F-14 Tomcat Group Build idea...

hello fellas!

I have fully recovered from the trip and lets just say that it was a hell of a time. What goes on tour stays on tour eh? Something like 17 beers a day avg/person before we went out! Got back Sunday and it's taken me three days to remember my name. Hehe. Anyways, thanks for all of the congrats fellas. We are really excited and looking forward to the honeymoon when it'll be time to chill out.
Hey osjohnm- Thanks for the reminder! Two of my groomsmen are from SA and lets just say I think yall wrote the book on partying!
Glad to see you back Chuck!!!! How are things going?
My name is Jon and I am a kit addict! The F-117 arrived while i was gone sentry and for the dollars a hell of a deal. Still shrinkwrapped!
I will say I am looking forward to after the wedding when I can get back to the bench. I need that 'mantime'.
Mark's advice is golden! I have seen his work on the IPMSUSA website. Trust me- he knows his stuff. Same with sentry- we've seen his progress so far and it's amazing.
Keep the progress posted and rejoice- an extended finish date!!!

Greetings everyone

Glad you made it back in one piece armor, trust that your liver is still in one piece.

Not much to report on the 'Cat, being filling gaps with new technique the LHS showed me. Instead of applying the putty, then applying acetone with a q-tip and then sanding, you mix the acetone with the putty before application. Then you paint it on, depending on the gap you just mix the "thickness" to meet your needs.

I've hit a bit of a "rough" patch with the kit, just doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere.
But I'll bounce back eventually.

I've been motivating myself by doing some airbrush window shopping although in retrospect looking for a needle in a haystack is easier than choosing an airbrush.

Plan to order it online or pick one up in Europe when go on holiday in June.

John

did u mange to decide wat type of brush u wan to use John ?

frankly i may side on the iwata brush , i have 2 -150 brush but it broke down .
now i use an taiwanese brush ( look like a copy from iwata )

if i get a chance i may opt for one iwata brushes

anyway i heard the Badgher did do some good for some , maybe im a lousy user of it .
maybe u can try the badger first since i think it is cheaper for price of the things it does.

Hi Sentry

I was looking at the Badger 155 and 100Lg, the Iwata HP-CS and the Harder & Steenbek Evolution.
Since I'm going to Europe in June on holiday I was hoping to pick one up but I've decided to wait until the end of the year to get another airbrush.
Probably order a Badger online from the US.

I'm hoping to add the phoenix pylons and few other bits onto the kit and then to laydown some paint. If everything goes according to plan I should hopefully have some pics up by the weekend.

Question for everyone, is the front centre panel on F-14 canopies still green?

some says its blue john , hmmmm
u can try go to ARC and check on the walkabouts . I was also wasnt the exact color , i might as tint it with clear blue though...

I just coated the cat with matt varnish some parts only.
hope will get a pic in here soon

What be up everyone???? I found our thread about half way down the second page! I have not had any time to strip the F-14. I have been working about 60 hours a week. And now with summer about here, I will be doing more overtime. Oh well, I will get to it. I may take a few days off and do nothing but model.

Hi all

The kit almost hit the wall for the 2nd time this weekend. First time round I had fight with the badly molded plastic wheels from italeri. Hence the tyres and my hands were covered in glue.

This morning the landing gear decides to break off and I can't remove the piece of plastic or get to it with sandpaper without performing open heart surgery on the kit.

I've actually had it with this kit, if I ever by another modern aircraft kit from Italeri, would someone please shoot me!

I must be honest with everyone and say that I really have no motivation to continue with this kit. But after calming down I've vowed that this won't end up in the dirt bin.

With that in mind I'm going to close the gear bay doors and build the kit in the wheels-up position. Hope nobody minds.

I've also decided not to waste the CAM VF-154 decals on this kit, I'll use the VF-32 decals that came with the kit.

I will buy a REAL F-14 kit from Hasegawa later in the year and use the CAM decals on that. Hmmm......metal landing gear, vinyl tyres.....

