Scalemates F-14 Tomcat Group build 2020

I am 44 and what is this? Ejector pin marks?

Intake fixed on the right side. As I sit here I realize I've started a horror show. I don't like the prospect of juggling a whole painted resin cockpit AND then the fuselage AND then fixing the nose on top of that. 😠

Next up: Seeing as I HAVE to finish the wings, before I can finish gluing the big hull parts, I might as well start looking at cutting the plastic to make the slats and the flaps. Probably somewhat simplified, not sure.

I used this "The Army Painter" saw to easily cut with the tip, and finishing with a sharp blade, to separate the plastic. The smaller hinge stuff will have to be glued back on, it was nicer to just cut across it all. This seems fairly straight forward, but I haven't done this before. I think the slats will be fairly easy to cut off as well. I will have to carefully add some more plastic for the slats area. The flaps need plastic too, but not that much.

Oops. Something happened. Nothing to see here!

The saw slipped one time, one time only. I can fix this. This is luckily the underside of the wing as well.

I thought this looked off, so I checked with a photo, and the missile isn't well placed on the pylon in the kit. I will have to finish tweaking the missile tip before I can look at fitting the missiles onto the pylons better.

Little by little, I think I can make this look good. It is important to finish the wings, to get to work with the canopy. Unfortunately I have to wait a long time until I can get to add 10mm to the nose of the jet.

A preliminary drawing, but so far so good. I haven't figured out how I want to create the hinges for the ramp. What the drawing shows on top, is the ground structure, then the ramp raises up from this cavity on the deck of the carrier. Measurements given in centimeters. The drawing is sort of a copy of what I've seen elsewhere, but simplified measurements to round off to whole millimeters, ideally. I will use 1.4 mm wide resin bolt heads. Drawing made with LibreCad (free software).

I made a small effort trying to find some aftermarket F-14A thruster parts, but I will justs go with the kit parts I think.

So, the Aires resin cockpit instructions aren't that great. I figured that I would need the bottom part of the original kit canopy part, so I sawed off the most from that. I think this will work, but the margins aren't that large. I will probably have to thin the sawed off canopy part so that it fits under the resin cockpit. Not something for clumsy beginners! 😄 On second thought, I think the best would be if the nosegear stuff is all glued to the bottom, and the resin canopy to the top part.

I rounded off the cannon opening and gently make some panel lines more distinct around the hole.

Looks like the fuel tanks are sort of centered around each air intake. The kit have the fuel tanks pin holes off center, and inwards. Also note the sharp edge just inside the large sharp edge over each intake, these edges have a blunt edgy shape on the kit parts.

Does this look like fun or what? The Aires build guide has a couple of errors, but I think I figured it out.

I have changed my mind, I think. I no longer think the nose should be longer. Compared to this photo, the nose seems long enough, but I guess the bottom part of the nose is too thick vertically. Hmmm.

I have the tools to fiddle with clear parts to make them shiny, but I don't have the experience to sand clear parts and getting thems shiny again. There is a band that is at the middle, which has the wrong angle I think I wil sand away the panel lines for that on the outside. I am more concerned about improving the inside of the canopy though. I have the time to fiddle with this, but I just don't know what to expect if I start sanding the inside.

Where is the fin here? Does anybody know? Is the fourth fin inside the pylon? Surely the missing fin has to be there covered?

I might as well re-create the openings here, seems simple enough.

Not sure what to do with the larger canopy piece, but I think I can tweak the front one to look a little more like the real thing. I will have to sand on the outside of the canopy, and not just on the side, there should be enough plastic thickness to get this right but I have to be careful. Will have to polish clear as best as I can afterwards.

I think I made an improvement, but I can only do so much. At least I think this looks much better, when viewed from sort of sideways. This is the maxium tweaking I can do, otherwise the plastic vanish and the shape is altered the wrong way again.

Protip: Never try adding a lot of sprue goo, next to thin sheet styrene. 🙂 Also, I filled the ends of my Phoenix missiles with sprue goo, and the thinner plastic melted a little, but I can fix it, as long as the sprue goo goes hard again.

The fuel pods here are clearly off center and to the outside. Other photos seem to show the tip of the fuel tank reaching out all the way to the air intake openings, so I will move the fuel tanks, more to the side, and forwards. Sort of looks like the fuel tanks hangs directly down here in the photo.

Admittedly a D variant. Seem to show a somewhat different fuel pod perhaps.

