Pukin Dog - Hasegawa F-14B Update 10/8

[JimD]

I've been building too much clean-ish stuff lately. Time to dirty it up and what's more dirty than an F-14 on a combat cruise? I'll be building a bird from Vf-143 from the Tomcat's last combat cruise in 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

It will something like this but a little dirtier:



The Kit:



Aftermarket:





Not pictured:

Fightertown decals
Master Alpha and AOA probes
Steel Beach bomb racks

Still need to source some BOL racks, a LANTIRN pod and I'm going to need to run down some ordnance...and possibly FOD covers.


I didn't mean to start this one just yet. However, I went ahead and ordered the AM yesterday so I cracked open to box to take a look at the sprues. One of the first things I noticed was that the windscreen sprue gate was molded really close to the clear portion of the frame extending almost beyond the frame.

i decided I would get this piece off and see if I was going to be able to get it worked out. In the process I did some dry fitting to discover that the windscreen is too narrow. I just can't see any way to remedy that. Fortunately, I have a Hobby Boss Tomcat that isn't going to ever get finished. Unfortunately, the windscreen is molded with a portion extending into the fuselage instead of leaving a seam at the edge of the canopy frame. This is much superior, but it wouldn't work with the Hasegawa forward fuselage, so I had to remove all that plastic but the windscreen wouldn't just pop on in place of the Hasegawa piece.

I had to do the following:

1. Flatten out the sill that the canopy sits on. It was too curved upwards.
2. I had to remove plastic from the fuselage pieces to accommodate the longer windscreen and the way it was designed. Looking at the picture below will illustrate.

This is the Hasegawa part taped up. You can see just how much plastic I had to remove to accommodate the Hobby Boss part. (some styrene has been added back to correct some over zealousness with the file.



This had to be removed to get the HB part to settle in and not rest on top of the fuselage. I got a little too happy with the file, so Ill have to mend some, but all looks like it will be workable. Of course, I've got to get the Aires coaming under this, but the HB part seems to be a bit bigger all around, so that shouldn't be a problem.



I have to admit there was some sheer terror and angst when I began cutting and for a few minutes I thought I had screwed the kit, but it's all going to be manageable now. Note the HB part has much better framing detail anyway.

The Hasegawa kit has a reputation for forcing itself on to the shelf of doom. Heck I've trashed one once already...though I was much younger, lacked resolve, and much less skilled. This one is going to fight, but I'm determined to win. An F-14 is just something I have to have on my shelf, so I'll fight this one all the way there if I have to . It'll be slow at first with so much other stuff going on though, but thanks for joining in!

[TRM]

You're a better man than I!! LOL!! I don't expect perfection, but the parts should fit OOB! You definitely have this going in the right direction! Can't wait to see the dirtier side of things soon!!

[Tojo72]

I tried this kit twice over the years and never got it done.Looking forward to your handling of it.

[Leon]

Looking forward to seeing you kick some button on this one Jimmy!

[wbill76]

You can do it Jimmy! Show this kit who's the man!

[deafpanzer]

Who doesn't like those Tomcats?!? Pulling my chair in... will you let me be the Goose, please!?!?!?

[Rick]

Careful getting too close DP! Don't want no Pukin' Dog in your lap!

Jimmy, good thing you jumped on in and found the shortcoming before to deep in Pukin'. Gotta love a Tomcat. Those extras should sure dress it up.

Rick

[JimD]

So this build just got a little more expensive. I wasn't happy with where the kitbash of the Hobby Boss windscreen was going. I had to remove too much plastic and the transition from windscreen to fuselage was going to be a putty affair.

I got to looking at some WIPs and realized that somehow the Aires cockpit makes the windscreen fit...more on that later, but I went ahead and bought a second kit to poach the forward fuselage sections and start over.



This was a bit of a blessing since this is either the first or second boxing of the kit. The mold quality is much better. This was released in the early 90s I believe and the original B boxing I had was from 2003-04, so the molds are more worn.

As storied as the challenge of the Hasegawa build is, this boxing is supposed to be worse as Hasegawa retooled some of the poor fitting pieces in later boxings...such as the intakes. So, I'll be using most of what I can from the above pictured box and using B specific stuff, and the retooled stuff from the first kit.

Now, on to fitting the Aires cockpit. I know it can be done because I've seen more completed 'cats with it than without.

You need to aggressively file down the tub at the coaming. Other than that some basic thinning on the sides, but mostly on the kit pieces themselves.



You do need to enlarge the cutout for the access ladder in the resin...it's a bit offline. On the kit pieces you need to remove the recess of the step platforms (the tow hollowed out squares). If I opt to open these in the completed build, we will have to refill.

The mount for the kit coaming must be accomodated, and the sills of the kit (DO NOT REMOVE) need to be thinned out a bit to give a good view of the resin rails and canopy hooks.



The one issue is the rear deck isn't wide enough. So easy to fix. We will shim them cockpit here a bit. The tape isn't holding the rear tight, so the gaps aren't actually that bad, but still prominent.