Hope nobody minds me changing my decal option and please accept my apologies for ranting and raving.

No need to appologise my freind. I think we are all having some issues with these kits no matter what company they are made by. Even the Hasegawa and Tamiya kits have issues. The 1/72 of mine sure does. I have to strip the paint off of mine due to a problem with the paint. It was gloss and I didn't notice that before I sprayed and it ran everywhere and just about hid all the panel detail. I have the oven cleaner ready and I may do that today in between everything else.

Hello everyone!

I too have not made any progress. I have been very busy with work and family obligations, and I am sort of stuck in a rut with this kit. I'm at the panel line stage and can't decide wether to use a sharpie (never tried it) or just paint them on by hand. I know I don't have the airbrush chops to spray thin lines yet. Also, I'm not really sure if I will get all of the preshading right since this is the revelogram kit with raised lines and I'm not going to sand them all and rescribe-sorry, I'd rather just spend the money on a real kit then do all of that! Osjohn, I say do what feels right to you and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. When the hobby isn't fun I just back off and do something else and come back to it later. Or, I'll just start a new kit or shudder!- I'll build a tank or two! If you guys have any modeling tips for preshading to help me get off my --s and back to the bench I sure would appreciate them! Take care all!

I use a Microbrush and an oil wash and trace all of the panel lines. This really has a great effect under the paint. Microbrushes are available from Micro Mark. This seems like a tedious process but it goes rather quickly. For extra highlight you could use a mechanical pencil after paint. Looks cool. Good luck and I hope to see some progress pics soon!

yo fellas-

I appreciate everyone's well wishes! The wedding is next Saturday and we are starting to feel some stress- all mostly brought on by my future mother in law. She is a sweetie, though. All of my fiance's relatives are coming over from England so I am tasked with coming up with a plan to entertain them until Saturday.
I MISS MY WORK BENCH!!!! I have this killer 1/32 F-14 waiting to be built, finish what could be a beauty of a 1/48 Tomcat if I hold my mouth right- and a Tamiya F-117. When I get back from the honeymoon I should have some good time to dedicate to the hobby.
I miss the sense of accomplishment.
Anyways- all looks good here and I hope everyone is doing well.
osjohnm- I was at the exact same place with the Academy kit. Through many breaks and patience I think it will turn out real nice. I know yours will- we've seen your progress, pal. Step back, breathe, do something else, and then go at it again. It was Mark's advice for me and it worked- looks like roejn knows it as well.
I'll try to keep in touch up until the big day-
BTW- sentry, I am still in awe of that kit of yours! Such a brilliant paint job.
Again thanks for the well wishes!

amour , im sure yours is better too . but anyway thanks so much

hi brothersss, i stop my work awhile past , as i just finish coating the plane with matt alcrylic varnish ( use by artist) . i have not started on my landing gears . hope it be a smooth run. Hi john take care of your kit. The hasegawa is ok but got its hiccups too.

the rubber thing may harden over time , im not sure but i cant seems to get a resin wheel so i be sticking the inbox ones.

now will be back to wheels and burner cans, havent install them yet. i be sending my computer for a clean up this week. it seems those spy ware gets to me explorer. some sort of constants pops up which i i try in vain to fix it.

take care guys

Reojn : did u try using pastel to draw the lines ? i mean diluted it with water then use fine brush to fraw on it ?

Sentry,

No I haven't ried it on aircraft but I have done washes before on tanks and in my model railroad days on cars. Works well. ipms33206 that sounds like a good way to go-I may try that. Either way I'll try to get moving forward again soon!

i just got my computer back been absent awhile . is anybody around latedly ?

i just finish part of my cat will down load some photo soon

I am here! It is the Memorial holiday weekend here in the States so I could have some time this weekend to get some of this build done. And to think I was going to attempt to build more than 1 kit!! Who was I kidding?????

I'm around too but I'm still giving the Cat a dirty look everytime I walk past it.

