1/48 AMK F-14D Super Tomcat

[hasenpfeffer]

Well, where to start? This is absolutely my favorite jet of all time. And of course growing up in the 80's and a certain movie that came out in that time may have had something to do with that. LOL This was my first try at a jet in my more advanced modelling "career". I was kinda torn between this one and the Tamiya kit. I read decent reviews about this kit and it was a little cheaper, so I decided to give it a try. I really love this kit and I equally hate it. It was a challenge for me and there were quite a few lessons learned. On the kit side there were a lot of great features and detail dovetailed with some crappy molding, ejection pin marks where you don't want them and seam lines everywhere. But that's modelling, eh? 

Painted with MRP or AK Real Colors or some mix of the two... The contrast is very slight between the Dark Ghost Gray/Medium Gray I used. I would spend more time trying to sort that out in the future. I found some real world examples where it was the case and just went with it.
Used the LANTIRN and some JDAMS.

Aftermarket ejection seats (Brassin) and Quinta Studios instrument panels (highly recommended - looks cool as hell)

In the end it built up into a nice looking Tomcat. All of the struggles were taken as lessons learned. That's what I tell myself anyway. I definitely made a lot of mistakes along the way and would do things somewhat differently next time. But maybe next time it'll be a Tamiya. LOL

Anyway, I have mad respect for those of you that build jets and pull them off so beautifully. They are definitely challenging.










Anyway, let me know what you think. If you have any questions about thee build I'll try to remember the best I can. Thanks for looking.

[martslay]

Very good work!!!

[Tojo72]

Nice,very nice.I ended up opting for the Tamiya offering,but heard lotsa good things about this one.

[mustang1989]

Daaaaaaang!!!! You might’ve had your hurdles to overcome with this one but you flat out SCHMOKED this build!!! Excellent usage of colors and just the right amount of weathering. VERY impressive cat Dave!!!

[Joe Rix]

Marvelous F-14 has. Appears to me you have this whole jet thing down like a boss. Very stunning paint and detailing. Kudos to you.

I had this kit at one time. Then I got the Tamiya kit and ended up auctioning off the AMK kit. I knew that I would only have room and time for one 1/48 Tomcat and opted for the Tamiya. The AMK kit is a beautiful kit though.

[Tobi]

The Tomcat is also my favorite plane, and your's has a certain 'wow' effect to it. The cast texture on the bombs... something others tend to overlook.
In my career I've built one Fujimi 1/72 and two Revell 1/32. I no longer have any of them, but I bought another Fujimi for the sake of nostalgia, and a Tamiya 1/32 which I always wanted to have, though it is said she's not without flaws of her own.

[mustang1989]

Feb 18, 2023 1:22:11 GMT -5 Tobi said:

The Tomcat is also my favorite plane, and your's has a certain 'wow' effect to it. The cast texture on the bombs... something others tend to overlook.
In my career I've built one Fujimi 1/72 and two Revell 1/32. I no longer have any of them, but I bought another Fujimi for the sake of nostalgia, and a Tamiya 1/32 which I always wanted to have, though it is said she's not without flaws of her own.

Good LORD man!! Just how big is that 1/32 Tomcat Tobi??!!

[Tobi]

She's approximately 60x60 centimeters. You need long arms to handle her and gallons of paint. 
A lot of people aren't aware how huge the real Tomcat was.
Now imagine I brush painted my last from Revell with XF-19 Sky Grey, because I was 15 and had no airbrush. It even turned out pretty good.

[mustang1989]

Feb 18, 2023 6:38:09 GMT -5 Tobi said:

She's approximately 60x60 centimeters. You need long arms to handle her and gallons of paint. 
A lot of people aren't aware how huge the real Tomcat was.
Now imagine I brush painted my last from Revell with XF-19 Sky Grey, because I was 15 and had no airbrush. It even turned out pretty good.

LOL!!! I did that too when I was a kid. My thinner for enamel paint? You're gonna love this......gasoline. Maybe that's whats wrong with me. 

[hasenpfeffer]

Thanks for all the comments fellas. LOL to bringing back all those childhood memories. I made a 1/48 Tomcat back then too, probably a Monogram or Revell, I don't remember, but I block masked it and painted it with rattle cans. And I agree Tobi, many don't realize how big an F-14 is. I took the following pic with my 1/48 Bf-109 in the frame to show the scale... the cockpit section of the fuselage is about as long as the 109.

[chromdome35]

You look like a master jet modeler to me! The painting looks perfect.

How did you do the metallic finish on the exhaust?

[mustang1989]

Feb 18, 2023 11:58:07 GMT -5 hasenpfeffer said:

Thanks for all the comments fellas. LOL to bringing back all those childhood memories. I made a 1/48 Tomcat back then too, probably a Monogram or Revell, I don't remember, but I block masked it and painted it with rattle cans. And I agree Tobi, many don't realize how big an F-14 is. I took the following pic with my 1/48 Bf-109 in the frame to show the scale... the cockpit section of the fuselage is about as long as the 109.

As big as the Tomcat is, most folks don't realize just how small a 109 is in real life. Tiny aircraft with a big engine. 

[buddho]

Love this Tomcat! Amazing finish on it...used to see them flying around Norfolk and VA beach. And seeing them up close at airshows...ginormous.

[jeaton01]

That Tomcat is beautiful, what a great finish all around, very neat work.

[hasenpfeffer]

Mar 5, 2023 18:37:31 GMT -5 buddho said:

Love this Tomcat! Amazing finish on it...used to see them flying around Norfolk and VA beach. And seeing them up close at airshows...ginormous.

Thanks! I know. I saw one at Selfridge ANG base during a show. A storm was rolling in way off in the distance and they hurriedly carted it off to the hanger. I had to settle for the F4.