Oh, joy! I happen to have some steel colored metal to use for my landing gear part, and the diameter is pretty much spot on I think. 🙂 I will have to be careful drilling out the landing gear hole, but I think it is doable. I must remember to make the metal shiny before doing anything with it.

I've figured that with wings swung out, this diorama won't fit any of my display cabinets inside, but it will fit on top.

I ordered some Kitty Hawk supercarrier 'tie downs', for USS America, which looks like a simple cross, I hope I will have enough of them. I ordered two packs, 220 pcs. with two packs (I checked the amount just now).

I was thinking, I could maybe try out what some other guy on Scalemated did, using fine sand paper for the carrier deck. 🙂 Hopefully making holes in the sandpaper is not too difficult, by punching tools.

I don't yet know how many tie downs " would be required" for covering this portion of the deck.

Hm, I just checked, if using Evergreen sheet styrene, they cover the whole width, but I would need four of them, which isn't too bad. I could use a wooden board or something I guess, but I would have to make a hole in it for the jet blast deflector cavity. I should probably use a solid base anyway under any styrene to make it all more solid and good and flat. Hm, maybe I could use some foam in between a thin wooden plate and styrene on top, assuming the foam plate is actually flat.

I'll clean fix this and glue this air brake to the main part, being easier than gluing it on later.

The thee basic colors to be used.
Beige (nose) + Off white + USAF Light Grey

NOTE: I changed my mind, I only need to add 0.5 mm of styrene on the inner parts of the air intakes, not 1.5 mm as I initially thought.

I had to fix the front canopy piece, and also remove the wrong panel lines going across the large piece, so I thought I'd jump into this and just try clean it all up. My first try. I hope I can lessen the distortion inside the large canopy, by evening out the inside a little bit. Very difficult to see where the plastic is thicker on the inside.

I am not sure, but I suspect that polishing too dry, creates some heat that disforms the platic ever so subtly, so I will try keep it more wet. Also, I made sure to NOT try use some really coarse grit on the sanding sponges, or I would maybe neverhave cleared the streaks.

The bottom lights were "drilled" out, to the given shape on the kit, but the top ones, which I repositioned a little, are a little smaller. I don't really know, but I suspect the bottom lights are too large. Could be wrong though.

Update: I have since removed the liquid glass and replaced them with hard clear plastic. |
The bubbles is perhaps because of there being TWO layers of liquid glass. I used Microscale Industries' 'Micro Kristal Klear' to create the glass, but I ended up using two layers, because I needed the goo to rise above the top so that I can sand that down flush with the plastic. Unfortunately, there are some bubbles. I might end up re-doing this, unsure. Only looks bad for this one of four nav light glass. Word of warning: I don't actually know if it is possible to sand down this stuff.

Update: I have since removed the liquid glass and replaced them with hard clear plastic. |
I used Microscale Industries' 'Micro Kristal Klear' to create the glass, but I ended up using two layers, because I needed the goo to rise above the top so that I can sand that down flush with the plastic. Btw, I had no idea there was this tiny bubble in this section, until I took a photo of it with the macro setting. I suspect my final photos will end up being brutal, but ofc, I should make sure to take some photos way off to hide the flaws for some of the photos at least. :]

I regrettebly used sprue goo to add some extra plastic at the right side by the hinge point, and also on the left on the big part. Messy, and takes too long time to dry imo. But hey it is done, on this side anyway.

Not 100%, but I think I can mabye make it all look nice with minor tweaks. I added some strip styrene to make the canard thingy thicker at the rear, and I trimmed the plastic around to fit as best as I could. It is a good while before I can even glue the two big fuselage parts together, much work to be done. :|

The four nav lights filled with liquid glass was ripped out. I'll try again, until I get some more liquid glass that is more flush with the plastic. This stuff doesn't seem to dry hard and can't be sanded down it seems.

I was hoping to avoid having to create custom clear parts, but the liquid glass idea didn't look good enough for me. Fairly easy making such parts, but takes some time. First part done. :| Three more to be made. With any luck, the tension will lessen if the plastic melts a little when adding glue, or.. the plastic will more easily rip if, probably the latter I fear, but if that happens, no big deal, fixable. I am now adding a rich amount of Tamiya's Extra Thin Cement, to help the plastic around the clear part melt and close the tiny tiny gaps.

After cleaning up the four nav lights, and the two canards, I can hop to this area around the intakes. Oh, joy. At the point of taking the photos, I had alredy fixed the angle of the inner edge as seen in the upper left part of this compilation of photos. Edit: Actually, most of the horizontal lines around the air intake, is angled the same way, in relation to the tilt of the large air intake. This requires a little more work to fix.

