fly Navy

Knowing that ARC was doing a GB for the F-14 at the same time as FSM, I was building two Tomcats. One for this site Fujimi's 72nd VF-41 F-14A,Gulf War 1991. And for ARC this one Revell/Monogram F-14D:


I would be using Eduards's cockpit set 48-304 to enhance the kit's cockpit. And VF decals for a VF-101 line bird.


Like any swing wing aircraft I usually start off with assembling the wings. Then paint and decal them and put them off to the side. Here they are finished and ready for paint. At this point the VF decals are not here yet. So hence the wings are not painted yet.


Next step is to paint all the white components and wheel bays. Dark Gull Grey for the cockpit and interior bits. Which looks dark in the photos.


Building two complicated kits at the same time tends to cut into the other projects. ARC has a June cutoff date, but FSM is in March. So the Fujimi kit gets a little more priority and is easier to get together than the labor intensive Revell kit. More to follow on both projects.

Chuck
Fly Navy