F-14 Tomcat Group Build idea...

F-14D Update:

Ok, started over, completely. I thought I'd pass on a couple of lessons learned from my -A model.

1. Before assembling the intake duct halves, fill in the ejector pin marks, which are on the inside duct surface. This will be easier in a "channel" than inside a box. (I must admit, there will still be seams to contend with inside the duct. Oh well.)
2. When assembling the "house of cards" main gear well structures, I assembled the four "box side" pieces, into the bottom fuselage half. I will paint them next, this time remembering to also paint the lower surface of the upper fuselage half. Everything goes together better without paint, IMHO.

OK guys, this is where I eat crow with a side of humble pie. This is my first Black Box build, the only resin aftermarket stuff I've ever used has been Verlinden's ejection seats.

I NEED HELP! Any and all hints, suggestions, etc. will be greatly welcomed. I've seen a bit about these; apparently the resin has to be washed, primed, etc. before painting?

Hope you all are having as much fun as I am.

Wow, MACooke! I guess that solves the beaver tail "problem" you were having! Glad it worked out.
Some progess to report tonight on the models. I started decaling the F-14A and man, those yellow decals look great on the black tails! Cockpit assembly on the F-14B is finished. The rear cockpit radar display was changed to a MFD and a LANTIRN joystick was added to the side console.

MACooke is BA-aaaaack!

After contemplating what to do with my F-14A, I have "shelved" it, so to speak. What happened? you ask...I lost my balance, knocked it off my desk, then stepped on it. I've spent probably 5 hours trying to piece the rear fuselage ass'y back together, it just ain't gonna happen.

Spare parts are going to run about $22, plus shipping & handling. So I'll wait awhile on it.

I found a fellow near me with a HUGE collection of Hasegawa kits. First off, he GAVE me a Black Box cockpit set for the A model. But, I had a couple of rare old Hasegawa birds he wanted, so we did a trade. I came home with an F-4E and a matching BB cockpit set.

AND an F-14D complete w/ BB cockpit! Yeah baby!!!

So the -A model will be finished when I can pay for parts. For now, I'm re-starting this GB, one week behind y'all, but MY Tomcat will be the fastest, it's a "D" model.

This guy has hundreds of Hasegawa 1/48 kits...I was drooling, babbling incoherently, just amazed at all his kits.

Yeeee-haaaaaaaaahhhh!!!

For all you 1/48 scale guys that are building your 'Cat and have not really decided where your going to put it,I ran across this while (admittedly) looking for car stuff...

http://www.scalemodelingbychris.com/148_hanger.htm

..I might change my 'Cat entry to 1/48 scale now,because i have a detail set that I can open up some panels with.Anyhoo.... it's just a thought that I would share with all of you.

Later on............

i just dryfitted the front fuse with the rear fuse, and suddenly i went "oh my!" this thing is HUGE ! i haven never built a model so large before ! and my preferred scale is 1/48 !! goodness it dwarfs my 1/10 R/C car even. this baby measures about 13-14 inches and there is no way its gonna fit into the hallway display case, so im going to have to clean out the bookshelf in my room to display this big baby. phew - to think i wanted a 1/32 cat !

QUOTE: Originally posted by MACooke OK, I'd like to conduct an "informal" poll. My F-14 rear fuselage assembly, with completed main gear wheel wells, has suffered "mortal" damage. I have two options: A) get replacement parts; or B) buy a whole new kit. I got an e-mail from Dragon that says buying replacement parts will end up costing more than just buying a new kit. OK, sounds easy...but I've got a "nearly" complete Hasegawa 1/48 'Cat on my hands. Helllllllp! [:0]

Hey MACooke, sorry to here about your setback. What exactly happened? Unless you used your Cat as a wall dart, it should be fixable. Let me know and I'll try to help you out.