Success! This turned out a little better than I hoped for. I should mention, that in addition to adding glue around the clear-part-pressed-into-the-hole, I also thought I had to try smear some sprue goo around the edges. I think this worked. I have to resand the entire edge of the fuselate to avoid an uneven surface there, I probably sanded just a little too much around the nav light there. Note, the bottom side of the nav light has some gruff, or whatever, the top side looks shiny, but perhaps some scratches or something on the underside that I should try clean up a little. I used 1000, 3000 grit and a polish stick for the clear part, good enough, will be covered in dark red or green on top.

I added some extra bit of styrene on the insides, as I will drill out two holes for the elevator surfaces, and add in a thin metal rod, and I thought adding some more plastic on the inside somehow intuitively seemed like a good idea.

These are the Aim-7 launcher pylons. The one for the Aim-54 would have looked a little different. The pylon I think, is a combination of various pylon parts that can be changed unless I am mistaken here. It sucks having to make a second one. 🙂 In addition to looking simple, the pylon didn't sit well under the aircraft, so I trimmed the size and changed the angle to about 45 deg for the eh upper front angled edge. I think it was more like 60 deg when I started.

I thinned the thickness of the outer surface to about half, or maybe a little less than that. Update: I have since halved the thickness. 🙂

I noticed on a photo, that the Aim-7 rear fin, is angled, to be parallel with the pylon, so I must remember to get that right when I get around to gluing these two parts together. The upper fin of the missile was cut off, because the fin probably hides inside the pylon on the real thing. Also: I had to reupload the photos, because the file sizes of 350Kb is imo too much for this kind of WIP images, so I apparently endedup with a 59 Kb sized image.

So I am adding the thinnest styrene strip there is, to try create a very thin opening between the fuselage and the large air brake part. It probably isn't going to look 100% accurate, but should look a lot better than the kit parts. Maybe.. if I had not already sanded the fuselage opening and the air brake part, maybe I could just sand them into shape. Instead, I sanded the parts before I did any dry fitting. So now I am doing this. Easy, but takes some time waiting for the glue to dry.

I am happy with this. Though with just gaps, I can't get any panel line wash in there. I realize now after taking the photo, that the very last, tiny, styrene bit, I must trim thinner. Also, this is just a test fit arrangement, I have not yet glued the air brake onto the fuselage, so it should look even better afterwards. Update: Hm, maybe if I add liquid glue to the space between the parts, I get to glue the part, and also get my panel lines.

A little extra work and the original parts doensn't look too bad I think. I will be using Aim-L missiles. The L version is the only one I have in resin, and according to Wikipedia they were in "full production" in 1977, so.. maybe plausible for an early F-14A? 🙂

For this part, hardly visible on the innermost position inside the air intakes, still I thought it would be more fun if I didn't have to hand paint these, nor use masking tape, so I removed the back surface and tried to sharpen the tip of the blades or whatever these are. Maybe they are just blocking debris?

I used a tiger 1 gun barrel and made some cylinder shapes to use as a stand off, to make some space behind these fans or whatever they are.

I put the top of the landing gear part onto this piece of thin sheet of styrene, to try figure out this mess of a front wheel bay.

So I added this piece of styrene there, to avoid having the resin canopy being just this loose part, this helps a lot to hold these things when test fitting. I had to begin scrape the insides of this big top fuselage part, so I had to cut into the plastic for the four location pins/holes.

The struggle is real. Plastic has to be cut, filed, sanded and scraped. I think I can make this fit, but it is all delicate. The big clearpart for the canopy is only so wide, and I have to make sure I don't inadvertently end up widening the fuselage when fitting the resin cockpit. I have to use masking tape to hold the resin cockpit parts, because I can't glue them together at this point. And I don't want to paint the cockpit area and then try fitting that into the plastic, not with all the handling and dust and crap.

I found this small photo etch stuff for cheap, mostly to get to use a few of the parts, and ofc the nameplate. Most of the interior stuff I won't be using.

So I bought the small photo etch for this one piece in particular. 🙂 Not much else for the exterior, one piece for the arrestor hook, and one or two things for the front landing gear. Also, I re-scribed the weaker panel lines. I probably overdid it, but I think I can fix it with panel wash and a few layers of gloss coat. I did a fairly good job I think at re-scribing lots of panel lines today. Two squares on the underside, I will fill in with putty or something, not that anybody would notice, because those re-scribed squares don't look square. 🙂 I re-scribed gently first, then harder, always pulling the scribing tool, basically never pushing it forwards, then I sand and well drag the lines clean, and at some point I add some tiny amount of liquid glue to just help clear up the panel lines from dust. Basically, liquid glue on a glossy surface = bad, but rough surfaces don't look too bad.