[hasenpfeffer]

Mar 7, 2023 22:41:00 GMT -5 jeaton01 said:

That Tomcat is beautiful, what a great finish all around, very neat work.

Thanks, I appreciate that! I wasn't so sure while I was building the thing though...

[plasticjunkie]

My favorite jet, just adore the Tomcat and you did a fantastic job overall. 👌

[hasenpfeffer]

Mar 17, 2023 8:20:09 GMT -5 plasticjunkie said:

My favorite jet, just adore the Tomcat and you did a fantastic job overall. 👌

Thanks! Mine too. By a long shot.

[mustang1989]

I have yet to venture into the modern jet age. I really like them and all but I'm still in the late Second World War advanced prop and jet phase for the time being.

I just love all the weathering and different shades of colors you guys put into these things.

[themongoose]

a beautiful model made even better by bringing back all those old memories!! i'm a bit like tobi, always wanted the big Tamiya F-14 and finaslly got one just a few years ago for nastalgia and because dad wouldn't let me buy it - he" didn't believe it was that big" so i couldn't spend any money on it. At the time it wasn't available locally so I couldn't take him to see it lol

[keavdog]

Great job on the Tomcat. I lived very near Miramar both when it was Navy and later Marines so I got to see all sorts of aircraft. Driving along hwy 163 you just pass the end of the runway and seeing those big F-14s hanging on those extended wings a 100 feet up was quite a site. I have built a couple in the past and currently have the 1/48 Tamiya A in the stash along with a 1/144 Academy/Minicraft A for a special project. Keep on with the jets!

[Whiterook]

This is a must buy and build kit for me in the near future… just gorgeous! Can you go into some detail on how you painted the bird? The seam work is amazing, and I’m curious how you achieved it. What paints dod you use, too?

[hasenpfeffer]

Apr 8, 2023 20:19:49 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

This is a must buy and build kit for me in the near future… just gorgeous! Can you go into some detail on how you painted the bird? The seam work is amazing, and I’m curious how you achieved it. What paints dod you use, too?

Thanks for the kind words Emery. I built the kit a little over a year ago, so I'll try my best to remember what I did. I keep telling myself to take some notes, but it never happens.

I basically used the technique called black basing. It consists of priming the entire model black and then performing some sort of mottling on top of it followed by building up fine layers of the main colors to the opacity that looks good to you. I used Mr. Surfacer 1500 (black) and then AK Real Colors for the low vis scheme. I did not get as technical or creative as many who do black-basing (like Matt from Doogs Models) and only used the base color for mottling the surface before layering it on. (Sorry I don't have any pics of that.) It's something I really need to experiment with as it adds a lot of visual interest when done correctly. I had tested both AK Real Colors and MRP. I liked the AK colors a bit better, but the final difference between the Medium Gray (FS35237) and Dark Ghost Gray (FS36320) was not as pronounced as on my test card. I'm not sure why, but I didn't spend any time rectifying it as I've seen pics where these colors have weathered and faded to close to what I have. I also was afraid to go too far, but that is all in my mind. These things got pretty beat up late in service. Since it was my first real try at a jet I was taking baby steps.


As for the seam work, well I'm glad it looks good to you. I don't feel I did that great a job on this one. The leading edges of the wing roots being a prime example. It's another area that I've really been trying to improve though, so thanks for the compliment. I know sometimes we can be our own worst critic...


I know I'd do a lot of things differently and I learned a lot along the way with the mistakes I made. But that's the modeling journey.

[mustang1989]

Apr 17, 2023 19:50:34 GMT -5 hasenpfeffer said:

Apr 8, 2023 20:19:49 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

This is a must buy and build kit for me in the near future… just gorgeous! Can you go into some detail on how you painted the bird? The seam work is amazing, and I’m curious how you achieved it. What paints dod you use, too?

Thanks for the kind words Emery. I built the kit a little over a year ago, so I'll try my best to remember what I did. I keep telling myself to take some notes, but it never happens.

I basically used the technique called black basing. It consists of priming the entire model black and then performing some sort of mottling on top of it followed by building up fine layers of the main colors to the opacity that looks good to you. I used Mr. Surfacer 1500 (black) and then AK Real Colors for the low vis scheme. I did not get as technical or creative as many who do black-basing (like Matt from Doogs Models) and only used the base color for mottling the surface before layering it on. (Sorry I don't have any pics of that.) It's something I really need to experiment with as it adds a lot of visual interest when done correctly. I had tested both AK Real Colors and MRP. I liked the AK colors a bit better, but the final difference between the Medium Gray (FS35237) and Dark Ghost Gray (FS36320) was not as pronounced as on my test card. I'm not sure why, but I didn't spend any time rectifying it as I've seen pics where these colors have weathered and faded to close to what I have. I also was afraid to go too far, but that is all in my mind. These things got pretty beat up late in service. Since it was my first real try at a jet I was taking baby steps.
As for the seam work, well I'm glad it looks good to you. I don't feel I did that great a job on this one. The leading edges of the wing roots being a prime example. It's another area that I've really been trying to improve though, so thanks for the compliment. I know sometimes we can be our own worst critic...

I know I'd do a lot of things differently and I learned a lot along the way with the mistakes I made. But that's the modeling journey.

This is exactly what I did upon my re-entry into aircraft modeling a couple of years ago. Around 12 years ago when I found this hobby again, I felt that after a couple of years of building aircraft that my paint jobs needed depth.............so I moved over to the auto side and observed all the great work going on in the aircraft threads silently and all the while was learning. When I came back to this genre I utilized the black basing and warble patterns that you're talking about and my paint jobs started to take on a new life. I'm completely sold on this technique.