F-14 with beginner issues
At first I couldn't figure out why step one, on the front and back seat instrument panels had raised detail and was telling me to paint them black AND put on the decals. I knew that trying to get decals onto raised detail would not work and also, why were the instructions telling me to paint them black and then put on black colored decals? I finally watched a video build and saw that you had a choice to paint the raised detail or get rid of it and use the decals. Instead of doing incredibly small detail painting I chose to file it off and use decals. At the same time I was slopping heaps of Revell unthinned enamel paint that I waited a month to arrive from France, just to follow the directions to the letter and not have to worry about overthinking a paint job or using my imagination.
Gotta admit, I was seriously proud of myself that I simply made the wings work smoothly in each position. It's kind of what makes this plane awesome, imo.
OMG I don't even like looking at it. The fuselage halves and intake parts were the worst fit I could imagine and with unresearched fixes, I attempted to do something I had no idea what I was doing
I stopped at the step where the very small parts of the landing gear were to be put together and had gunked the pieces with slops of paint and they wouldn't fit anymore. I started painting the missiles and did the same thing to them. All the white is paintable caulk. Yeah I know...
The gashes going up towards the cockpit was a lesson learned in how to properly use an exacto blade and couted my lucky stars it gashed the plane and not my body. I have tried to sand all of the tube cement I used but I think it's there to stay. Also, I think The circle that is plugged white is supposed to be for a small part and not to be filled in. heh when it rains it pours.
These are the prime examples of, at first, being ignorant as to how to properly paint with enamels and thin them. Honestly, I am so afraid the body of the plane would look absolutely horrible if I attempted to brush paint it with the enamels I have. Instead of using masking tape or a dowel with a clip or popsicle stick with loctite blue fun tak like I do now i was holding these parts in my paint riddled fingers smearing paint and leaving fingerprints. I stopped this build for a bit after being disgusted with the results on these parts and decided to binge a plethora of how to videos on YouTube to hone my skills and get tools and accessories that I felt would help me improve immediately. and they did. sanding materials, good glue, thinners, brushes, palettes, spray cans for priming and possibly base coating. Ever since then I have been practicing different paints and combinations on a spare sprue that has parts that were not to be used in the build.
Comments
6 June 2022, 08:04
Matthew AikenSO what I think I am going to do is use this kit as a practice mule to play around with washes and panel line products, contrast paint and weathering. I have zero desire to make most models look like the real thing but there are some things I want a real look for, like the sidewinder missiles. I googled F-14 sidewinders and found color combos I liked. When i first watched a video of people filling panel lines with tamiya panel line accent I thought it was the coolest thing I have ever seen. Now I know what capillary action and surface tension is! I had always disregarded detail like that and I am eager to give it a shot and experiment with oil washes, panel liner accent, gundam markers and a few other washes that I have acquired in the last month or so. First I need to primer and I was thinking of using Mr Surfacer 1000 grey(because that's what hobby lobby had in store) like I did on my second build, the Revell 1:72 F-22 Raptor, which is a significant improvement over the F-14 with everything. I have learned so much that I plan on displaying the Raptor on a stand. Both planes are on my workspace and are getting finished at a snails pace while I wait for spray can colors that i want to arrive. I now have a serious collection of tools and accessories that make my building life much more easy, fun and satisfying, but I still watch how to and model build videos almost every day because I love learning and putting what I have learned into action for the better. Any ideas of what YOU might do going forward with this F-14 are welcomed and I can accept constructive criticism just fine cuz I already know it's bad. Just wait til you see my 2nd build project in progress, the F-22 that I want to be more realistic to the real life counterparts.
6 June 2022, 08:58
Album info
I tried to capture the essence of my beginner skills on this project in these photos. I learned too late that I am supposed to thin enamels and I originally thought I needed to heap more coats of paint to cover up really bad brush strokes, overloaded paintbrush, uneven lines. I bought Gorilla Super glue and sloshed it all over. I also, am embarrassed to admit this, but I wanted to fill gaps and seam lines and used caulk from my dads workbench and now I can't get the excess off and while trying, sanded many panel lines into thin air.