I've managed to create an adequately fit base for the forward canopy piece. I am comparing this Academy kit nose to photos, and it really seems off. Presumably several things are off, but I can only fix so much. I will add to the top surface in front of the canopy ever so slightly, and I will sand away at the top sides, and maybe add 1-2 mm of nose length to try make the nose look a little longer. I suspect that the canopy glass is a little too tall, but without proper scale drawings to compare to this work is so difficult and I am not 100% sure what to think. I used sprue goo on top here, to add maybe 0.5 mm height to the top surface. I also will probably sand the bottom of the actual nose maybe.

I took a photo of the nose, after moving the nose part 2-3mm outwards, held together with masking tape. I think this looks better. A longer nose with a higher nose ridge. The photo was drawn over, and I added a tip to the nose as well. The underside of the nose is unchanged. The angle of the front canopy is probably a little wrong, it isn't glued on, should be a little less sharp I think.

Oh well. The metal nose cone ofc doesn't fit neatly over the kit part. I can fix this.

I have to finish the entire canopy area before I can get to this stage where I reshape the nose. I think something like this would look ok. I've also been re-scribing most of the panel lines on the kit and it helps having some basic panel line to use as a guide, as long as the grooves are straight lines. A few panel lines I filled in, because they did not end up looking good after re-scribing.

A lot of work just working in and around the cannon muzzle opening. I have make a final adjustment to make this loose "plate" fit the fuselage.

I had no idea, I thought the canopy would fit but the rear seat is too tall, so I will have to adjust the entire resin cockpit by lowering it a little, and most at the rear side. Also maybe adjusting the angle of the front resin part to look more like it the photo here. Maybe if the canopy clear part plastic wasn't so thick the rear sit would fit.

Hrm, all this precision work sucks, and the different parts being all loose is difficult to work with that way. Hrm, the PE on the inside of the canopy glass might look bad, if the plastic thickness it too thick. I may just glue on the mirror and avoid painting the inside, unsure. I don't understand why there aren't easily available vacuum canopy products for such a common subject. 🙁

I don't want to spend too much time/energy on this, but I thought I could try rebuild the arrestor hook, and open a few holes. Work in progress, but I will probably just add one more thing that goes into that large hole into the fuselage there. Btw, I noticed that the kit comes with an ecm thiny at the far end, and on the early F-14A's apparently there is no ecm (like more forwards) and instead some kind of nav light is there. Beside that thingy, there is a fuel dump pipe, which I have remade as a loose part, being holed out.

This was all very easy to do, cutting off the flaps and slats surfaces. I was initially a little anxious about cutting this off the wings, but by being careful and making sure the saw actually is angled properly by keeping an eye on the rear side of the saw, making cuts with several stroks worked very well here. Clean up is minimal. I will have to do some smaller cuts into the plastic and add stuff, and it shouldn't be too difficult to scratch build the flaps and slats I think. I made some notches in the wing pivot point, but it is a work-in-progress.

I added some extra styrene behind the left side, at this top fuselage part (and bottom fuselage part), as I suspected I might have to sand the plastic thin. However, after adding the sheet styrene, it sort of looks now like the fuselage straightened up a little, maybe making the sanding/filing job easier and less messy. Note, after this photo was taken, I used a side cutter and removed the excess plastic.

I still have to figure out and finish the preliminary work for the wings, so that I can snap them into place after having painted the two wings separately. And it looks like I should be able to finish the cockpit with adding PE and paint it all soon. Because the canopy will be closed, some PE won't be used, as it probably won't be seen. I want to take some nice photo of the cockpit after painting, before I glue the entire cockpit in place, so that you people have something interesting to look at.

It looks like I can use a thin metal rod across this part, after removing plastic near the center of the model. I am 95% sure I can make this work. I already have the metal rod, but I haven't drilled the two holes yet for the stabilizers.

Work in progress. Perhaps for the first time in my life I had fun dry brushing with some metallic steel color, especially over the glossy black, worked nicely. Presumably some of the black surfaces on the large cockpit pices is rubber and so shouldn't be dry brushed with a steel color. I have to airbrush on some green/fabric on the top side on a couple of large pieces in the cockpit. Will add some subtle bluish tint to pilot visors. Will try to add photo etch seat belts over their shoulders later on, once the figures are glued into the seats.

