1/48 Tamiya F-14A Tomcat - "Rage 207" - COMPLETE 2/5/17

[doogsatx/]

Now that I've finally got the Dauntless behind me, I can move on to other projects!

I'm planning to split bench time among three interesting subjects - a 1/35 Takom Type 69-II, a 1/48 Hasegawa AH-64E doing duty as an AH-64D Block II with the 12th CAB in Central Europe, and Tamiya's new Tomcat.

All the new Tamiyacats I've seen built so far have been rather clean and straightforward. Mine will...not be that.

I've zeroed in on a rather worn example from VF-24 - NG 207 - as photographed in 1987.





Lots of interesting things going on in these pics. Obviously the wear and staining and touch-ups rampant across the entire airframe. But also the BARCAP loadout - five AIM-7s and two AIM-9s. And also the presence of the TCS pod. This particular F-14A is a Block 105 - the only addition needed to the Tamiya kit to bring it up to snuff are tail stiffeners (currently on their way). The TCS pod was not made standard until I believe Block 110 or 115, so this is a retrofit. I've got the Steel Beach TCS pod ready to go there.

I'll also be using some Quickboost seats and (probably) some aftermarket missiles. I've got a set of Wolfpack fuel tanks that may get the nod as well - but I haven't really gotten deep enough in the kit yet to know if they're justified.

The last bit of aftermarket I'm hoping to use doesn't exist yet - wheels. The kit ones just look all off to me. Rather bulbous and more rounded than the real thing where the sidewalls curve into the contact patch. Note the trapezoidal mounting hole - it'll make adapting any existing resin a chore - but I'm betting that we'll be getting dedicated tires by the end of the year so I'm not too worried.



Haven't progressed very far yet - just installed the swing spars and did a quick test fit while the kids were playing this morning. So far, so glorious. Everything just lines up and fits with the usual Tamiya authority.

[dupes]

Interested to see how you pull that weathering off. Tamiya Tomcat sounds awesome...$115 retail not so much! Trying to decide if it's worth that much more than the Hasegawa or Hobby Boss kits...or twenty Revell kits. Hah.

[Tojo72]

Oct 17, 2016 6:59:20 GMT -5 dupes said:

Interested to see how you pull that weathering off. Tamiya Tomcat sounds awesome...$115 retail not so much! Trying to decide if it's worth that much more than the Hasegawa or Hobby Boss kits...or twenty Revell kits. Hah.

Dupes, $79.00 at Tower Hobbies,with coupon and free shipping

[doogsatx/]

Yeah I got mine for around $80,which is honestly where several of the Hasegawa cats seem to be.

[wing_nut]

The weathering stage should be quite interesting.

[doogsatx/]

Didn't get to play with the F-14 much last night - but I did get the Quickboost seats squared away. And happy to report they fit perfectly in the Tamiya cockpit tub.

[Rick]

Wondered how long it might take you to give this one a go Doogs. Haven't done jets in years so I'm looking forward to your SBS lesson in well worn navy camo of this era.

[mnrun.]

Niiice. I'ma be watching.

[doogsatx/]

Finally getting the Tomcat moving! Last night was a slog of gathering cockpit parts and getting things primed up.



The other day, a prominent modeler went on something of a rant after someone was ragging him for painting parts on the sprues. Generally, I'm not a fan of the practice, but this is a case where Tamiya demonstrates why they so often embarrass other manufacturers (looking at you, Kitty Hawk). With very few exceptions, the sprue tabs in the cockpit and gear bay attach to points that will not be seen after assembly. It's a little thing, but I love it. It makes cleanup faster, and it leaves a convenient way to hold some of the parts that would otherwise require tweezers and coming back for touch ups.

Something else Tamiya's done with this approach - they've made things VERY easy for the aftermarket providers. The way they've engineered the cockpit and gear bay makes full replacement a nightmare to comprehend, but they've engineered things in such a way that Eduard, Aires, Wolfpack or whoever could just focus on making new consoles, instrument panels, bulkheads etc to drop into the tub. I'm not waiting around for it, but I'd love to see it - especially with the instrument panels, which IMO are the only thing that fall perhaps a bit short (tiny gauge holes).

[doogsatx/]

Putting the first colors down. Think the upper portion of the seat backrests is a bit too vibrant - will likely tone it down.

[mnrun.]

The other day, a prominent modeler went on something of a rant after someone was ragging him for painting parts on the sprues. Generally, I'm not a fan of the practice, but this is a case where Tamiya demonstrates why they so often embarrass other manufacturers (looking at you, Kitty Hawk). With very few exceptions, the sprue tabs in the cockpit and gear bay attach to points that will not be seen after assembly. It's a little thing, but I love it. It makes cleanup faster, and it leaves a convenient way to hold some of the parts that would otherwise require tweezers and coming back for touch ups.

A little bit of thought by the manufacturer, and it's such a time saver for the end user. I love being able to paint up groups of small parts like that, but as you say, it's all too rare. Or how about sprue gates that completely envelope the part they're attaching, like pitot tubes  

Nice to see some progress on the cat! Put that tank aside and focus on the important things 

[wing_nut]

Where's the rant? Getting ready to board a flight home and it could make for good reading. All looking okidoki Matt.

[doogsatx/]

Fixed the top of the backrests last night, and got the side consoles all isolated out.