I'm back from my trip to the big city. The big city wasn't too exciting, but the hobby shops certainly were. I managed to pick up an Accurate miniatures SBD dauntless, Trumpeter 1/48 P40 lots of paint and some good books. But most importantly, I got some decals for my Cat. The best part is that the guy at the shop gave them to me for free. I also got the squadron walk around of the F-14, so now I'm all set to detail this thing up.

armorman- No worries on the photobucket thing mate. Glad I could help.

I'd opt for finishing off that Has 'Cat. How close is "nearly"? Didn't get to spend time at the bench today or for that matter this weekend. I gotta go to Atlanta on business. Royally sucks. I'd much rather hold that tomcat than some clients hands.

OK, I'd like to conduct an "informal" poll. My F-14 rear fuselage assembly, with completed main gear wheel wells, has suffered "mortal" damage. I have two options: A) get replacement parts; or B) buy a whole new kit.

I got an e-mail from Dragon that says buying replacement parts will end up costing more than just buying a new kit.

OK, sounds easy...but I've got a "nearly" complete Hasegawa 1/48 'Cat on my hands.

Helllllllp! [:0]

Hey Ga.Modeler, that's what you get for building a model out of Snausages dog snacks! I tried carving an airplane out of chocolate, but my wife ate it!

well tomcat builders i hope to get started on my cat tonight after work, still got two builds that are on going but i had a major snag with one of the builds ihad to reorder one of my builds because of a little dog making it a midday snack of it.

I think it's a great idea. Look at it this way, with all those blah, stealth like aircraft there, your model will be the best. The bikini clad chicas will be a plus!

I think the airshow Idea is a good one.....on a recent airshow I went to last year a certain fighter group from Tulsa,Ok had one of their F-16's on display and on both sides of the aircraft they also had alot of the weapons that the Viper carried, only they were all inert (of course) and on a stand that also included specs of each weapon and what it was used for.I figure the spec sheet could be easily replicated by just doing some browsing around the web and printing out specs to the missles and then reducing the page down to size to make it suitable for your 'static' display.......... just an idea....

Later on.........

I'll be in haitus for awhile. An unfortunate accident befell the rear fuselage assembly of my F-14, so it will be until I can get several replacement parts from Dragon. I tried piecing it back together, but it's in vain.

But a friend says he has a BB cockpit that he's going to give me. Yup I said give.

What a friend!

Hey MACooke! At least you tore into the beaver tail only! The first time I used a razor saw, I tore into my skin!

Well, I would do 1/1 scale, but:

1. I don't have a 1/1 scale F-14 (or a real one!)
2. I don't have enough real estate to park the 1/1 F-14 that I don't have
3. My wife won't let me put her in a diorama wearing a bikini (well, OK, she'll wear a bikini next to my imaginary 1/1 F-14 but she won't let me take photos)
4. If I had enough real estate, we have a neighborhood association rule specifically prohibiting the parking of Grumman carrier-borne aircraft on residential lots.

Number 4 is the tough one...I have a 1/1 scale F-4, but since it's McDonnell-Douglas, I can park it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by reggiethedorf good luck in looking for 1/48 babes though

Personally I always go for the 1/1 scale...

i think the airshow idea is a very very cool one but its gotta be blatant to work, or else the effect will be too subdued to be fun. good luck in looking for 1/48 babes though

bstrump: I did it, I tore into the beavertail! (Uh, wait, that doesn't sound right......) I'm 35 years old, been model-building since I was 6, airbrushing from the ripe age of 12, and this is the first time I've ever used a razor saw to remove part of an aircraft.

Time to open a tall, cold one!

The intake ducts are starting to clean up...'course, as much putty as I'm using, by the time I get the cleanliness I'm seeking, they'll be choked down so small the engines would NEVER run. Maybe I'll put ground covers over the inlets. Don't they call those "FOD" covers or something?

Hey, all, can I get feedback about my "airshow" idea for displaying my 'Cat? Is that too lame? If I could get some 1/48 figures of curvaceous women in skimpy bikinis, I'd pose them with a photographer or somehting.....

