Hobby Boss F-14B Tomcat
Comments
13 28 March 2020, 15:31
Michael PhillipsBeautiful turkey Dan! Very nice weathering and love the squadron choice, of course. 🙂
29 March 2020, 02:59
Danumurthi MahendraYou can never have too many Skull and Bones LOL! Much thanks, @Michael and Mas @Ali!
29 March 2020, 08:43
Jos JansenWhat a beautiful cat Danumurthi, what building problems did you run into ... I am going to make the Hobbyboss F-14A.
29 March 2020, 09:20
Danumurthi MahendraThank you @Jos. It is a long laundry list of problems. big and small. let me share with you starting from the big items. The cockpit tub does not want to fit in the forward fuselage halves. it sits a bit too high by 1mm. You need to trim this. This makes it impossible to glue the decking strip that go on each side of the cockpit. Hobby boss wants you to attach the wings before you glue down the fuselage. This is extremely not practical. you need to cut the wing's attachment points in such a way so that you can insert it later. The shroud for the exhaust pipe had a huge step issue that needed pla-plate and epoxy putty.
29 March 2020, 12:07
Danumurthi MahendraThe rest are smaller problems but when combined, they made a constant nuisance throughout the build. Hobby Boss wants us to glue all landing gears at the same time as the gear bay. That is totally not practical. The sides of the intake trunks have a big hole and need to be filled with pla-late and putty. The hole for the attachment points needs to be enlarged and dry-tested early in the WIP. All decals for AIM-54, AIM-9, AIM 7 are for training only. There are very few stencils available. The attachment points for the multi-purpose pylons and rails under the wing are shallow, you need to strengthen it with some copper wire. Hobby boss wants you to glue the arrestor hook at the same time you attach its base anchor but that would be not practical. You need to enlarge all slits and holes to attach the landing gear bay doors as they are too narrow. Fitting is a constant issue. you will find many, many joints that need to be leveled, filled, and sanded. The small boarding steps are the wrong shape, you might want to make your own. The panel door for the M61 Vulcan can be displayed open but because of a probe sensor, it cannot be open properly unless the front boarding step is closed.
29 March 2020, 12:37
Slavo HazuchaSome master-class surface techniques applied here 👍 would have been cool to see the progress line-up too!
29 March 2020, 12:41
Danumurthi MahendraHi @Slavo. Thank you. I have documented all the steps and they are here in my photo gallery. Feel free to stop by at www.flickr.com/photos/dmminiatures/albums/72157706298485105
29 March 2020, 12:45
Danumurthi MahendraHi @Jos - I wanted to include a few more. Major: The front windshield fits but it has a nasty step at the front . I saw off the upper part of the front fuselage and inserted a plate plate and epoxy putty. the refueling bay did not fit, you need to shave off some plastic from the part. If you want to close it, you will need to trim the doors so it would fit. The wings are wobbly and tend to close-and-open free-fall uncontrollably. there are no resistance. you will need some sponge pad or cushion inside the fuselage to slow down the swinging
29 March 2020, 15:28
Michael PapayGreat build, super paint job. I hope mine will look similar to yours
29 March 2020, 16:28
Danumurthi MahendraI think you will, @Michael Papay. you have the -B and the -D variant for AMK too. thats just a great set
29 March 2020, 16:43
DanielAwesome! I like the dark grimy look paired with the happy smiling santa 😄 (One of your nozzle interiors ran away, hope you could catch it😉 )
30 March 2020, 10:13
Danumurthi MahendraThanks, @Erik and @Daniel. Oh right the port exhaust nozzle is not there. I took it out together with the port engine for a separate display. Turns out it was not necessary (regret).
31 March 2020, 02:07
TreehuggerI would very much like to see some low and front back photos of your model. 🙂 I always like those angles.
19 August 2020, 18:48
Danumurthi MahendraHi @Treehugger - Just added two more images from a low rear-end angle. Sadly I couldn't find any from the front end. Hope that's okay.
20 August 2020, 02:46
Album info
A kit that requires constant attention and work. Despite all the nice things about this kit - from great details, lots of build options, and very good decals - the fundamental problem that destroyed the whole enjoyment of building this kit is the recurring fit issue big and small that continues to follow the WIP from the time we open the box until the final photo-shoot. I took out the kit's port GE-110 engines and will use it as a display next to the model.