Also got the nose gear bay painted up. I'm still debating whether or not to bother with the rat's nest of plumbing that's up in that thing.

[doogsatx/]

Oct 30, 2016 11:38:55 GMT -5 wing_nut said:

Where's the rant? Getting ready to board a flight home and it could make for good reading. All looking okidoki Matt.

[wing_nut]

Thanks for the link. I'll check that out. Probably would not have gotten to it on the flight. My time was heavily invested in the gin & tonics.

Yikes, that's a busy wheel bay and would be something to see. A tough call and one that I've made in the past but most times let it go. As I get older I find the "I know it's there" factor grows weaker.


EDIT: And oh yeah... save that shot for "SHUT THE F UP about too much weathering" discussions

[doogsatx/]

I'm honestly way more inclined to go nuts on the main gear bays - since from some angles you can actually see up into the craziness. But the NGB is completely hidden unless you flip the thing upside down.

[doogsatx/]

It's super tempting to just fly through this kit. The engineering is that nice. But I'm forcing myself to go slow and enjoy it (and hopefully have fewer slipups as I detail out the cockpit!).

Last night's focus was the remaining black areas of the cockpit, the installation of a throttle stolen from an Aires set, and a start on detailing out the various switches and buttons.

[deafpanzer]

SWEET!!! Count me in... I am really tempted to get this kit too.

[thug626]

Takin notes....this kit is now in the stash

[doogsatx/]

The past week hasn't been so great for bench productivity...but I'm finally to the point where things are starting to come together.

First took care of the main gear bays. I'm not thrilled with how spartan they are and will be adding some wiring mess to strategic areas that will be highly visible, but wanted to get the basic colors down while everything was still in pieces.



Intakes down up - masking the angled white in the trunks was rough.





Next up - forward fuselage closed up last night. Again I really hope aftermarket companies take a hint from the way the kit is engineered and move more toward replacing panels and keeping the basic tub structure in place for the cockpit.



The forward fuselage fit into the aft fuselage is so good that I'll be able to mostly paint them separately.



A look into the cockpit. Still not particularly thrilled with it. The instruments in the Hasegawa Apache I'm gearing up to start blow what Tamiya's done here out of the water. But it's obscured enough once things go together that I'm not quite as disappointed now.

[doogsatx/]

Note - if you're going to close the canopy (as I'm leaning toward...either like my F-14s all buttoned up or all splayed out), the Quickboost seats need a shaving down, particularly the RIO seat. Annoying work with the thing mostly painted up, but I got there, and the canopy/windscreen fit is usual Tamiya goodness.



The kit has no TCS pod (weak), so I'm stealing one from the Hobby Boss F-14B. There's a Steel Beach resin one out there, but the casting is so soft on detail that I just couldn't bring myself to use it. Apparently there's an Eduard Brassin TCS pod included in their Danger Zone F-14, but it's not purchasable separately. I'd imagine that changes pretty fast now that they've got a juicy Tamiya subject to develop aftermarket for.

[deafpanzer]

Did you do anything to the windscreen? It just look so good... thanks for sharing all of the pro and cons for this kit.

[doogsatx/]

Nov 17, 2016 9:19:22 GMT -5 deafpanzer said:

Did you do anything to the windscreen? It just look so good... thanks for sharing all of the pro and cons for this kit.

Nope - just Tamiya's usual greatness with clear parts. Although there's an ejector pin impression on the inside of the windscreen that extends ever so slightly beyond the framing. It's a head-smacker, but fortunately not terribly noticeable.

[doogsatx/]

While this is a very good kit, it's also a very frustrating one to cover from a WIP write-up perspective. Maybe it's just the nature of the F-14? But there's lots of jumping around. For instance I need to do some seam cleanup on the nose, but I Figure it makes sense to attach the windscreen first, but that requires that I paint the IP coaming and install the HUD lens and...



Last night's main task was tinting the windscreen. The kit calls for X-23 Clear Blue. Pics look more Clear Green. I opted to mix the two for a green-blue and went very thin.



Also got paint on the IP coaming - I wish the folds/etc of the covers were better represented, but I'm considering canopy closed on this one, so trying not to sweat it. Color is Gunze Flat Black with a bit of Red Brown added - there's a lot of variability in these across reference pics but this seems to match some fade patterns I've seen. FICE!

[TRM]

Sharp looking bird so far Doogs! Love the looks of this office! Thanks for sharing!!

[doogsatx/]

Finally crossed the Rubicon last night...wrapped up the primer:



And got started in on the paint - beginning with a marble coat of MRP Dark Ghost Gray. This is but the first of many different shades the Tamiyacat will be receiving.







One fun bit here...looking at two separate photos of the same plane...the paint touchups on one are lighter than the DGG, and on the other they're significantly darker.





There's been some theorizing that it's reflectivity - but I'm not buying that since the obviously-lighter-gray touchups show up in other VF-24 photos.



So that's a thing I need to sort before I proceed with the rest of the upper surfaces.

[Wes]

Man that thing looks mean is just plain black primer.

Top work Doogs

[deafpanzer]

Looking real good!

[doogsatx/]

Been getting some good paintwork in over the past two days. Though I will say the underside of this particular Tomcat is a challenge to pull off.





Why the stripes on the tanks? Reference pic shows paint worn/scraped down to the primer. So...chipping...

[Leon]

WOW...That is some awesome paint work Doogs!