By the way, pingtang I finally got my own membership to photobucket so many thanks for you letting me park some pics at your behest. Thanks again, mate. The offer is likewise should you need to use mine.

I agree with MACooke reg, those wheel wells are not as bad as Mr Aungst says. Alas, the new kits rectify that issue. I think he was actually just stressing caution in assembly. Dry fitting you can see what he means. No assembly work done tonight I'm afraid due to the brother in law insisting on a trip to the pub.

Oh, reg, you asked about glue: I use Tenax, the liquid stuff, and lightly dab it on with a Microbrush...here's a link to someone who sells them:

http://www.micromark.com/

Enter "microbrush" for keyword. I'm sure there are other places to buy these.

reg: Fear not! The main gear wells aren't as difficult as they seem.

What kit do you have? Hasegawa's first two 'Cats were the ones Aungst reported as having fit problems; then they re-did the pieces. If you look at the bottom rear fuselage half, where the opening is for the main gear wheel, there is a "ridge", sort of. Use that and test fit two wall pieces at a time. You can lightly glue the two pieces together at the joint, then place them into the fuselage half, align everything, then glue those to the fuselage.

It really wasn't that difficult for me; my kit is a 1989 copyright, I believe it's the first of Hasegawa's reworked 'Cats.

One other thing, reg: if you want, I can e-mail you a couple of photos of the main gear bay, althought it's already assembled. You can get an idea of how everything fits. I haven't yet figured out how to post photos, so until then, I'll e-mail anyone who wants them.

Good luck!

ECK ! i am started on the hasegawa 1/48 cat tonight, i am working on the main wheel wells first because im contemplating adding some AM stuff for the 'pit. anyway - my problem is that there are 4 vertical pieces that are supposed to interlock and form the vertical detailed walls of the gear well wall. having read David Aungst's article on building the has 1/48 cat i am terrified to put glue to plastic yet for fear of permanently mucking things up big-time. he states that the gear well walls need to be fitted perfectly or else there will be problems with the intake trunk. he suggested using sparing amounts of glue. anybody have any suggestions ? what kinda glue should i use ? CA or tamiya extra thin or normal cement (the think-ish kind with some resin filler)

help is much appreciated

MACooke: Depending on the time period, the visible differences between the A and B are minimal. As you said, the engines are one. The other is on the nose of the A/C by the gun. The gas purge ports are grilles on the "A" and NACA ducts on the "B". The cockpits are the same. If you are doing a very modern F-14B with LANTIRN, there is a change in the rear cockpit. The radar screen is changed to a large MFD and a control stick for the LANTIRN is added on the left side console. I was going to post a link to a photo but the link no longer works. Bummer!
The "pre-GB" Tomcat ( the one I started 2 weeks early) has had the black applied to the fins and cockpit. Almost time for decals!

fighterguru: cold and rainy is great model building weather! On the 22nd-23rd of Dec. we got a big winter storm, we got a foot of snow. Now, it's been raining for several days, temperatures are in the mid 50's, all the snow has melted, and our backyard looks like a lake. I swear I saw an F-14 on approach to my backyard, hook down and all...

Its raining here and its cold. I haven't even statrted my cat either ill be progressing to it very rapidly.

i am glad we got 3 months on this build because i havent even started mine yet. i had a snasu on my helo so its thrown me a day back in the painting part of it. why do certain paints give u a fit like yellow and white paint do

THREE MONTHS??? I thought we had three DAYS.....(the look of dawning comprehension has my family all rolling on the floor, laughing, at my expense, as usual)

I'm actually going to go through the process of replicating that display base on that website to see if I can make it as good as Mr. Narita. Lot's of process but I think it'll be easy. I'm taking it easy tonight and watching the tube. Tomorrow I'll finish up the cockpit. How's everyone coming along? Remember, fellas, we got 3 months so you don't have to rush it.