Scalemates F-14 Tomcat Group build 2020

Martin von Schreckenstein
my mad scientist, OCD journey to a gloss finish on 72 Tomcat has begun. Any car builders able to help me here? what do you guys do with the hard-to-get-to places? Do you just leave them?

Pierre
Going for a Vandy 1 scheme? One of the A versions was matte black, so depending on your decals you might not have to bother getting a glossy finish 🙂

But if you're in it for the fun, other that his car videos, Plasmo on youtube has one about a shiny Rokaf T-50 that might help. Also, the GX series gunze lacquer paints/gloss might make things easier, people say the black gives a great result in itself and the gloss takes polishing better than the alcohol acrylic versions. In any case, this is a situation where I would practice on a junk model given how hard it seems to achieve those finishes. Good luck!

Martin von Schreckenstein
Hello Pierre, I am going to check out that PLASMO video, thanks. Otherwise I am using my Academy tomcat as a testbed for this as well as other unused plastic model parts too. The tomcat is going to be glossy light grey, the black is just a surfacer. decided to polish every layer to minimize issues.

Pierre
Oh I see, thought you wanted a glossy black finish. I would just do a light sanding of the primer rather than try to achieve full polish, apply the grey, fix that if needed then focus on polishing the final gloss coat. Might make it easier to fix the low parts because you'll have more material to work with.

But I have no magic trick for raised parts being sanded down too much, I guess you can only count on a very light hand and extreme control with fine grit sponges.

Martin von Schreckenstein
The T-50 video is super helpful actually, thanks for that. Otherwise I am only polishing the primer as a test. I understand this will be a lot of work in 1/72, just want to have the technique a little more in hand before I continue with first color coats🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
The hi-viz cats do not even need to be that glossy, I was just generally unhappy with the surfaces I was getting from my work🙂

Pierre
I do not have a huge experience so I might just be talking out of my hat, but from a quick look at your last tomcat I'd say the main issue is some of your coats were laid down a bit too thick. It might be easier in the long run to find the sweet thinner ratio/pressure spot with your airbrush for proper atomisation/coverage and very thin coats than having to do heavy sanding to reach a satin smooth aspect (that and those panel lines will be more consistent).
Plasmo's videos and other youtubers where you can actually see the paint behaviour when they're spraying were a very useful help for me.

Martin von Schreckenstein
haha yes, I suspected that as well. a lot to learn. after all, only been working with airbrush for a few years. the sanding and polishing is a good backup for when my painting won't cut it.

Patrick Hagelstein
I was reading the whole conversation to learn that you're not going for a black Tomcat but just have it as a base for further painting up a Wolfpack Tomcat. I'll just tag along from here on. 🙂

Pierre
Scale-a-ton is another very useful and informative channel to watch for airbrush painting (and other tips of course).

Patrick Hagelstein
ScaleModelAircraft too!

Martin von Schreckenstein
Thanks guys! I follow most of these and some others. gonna be worthwhile to revisit some basics before putting down that hi-viz coolness. I know i did manage some nice results before, I guess its just when something really important shows up, my skills get worse🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
Hey guys, I have no pictures yet but I have to thank Pierre for his careful, diplomatic critique of my airbrush basics🙂I started relearning the basics and while the white coat on the underside is still quite sub par, the FS16440 surface is just beautiful.

Pierre
Glad you're getting to the result you wanted!

Martin von Schreckenstein
Working on the shine. I have to say my airbrush skills have improved a lot but the main help came from the Tamiya polishing compound. It is very helpful.

Patrick Hagelstein
Looking really good Martin! What paint did you use for the Light Gull Grey?

Martin von Schreckenstein
Thanks Patrick. I always use the H315 and the czech version pledge called sidolux as varnish🙂

Patrick Hagelstein
Gotcha! 👍 It looks warm in your pictures. Comparing Gaia 219 to Gunze 315, I found the H315 to be a tad paler but in your picture it has a nice warm tone to it. Could be the lighting. Either way, I'm using it as a slight highlight on my build as well. 👍

Martin von Schreckenstein
my GWH alphas have arrived! gonna use the beavertails from there. also the kits do not have anything cut out. gun vents, stabilizers and engine fairings are all present. Seems the issue is fixed now. Patrick did you manage to get the missing parts from GWH? (I ordered from the same ebay shop as you did)

Dave Flitton
Looking good as a start.

