tomcats again

[sturmbird]

I'm kinda in the hunt for a couple early F14a Tomcats in 1/72nd scale. I've heard all the horror stories about building the Hasegawa, and the Tamia kit is nothing but a reboxed Italieri, so that won't cut it. There's also the Fujimi that I've heard nothing but good things about, but also hard to find and somewhat costly. Then there is the Hobby Boss kit. Has anybody here built one of them? Academy also has one in 1/72nd scale, and how about that one? Did they finally correct the nose in 1?72 scale? The Fujimi's usually go for close to $40, and I can get the HB kit for about $33, and the Academy kit for about $10 less. Also going to be looking for VMF1 and VMF2 decales whenever I finally get this build underway.
gary

[Mence]

Hi Gary.

I have the Hobby Boss 1/48 F-14 and I am part way through construction. Obviously it's not 1/72 but if their 1/48 is anything to go by you won't be disappointed.

M.

[nemesis]

Hi Gary,

i have the HB F-14A in 1:72 and with only a couple of small reservations i can recommend it. The two small problems concern the edge of the fuselage where they meet the wings. This area is wafer thin and you need to glue it with the wings forward otherwise it can split when the wings are moved. The other area to watch out for is the canopy and the pilots instrument panel. The instrument panel has to be correctly attached otherwise it can foul the front part of the canopy. The main canopy has a locating lug on it. If you want the canopy closed then the lug needs removing as it makes the rear of the canopy sit up. I suspect the lug is only there for when the canopy is to be displayed open. Watch out for the decals they can be a bit on the brittle side.

HTH?

Regards from the Swamp

Eth

[sturmbird]

thanks to all that answered! I kinda cut the list down to the Hobby Boss and Fujimis today after asking some other folks that I knew had a clue. I'll still be watching for a couple out at the IPMS show in Indy, and will probably go ahead anf order in the Hobby Boss to make sure. Now I gotta find the correct decales for them.

Fujimi is setting on a gold mine and dosn't seem to care these days! They made the best:
1. A4 Skyhawks (virtually all versions)
2. the best A6 Intruders period!
3. The best 1/72 Phantoms
4. still the best A7 series
5. all their WWII Japanese stuff still fares well in todays markets with only the Tamiya zeros being a leap ahead.
gary

[sturmbird]

got a HB F14A last week, and from all I can see I'm well pleased. Ordered in a second one, and now I have to find the right decales in this scale.
gary

[bish]

I have been wanting a 72nd F-14 for a while but not sure which kits to go for. My automatic setting would be hasegawa. What are the problems with their F-14 kits and does this just apply to older molds or the more recent ones as well.

[sturmbird]

Feb 24, 2013 13:51:08 GMT -5 bish said:

I have been wanting a 72nd F-14 for a while but not sure which kits to go for. My automatic setting would be hasegawa. What are the problems with their F-14 kits and does this just apply to older molds or the more recent ones as well.

I did a lot of asking around with folks that I knew were better at it than I'd ever be, and virtually everyone said to get the Fujimi kit! The Hasegawa kit is nice, but also can be a bear to build. The Fujimi kit just falls together, and is 99% as accurate as the Hasegawa. (remember we're also talking 1/72 scale). Then I see a Hobby Boss kit at the local hobby shop waiting for somebody to pick it up. He never showed up, and after six weeks they sold it to me. I asked a guy I know that builds on Hyperscale about it as I knew he'd build about a dozen F14 kits in the past. He rates the Fujimi number one, and felt this HB kit was a close second. I've not been able to do a look see at the Fujimi kit. and all I know is second handed. But have looked over the Hasegawa kit and a couple others as well.

What I see in the HB kit box:

* very fine engraved panel lines
* I gotta take a better look at the afterburner cans, but right now look OK
* samething with the cockpit
* landing gear and bays look nice
* decales are nice even tbhough they are not VMF1 and VMF2
*****there are four decale options...VF84, USS America 1975.....VF111 USS Kitty Hawk 1991....VF41 USS Nimitz 1981....VF41 USS Nimitz 1978
decales come with stencils and are they tiny!
* wheels and tires are unweighted as best I can see
* I did not unwrap the clear parts as they are seperate and in a protective foam liner
* kit comes with several missiles and external fuel tanks
* looks like the wings work like Fujimi and Hasegaw did theirs

I'll still be looking for a couple Fujimi kits in the near future. The HB kit looks like it will build into an early F14A, and that's where I want to go. If I like it as well as I think I will, I'll probably do a F14B and a F14D down the road. Lastly HB put a lot of parts in that box and if you remove them it looks like a jigsaw puzzel getting all of them back in there!
gary

[bish]

Thanks for the info gary. I'd also like to get an F-14A. In fact i'd like to do one in the older scheme and one in the low viz. I know i can get the HB kit on Hannants, but might have to check out E-Bay for the Fujimi.

[sturmbird]

Feb 25, 2013 12:02:02 GMT -5 bish said:

Thanks for the info gary. I'd also like to get an F-14A. In fact i'd like to do one in the older scheme and one in the low viz. I know i can get the HB kit on Hannants, but might have to check out E-Bay for the Fujimi.

Fujimis cost a little more, but hear they come with a full weapons load out. Not a big deal with what I'm doing right now, but maybe later on. Price wise the Academy is the cheapest by far, but did they correct the nose shape? I suppose that I could simply cast one off the HB nose. I think you can still order the Fujimi kit from HLJ in Japan.
gary