Now, with no resin in and the halves taped up the kit windscreen is too wide:



Low and behold, when you put the resin in...perfect fit:





And there we are. Build has gone and got pricey. That really doesn't matter, but I wish I had been a little more thoughtful in researching the windscreen issue before hacking the first kit up.

Small problem with the Wolfpack update set too. Note the shape of the box...no damage at all, but one intake piece was shattered all to hell. I contacted WP and they are sending another, so that's great. I still need to get the WP Bombcat update set...so hopefully the QC in it will be better.



I'll probably poke around on this one a bit, but I'm not going full bore into the complicated aspects until I wrap the A-6.

[Tojo72]

Oh boy,this one is getting to look too much like work and less a hobby,stick with it,hope it comes out to your satisfaction.

[JimD]

It's going to be work, yes. This is just one of those that you want to build so bad you deal with it. Lol


Black basing isn't just for the main body. Cockpit was finished up in Mr. Surfacer 1500






Next, I get out my trusty Mr. Color. C317 for modern cockpits. Allow the black base to act in a manner that creates shadow and variation.





After initial paint build up the base color was lightened with white and some highlighting was added. Things will really come together with detail painting which from here on out will involve a brush.

Stay tuned.

[wing_nut]

Take command of the situation I see. Looks great.

[wbill76]

Off and running on the pit. Looks good so far.

[Wes]

Good looking stuff Jimmy. Im following along for sure.

[JimD]

Bit of a small update here.

I got to painting the black consoles. They aren't done by any means. I still need to do the sidewalls and some other details. Then I'll move on to picking out all the dials....yay.

I did want to go ahead and shim the rear decking and get the fit situated there. I also wanted to test the gear bay. First, the decking was shimmed with some strip styrene. I then slowly thinned it down until I had a good fit. It is a flush fit when closed with some pressure at the back.



It fits! It wasn't easy...it was work but it's very rewarding. I'll have the kit cockpit for comparison later..The resin is light years ahead.



Since I'm working with two kits I assembled and unpainted nose bay to check fit. The one I use I'll paint and then assemble for ease. Stupid Hasegawa didn't give any sort of alignment for the three walls...so be wary there (more on that as I deal with them later).

However, I was able to slip the bay in with no issue from the resin pit at all. I ALMOST decided to pull the plug on some resin bays, but honestly, that's wasted work and money for me since it's going to be unseen. No need to risk fit issues there either.

The little plate that completes the rear half of the nose section fits nicely enough too.



Finally, I needed to handle the Wolfpack gun vents from the update set. These don't fit well at all, so work will be needed and I don't want to bang around the whole assembly later.



Compared to the kit fuselage (bottom) you can see that two inserts "fit" into the open bay cutout. The other vent insert's location needs to be cut out. It's not pretty now but I've got it shaped flush with the fuse side, so now I just need to do the filling and re-scribing.

Yay me because old me would have said screw it and left it inaccurate for the time period I'm depicting. I'm really liking the new me who is wanting to be more and more accurate when the only obsticle is my own laziness.

As always, comments and critiques are encouraged!

[wbill76]

Just be careful that old you and new you don't accidentally run into each other in the future or it could have drastic consequences for us all! Keep on wrestling with it Jimmy, you'll get it into shape.

[dupes]

So is this a Hasegawa B plus a Hasegawa A plus a Hobbyboss kit plus aftermarket? Or were you able to salvage the HB kit for later?

Love how the pit looks. Where do you buy your Mr. Color paints?

[M1Carbine]

You got this Jimmy, knock itnto shape buddy.

Bob

[JimD]

Oct 10, 2015 21:11:28 GMT -5 dupes said:

So is this a Hasegawa B plus a Hasegawa A plus a Hobbyboss kit plus aftermarket? Or were you able to salvage the HB kit for later?

Love how the pit looks. Where do you buy your Mr. Color paints?

Pretty much an A and B kit. I just threw all the sprues in one box. And will use whatever. I noticed last night the B kit has instructions from a completely different D boxing...so...I need to find B specifics since I'm no expert.

The Hobby Boss kit was already trashed because I screwed up the cockpit. It's more so now since the windscreen had to be hacked up. This build will have all Hasegawa parts now...since the windscreen fits with resin in the cockpit...go figure.

Maybe this one will get back-seated for something....larger...at some point

[dupes]

Oh, by all means build this one first...I need a guide to help get around some of the Hasegawa kit's pitfalls!

[JimD]

Oct 12, 2015 8:39:59 GMT -5 dupes said:

Oh, by all means build this one first...I need a guide to help get around some of the Hasegawa kit's pitfalls!

Hehe..I am. I put too much into it already. And it's going to take a while to accumulate all I plan for the other...so I have time.

My intent was to definitely try and give a guide of get through this kit...so stay tuned.

[dupes]

A guide would be GREAT. I've heard rumors of full build logs with definitive construction assistance "out there" but I've yet to find one.

[JimD]

There's this:

www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/f14constructiondwa_3.htm

My opinion is that it's too wordy and not enough picture-y. I feel like the visual approach is better here. But at least it's something. I'm going to try my best to improve upon this.