I cleaned things up a little, and airbrushed on Humbrol Clear gloss, at around 10 psi. Should have lowered the psi a little closer to 8, but too lazy. :| I will apply a pin wash after this, add some blue'ish tint on the two visors, and maybe add some stuff to the helmets like a decal to make the helmets look less generic. I am happy I have the Aires resin seats, it really looks detailed. I don't know enough about them to make them look the best though.

I am not 100% happy with the white helmets, I will probably have to do some more work there. I must try remember to add some photo etch seat belts after gluing the figures onto their seats.

Comments

13 10 May 2020, 14:18

Treehugger
I have an idea for this group build project: Scratch build a portion of the deck incl. the blast shield. Should be easy enough. And just large enough to cover the model. Also, that way, the Tomcat is lowered into launch position which should make the model more interesting to look at. I will try find some replacement decals, as the typcial US decals in the kit is not in register. I could airbrush over the decals and fix it, but seems like maybe a hassle, unsure. Unfortunately, there are no detailing on the wings, for slats and flaps in this cheaper Acadmey kit. Nose also has to be fixed, and some minor re-scribing.

Loadout: 4 phoenix + 2 sidewinder + 2 sparrow missiles + 2 fuel tanks

Cockpit closed. Good thing the kit has two pilots included with the model.

Will try to incorporate some other minor fixes if I figure that stuff out.

10 May 2020, 16:05

Daniel
Sounds like an ambitious plan, I am also pondering if I should do a cat on the jump...
Be warned though, the fit of this kit might give you nightmares😉
taking a seat of course

10 May 2020, 16:21

Treehugger
I will just dip the whole thing in a bucket of putty, and voila!

Feel free to add any tips btw. I am aware of some issues, but haven't yet started on this kit.

10 May 2020, 16:23

Treehugger
I am tempted to buy some aftermarket nozzles, in photo etch. I already have the Aires cockpit, and some nice wheels where you can paint the wheel cap separately. 🙂 Ideally I would have wanted some photo etch for the external part, but I don't think I will bother.

Also.. it is 10. May and it is snowing. 🙂

10 May 2020, 16:33

Jos Jansen
Oh yeah Treehugger is in the building...already curious for your idea to make a scratchbuild carrier deck. My plan is also to display it on carrier deck but my first struggle is for start, whether the canopy open or closed...?

10 May 2020, 17:14

Treehugger
Btw, I figured out that the ramp behind the jet is called the "jet blast deflector", and that the "shoe" is called a "shuttle" that pulls on the front wheels to catapult the jet into the air.

There is a nice Italeri 1:72 kit of all of this but wrong scale: Carrier deck section (Italeri 1326, 1:72)

I did find some interesting photos/drawings on the Shapeways website via image search, for 1:48 scale deck with dimensions I think, so that will be helpful:
shapeways.com/produc..for-modern-carrier-1

10 May 2020, 20:40

Treehugger
I found two resin Aim-9L missiles I can add to the project. And I think I can maybe cut off the flaps to make them angled down, but adding slats is too tricky I think.

10 May 2020, 21:42

Jos Jansen
This kit from Kinetic contains a jet blast deflector in 1/48 scale.

Nimitz Deck (Kinetic K48057, 1:48)

10 May 2020, 21:48

Clifford Keesler
An amazing project, I will watch with great interest.

10 May 2020, 22:51

Treehugger
Oh wow I had no idea there was such a Kinetic kit. Out of my reach though.

I think now I can probably scratch build the slats, because the wing is basically two large pieces, making it easy to split the plastic top/bottom. 🙂

Have to research:
Take off configuration for F-14A, with regard to stabilizer fins (or whatever), flaps, slats and front landing gear, and whatever else.

11 May 2020, 04:26

Clifford Keesler
The nose gear strut actually compresses when the bird is on the cat. And the stabalitors are usually in the full up position. Flaps and slats are extended, Nice cut job on the flaps, looking nice.

11 May 2020, 21:08

Sergej I
Liker 👍! 😄

11 May 2020, 22:52

Sergej I
Phoenix discussion for experts here... up to 80's, Tomcats were equipped with AIM-54A, which is all white, with the radome in light gray. Questions:
1. I've seen also full white AIM-54A's... is there a system behind or just photo issue?
2. I've seen AIM-54A's with full blue stripes, but I think they were also with brown-yellow. Or no? Help pls... Is there a standard?