Bryn Crandell
Great start so far. Watching this one progress.

Patrick Hagelstein
Nope....haven't heard back from GWH.... Good thing is that now I have some time to look into old emails....

Pierre
Sweet package 🙂 Good to know the plastic is all there.

Martin von Schreckenstein
Decided to join the group build with this one. Hopefully I will manage to finish it this year🙂

Greg Baker
Following along...

Søren Thuesen
In picture number 18: are there two tomcats on the floor?

Pierre
Good idea and good work with the boat tail.

Martin von Schreckenstein
Welcome Greg and thanks Pierre. Søren: yes, I ordered two GWH tomcats but I have only used the old style beaver tail from the kit. This build is the Finemolds kit otherwise. The GWH kits will be used elsewhere.

Søren Thuesen
A follow up question: is the cuddly feline next to the boxes also a tomcat? Meow!

Martin von Schreckenstein
haha it is a girl cat but generally as dangerous as the jet🙂

Sergej I
Watching 🙂

Daniel
Nice job so far, watching

Jos Jansen
Great...watching...!

Maciej Bellos
Niiiice!

Martin von Schreckenstein
My compressor broke and then was fixed and I moved a little further with painting. The painting though was just procrastination from the looming task I have been putting off. Finishing the decals.. Should focus on that tbh.. anyway, the paintjob is a good base with some more work to be done. I put the wash down now though as I plan on toning it down a little when the fuselage is assembled and blending paint layer and highlights are put down.

Gareth Burge
Watching with interest, looks good

Martin von Schreckenstein
Thank you Gareth!

Treehugger
The white on gray looks lovely I think, and all the panel lines looks nice too. 🙂

Gareth Burge
Agreed Treehugger. Am still struggling with panel lines looking neat, despite following several YT guides!

Andrew P
Nice work so far. Watching with interest.

Slavo Hazucha
Ah, another small one!😉

Looking good, nice lines and clean build & (so far) finish 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Darn! I've been missing out for a while... Great stuff going on here Martin! 👍

Martin von Schreckenstein
after half a year, i revived this project by adding the 2nd jet and started painting. the first aircraft (NK102) served as a testing base for a lot of the approaches and sadly will bear the marks of several failures. NK101 seems to be a lot nicer now that i know what to do and how to do it. despite some of its negative aspects and yhe limitations of my aliexpress airbrush, the mission model paints give me best results overall. the NK102 is now treated with a gloss coat awaiting polishing. fingers crossed for the finish line

Martin von Schreckenstein
modelling is kinda my coping mechanism so I have to try and progress here whenever I have literally 30 free seconds. Should probably remove these from the 2020 group build as they will probably finish sometime in 2022🙂

Sergej I
Great progress Martin, I had to check twice if it is really 1/72 while watching those gear struts 👍

Martin von Schreckenstein
Haha thank you Sergej, the wash on those was really difficult and as the jets are supposed to be brand new the weathering is definitely a bit overdone there but oh well🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
Paint is on and so is the coat. Just have to work on that shine. Carefully

Spanjaard
3 beautiful cats 🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
thanks Spanjaard

Oliver Zwiener
Ich staune und frage mich wie man erst die Bugsektionen bauen und vollständig lackieren kann und diese anschließend mit dem Rumpf zusammenfügt ???

Martin von Schreckenstein
hello Oliver. according to google translate, you are asking about those beaver tails? It was indeed quite difficult making them fit🙂

Martin von Schreckenstein
almost done! just the canopies, ladders, steps, gear bay doors, seats, pitot tubes, remove before flight flags.. ..almost done!

Patrick Hagelstein
Hi Martin, I think Oliver actually wants to know how/why you finished the front fuselage sections, including painting and decalling them, before attaching them to the rest of the fuselage. To be honest, that is an interesting question for sure. Did you do it that way to have freedom of movement applying those red fuselage bands?

Martin von Schreckenstein
oh yeah, that would be a valid question too! I opted for that exactly because of the stripes and the surface polishing after that. When I put the nose on the rest of the plane there was some extensive filling and sanding but with some masking tape it was a far easier way to go than painting polishing and decaling around the intakes..

Martin von Schreckenstein
Build complete! Thanks for your presence and encouragement🙂 album here Complete | Album by mnn (1:72)

Oliver Zwiener
Both looking great - top !

Martin von Schreckenstein
thank you Oliver!