Will see how the weekend goes, nothing major planned so hopefully I can get something done.

hi!!! its been a long time since my last post. I reach the stage of doing the panel lines. The Has 1/48 F-14D its a great kit. I will start the painting job this weekend, I hope i can will do a good one, its my first time with a airbrush.

I will post the pictures soon.

cya all!

Well, I tried the oven cleaner thing and the paint didn't come off. I guess I may have to try again and leave it on longer. But I don't know how long that should be.

IPMS, If you leave the oven cleaner on to long, won't it distort the plastic. I have never tried it, so, I do not know.

I must be NUTS!





Two Has. F-14A+ kits and two F-14D kits...one of the F-14D's is a "commission build" from my boss, he wants an F-14 in flight.

IPMS :
did u try brake fluid ? those dot 3 type which use by older cars as brake hydraulic
i use it to strip my paint it won disturb the plastic at all , i soak it in and use a clothe to wipe out the paint. this fluid is red in color , maybe u can also try the clear color type

I just manage to install my cat rear fin . i damaged one of my pylon and i i use a black box lantirn conversion , not sure if those kitty hawk 154 wear any lantirn back in 1998.

i got to know
my kit Bu no 161272 is being stripe as spare parts sighs

hi wellcome back Mitch and joscasle
don worry mitch , u not the only one of wat u think as

erh mitch one more thing , the F14 plus is those limited edition , it a bit different from my box

Sentry:

Here is a link to a database of sorts...

http://modelingmadness.com/splfeat/kr/has48d.htm

This doesn't exactly spell out rare or limited-run kits, though.

I had a different F-14A+ about 10 years ago, the cover art was a jet from VF-211 "Checkmates"...here's a photo of one of the planes:

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-photo-vf211-17.htm

Glad to be building 'Cats again!!

Hi Guys!,

I still have not gotten back to the bench (argh!) I just accepted a promotion at work and will soon be even busier-at least I'll make more money, so more modeling dollars is always good! Anyways I will try to get either some panel lines done or at least paint some ordinance or something this weekend, good luck to everyone on their build progress!

Taking advantage of the Memorial weekend. Took the opportunity to paint the semi flat clear coat to finish off the painting. Removed the masking from the canopy and windshield. Let it sit for a day. Next session installed the landing gear, exhaust nozzles, droptanks and tail hook. Though still waiting for the DSL equipment to show up so I can start posting images of the progress. Many images to upload as I progress. It has been awhile since my last post. As soon as the DSL is up I'll get the images poste.

Chuck
Fly Navy

i am glad we got till august 1 for the finish date. still looking for castrol super clean were i can do a repaint of the tomcat. all the cats that i have seen look great.

The oven cleaner finally started to lift the paint off the Tom. I am going to use an old toothbrush to get all the paint out of the corners and creveses. I am going to get some work done this weekend. Next week I will be out of town so no work. I may have to get a Revellogram out and start it. We will see.

im still doing mine will be finish soon.
no weapons install as cant find any from hasegawa over here sighs

Hi all

Looks like my "modelling spirits" have been lifted again. I finished my helo kit for my other group build and I picked up the 'Cat again. Even dug out an SR-71 that I had forgotten about.

The canopy has been attached to the kit and once that is dry it will be masked. One or two other items will be attached and then I'll give it some paint (weather permitting).
Not sure if all of the above will be done by the end of this week.

Now for a squadron question, does VF-32 use the standard dark ghost grey topside, light ghost grey bottomside and medium grey around the cockpit? Or is it a variation of these colours?
Checked out the review of the Two Bobs VF-32 decals on ARC but the pictures are to small to make a distinction between the greys.

John

VF-32 actually uses FS35237 Medium Gray topside except for a small area outboard of the tail fins. Dark Ghost Gray is on the sides and Light Ghost Gray is on the bottom. If you go directly to the TwoBobs website (twobobs.net), you'll get a better idea.