12 May 2020, 20:15

Maciej Bellos
Blue stripes are for training/dummy missiles. Brown and yellow stripes denote a live (and deadly) missile. Brown for a real warhead and yellow for a real rocket motor present.

12 May 2020, 20:39

Maciej Bellos
Obviously following another Cat build!

12 May 2020, 20:40

Sergej I
Thanks, Maciej, I was thinking it was something like that, but didn't know about the warhead/motor stripes. 👍

12 May 2020, 20:43

Treehugger
Btw, I have learned that there is a C variant that was used long time ago I think, but decals show this F-14A to be using the A variant, so I guess I'll be sticking to the A variant. I've tried figuring out if there is any noticeable difference between the A and C version, but I couldn't find any or I missed it. 🙂

I will replace all the fins on the Phoenix missiles, sand down the aweful bumpy parts to something much "thinner", and I will add a rotating joint for the rear fins, and fill and drill out the end, and add sprue goo to create this concave shape I think I've seen in photos (some membrane perhaps). The membrane was colored brownish red, but I only saw that in one photo. I think I will also try fill the panel lines on the missiles as they don't align well on the two halves anyway.

13 May 2020, 04:59

Daniel
Pic 14+15: Oh the memories, oh the nightmares😉 But looks like you're having fun with it, the fun in overcoming obstacles I guess 🙂

13 May 2020, 10:26

Daniel
pic 19: Just to confirm: I was to do the same, made a makeshift shim out of plasticard to elongate the nose after an article I read about it being too short. It looked weird. Made a direct comparison and it was the perfect length oob, just a bit too fat. Sanded the bottom just as you noticed and was quite satisfied. Really enjoy watching your tinkering 👍

13 May 2020, 20:33

Martin von Schreckenstein
Wow you are really giving this kit a lot of patience and attention! I will watch this with interest. As for your uneven canopy situation. I do not think it would be possible to sand down. There are guides on how to cast and vacuform a new canopy which would definitely be a lot less work. Also I believe there are vacuformed canopies available on the market.

14 May 2020, 11:55

Treehugger
I have only been able to find one product, so not much to choose from it seems: hpmhobbies.com/falco..-4-accessories-1-48/ (not in stock it seems)

This produc linked above is a pack of canopies. I think I can make it fit, even though it says for Hasegawa. I don't like how little info there is on this. :| Anyone know of any other vacuum canopy in 1:48 for the Tomcat?

14 May 2020, 12:29

Martin von Schreckenstein
avax-models.cz/detai..vacu-canopy-for-has/

this one is for HAS too but in stock and very cheap. Let me know in PM if they do not ship to your country and I can order it here and send it to you (guess the shipping would be a few times the cost of the part tho)

14 May 2020, 13:14

Clifford Keesler
Wow, that is a lot of work. But looks like you are getting there with it. I have built 2 of those kits, I do not remember having huge ejector pin marks in the intakes. How I did the wins, was I cut the "gears" off and notched the bottom where the hole is that slips over the wing mounting post. That way I was able to finish the fuselage and wings separately. Then when all painting and decaling was done I just slid the wing in until it snapped into place over the mounting pin. They have never come loose.

15 May 2020, 00:02

Treehugger
Not sure what you meant, did you simply shorten that huge wing hinge shape inside the kit, so that you could just snap the wings back in at the end?

Btw, I have to make sure I test fit the wings before trying something like that. Would be bad if I tried to get the wings in, but those "saw tooth" shapes not blending properly.

Oh, I see now there are two more pins on the inside, I wonder what those are for. I guess I'll find out now that I will be test fitting the wings.

15 May 2020, 08:20

Clifford Keesler
I cut those saw tooth gears off, and cut a notch in the bottom part of the wing root where the big hole is where the wing fits over the wing pivot pins. I was then able to slide the wing into position over that pin once painting and decaling was done. I assembeled the fuselage minus the wings.

16 May 2020, 02:21

Clifford Keesler
Very nice job on the new scoops on top of the fuselage.

16 May 2020, 02:22

Patrick Hagelstein
I can say only one thing: You are brave tackling that Academy kit! 😮

16 May 2020, 03:00

Treehugger
It is fun tinkering with this kit. 🙂

Btw, I found an aftermarket 1:48 carrier deck kit, but too pricey: USN Nimitz Deck (Skunkmodels 48020, 1:48)

16 May 2020, 09:33

Clifford Keesler
I will be building the same kit. Watching your improvements with much interest.

17 May 2020, 00:43

Greg Baker
This is what I love about group builds... all those lovely ideas just lounging around, ready to be scooped up. 😄

17 May 2020, 00:49

Treehugger
I found photos (apparently) showing an all white intake, so that should make it easier to paint the two big air intakes. A little difficult finding relevant photos.

I drilled out the holes for the four nav lights around the front root of the wings, but.. people at Academy don't have a sense of symmetry, so they didn't bother place the lights symmetrical top/bottom. :| I will correct that. Not sure how to create the clear parts as the shape required is more elaborate than a circule or square.

Btw, an illustration I found seem to show that the nose gear can be 100% compressed at launch, presumably the moment the jet flies forwards, but maybe that is too much, and then heh the shiny bit wouldn't show.

I also caved in recently, when buying some other stuff, it was too tempting, and bought four Eduard Aim-54A missiles. I think I deformed too much of the rear to make it fun fixing the kit missiles, when I added so much sprue goo into the plastic cavity of the missiles. 🙂

17 May 2020, 07:35

Jos Jansen
I must say that you are very optimistic about a kit with so many flaws ... I am convinced of your craftsmanship and dedication that it will become a stunner...👍

17 May 2020, 07:48

Treehugger
I don't quite like your use of ellipsis there, but hopefully you think I can make it look good and not obviously terrible. 😄

I have high confidence of fixing this, tricky part imo is not screwing up wiht the paint job or other things. Like, the re-shaped canopy can't simply be glued on, because the plastic edge is so thin at the front, glue would likely creep up inside or something unexpected would happen I am sure. I have to be very careful when gluing that thinned front canopy.

The not-that-great panel lines is a problem, will have to see if I can either fix it, or at least scribe some of the lines to make things look better.

17 May 2020, 07:54

Jos Jansen
Don't get me wrong my friend, I respect your work and I enjoy good builders who have a lot of experience to make imperfections a success!

17 May 2020, 08:00

Daniel
I really enjoy watching this, really good job on improving the kit! 👍 I used clear epoxy for the nav lights, but kept them seperate. Drilled through and closed the hole on the inside with sheet.
The Sparrow fin is indeed in a slot inside the pylon there
The D Tomcat uses the same hull and tanks, so no prob using this as reference 🙂
The Tomcat "kneels" down after entering position above the cat, the front gear is fully compressed, see here at 3:20 after he makes the "smack down" motion
Youtube Video

17 May 2020, 09:26

Treehugger
Thanks for the feedback! Though I can see at 4:20 that one of the F-14's nose gear aren't fully compressed, seems the shiny metal isn't visible when viewed directly sideway, but can be seen from the front apparently. I can see a little bit of shiny metal. Anyway, I get to use some metal on the rear landing gear, and then I guess a little bit on the nose gear.

17 May 2020, 10:05

Treehugger
A project by Bernhard Schrock gave me an idea for the nav lights. I could simplly use a round piece of clear plastic, and then.. add a shaped piece of masking tape to shape the light. 😄

17 May 2020, 18:07

Spanjaard
aires cockpits looks simply amazing... but they tend to be a hell to fit... my experience with them? they look great, but you need sanding, sanding and more sanding..... and the more

19 May 2020, 20:55

Clifford Keesler
Putting the Aries cockpit in my Lighting was a nightmare. I like Neo Mega cockpits, they almost drop right in.

19 May 2020, 21:13

Spanjaard
@Clifford, is the detail as good as Aires ones?

19 May 2020, 22:32

Treehugger
In my limited experience, preparing the resin parts is fairly trivial but one must be careful. One really have to use the right tools, like a thin saw intended for such purpose (I think the saw I have is for sawing resin figures' feet off the molded base or something).

A challenge, and some tedious work with resin canopies, seems to be this work that goes into cutting away the excess plastic on the model, such that you get to replace the plastic with resin detailing. Little by little, is my advice, and optionally glue styrene back on if you end up with gaps, and try again.

I think I will paint the major resin parts separately, and then use superglue to fit them all together before installing into the main kit part. Obviously, dry fitting is important to avoid making a mistake.

I just remembered, I had to sand some of the larger Aires parts thinner, to fit inside the largest resin cockpit part. I believe it is common that resin tend to shrink a little, so maybe difficult to always make all resin parts fit with themselves.

20 May 2020, 14:35

Clifford Keesler
@ Spanjaard, I think they are. They just don't do quite as many as Aries, but the ones they do are nice and usually about 1/2 the price or less than Aries. I used one on my Viggen, and I have several for my SU-27's both single and twin seat. As well as for my Jaguar's Mirage F-1's and 2000's.

21 May 2020, 02:11

Spanjaard
thanks a lot Clifford, i wonder how it would fit my Tarangus...

21 May 2020, 10:34

Michael Phillips
Looks like I am a little late to the party, but what a cool build this is! Very nice progress so far, and I really enjoy reading your album comments as you go along. I think I will stick around here for awhile and watch the show go on!

22 July 2020, 16:58

Sergej I
Looking at these pictures, the 1:72 2019 tool version of academy Cat is much more detailed and better fitting than this...

22 July 2020, 17:16

Clifford Keesler
You are doing an excellent job on this kit. Puts mine to shame. I noticed in the reference pictures, the blue on the vertical fins is quite a bit lighter than the kit decals. I did not notice this before building mine.

23 July 2020, 01:21

Treehugger
Interesting. I will check that out Clifford. 🙂 I have been wondering if I should try airbrush on some of the decal patterns, because the decals aren't very good, but good enough I guess.

23 July 2020, 17:44

Treehugger
According to a website, there is the ALQ-126 (ECM) Mid- & High-Band Antennas, with two small bulbs on either side of the intakes, but I haven't figure out of maybe some of the earlier F-14A's didn't have them, so I left them on for now. I will be using the old style nose tip, which doesn't stick out.

Source: anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-ecmfairings.htm

As for the nav lights on the sides, four of them, I am not sure, but I think I will use some liquid glass, and then sand the surface flush, then mask it off when airbrushing. Hopefully it will look nice.

23 July 2020, 17:47

Patrick Hagelstein
The shape of the navigation lights is different on the top compared to the bottom. The bottom shape is a half hexagonal while the top ones have one corner covered by sheet metal. Might have something to do with blinding the crew when they look over their shoulders.

23 July 2020, 19:13

Treehugger
Oh, interesting. Hm, too late to fix that now, but.. I guess I can just fix it with masking tape, and re-shape it with masking tape when I airbrush primer over it.

I tried to find a good photo of the top nav lights. This was the best I found: [img1]

23 July 2020, 19:20

Treehugger
I just used some 'Micro Kristal Klear' to create the clear parts for the four nav lights. I wonder if this stuff will sand down nicely, or not. 🙂

Hm, I just jammed a blade into one of the glass parts I need to re-do, but it was soft. I wonder how long I have to wait for this to go hard, if ever. Luckily, ripping out the soft clear goo was easy enough, leaving no residue. I applied the goo with a pointy wooden rod of sorts.

Product in question: ibb.co/wC64t63 (image upload)

29 July 2020, 09:42

Slavo Hazucha
You are really teaching the kit how a Tomcat should look like... And having good success at that so far!😉 👍

29 July 2020, 11:08

Treehugger
You are too kind. 🙂 I just can't try correct everything, nor do I want to for this cheap'ish kit.

I think the F-14 wings with all its details is typically problematic with such kits, or so is my impression. I will try make the top nav lights, look correct, seems fairly simple with simple masking.

29 July 2020, 11:10

Daniel
Oh, some progress on the academy front line! Looks like a nice light solution 👍 though I highly doubt this stuff will be sand-able...
An idea might be to glue a silver sheet from the inside, might support the "glass" and also give a nice glow to the light.

(btw, as I just noticed the bumpy part in pic 36, I believe the early cats didnt have that antenna, I forgot that on mine, so just saying 🙂 )

29 July 2020, 18:08

Treehugger
First, apologies to everyone for this slow build. 🙂 I am doing some garden stuff and also camping, and gaming and relaxing.

Yes, I thought I could add silver on the inside of the nav lights, seems simpler than adding a sheet of something. The green and red color is afaik fairly dark, so I am guessing the silvery part won't be much noticable.

If the liquid glass isn't sandable. :|, I will have to yank them out and try inserting hard clear plastic sanded into shape. I hope I don't have to do that, might be simple, but seems fairly tedious.

I've been wondering about the ECM pods, the four small bumps. I found only one photo of them missing, but couldn't figure out if these were actually missing on the early F-14A's.

I will consider removing them, but I wish I knew more about this. No big deal, but I just wish I knew more about that. As mentioned, I am using the early nose thingy, so I should perhaps remove the ecm antennas. Unsure.

Gluing on the front canopy will be super tricky, no idea if it will turn out well. I trimmed the plastic so thin, there is basically no flat surface for the glue to grab, just a sharp shape. I hope to apply minimal glue, so the glue stays down on the thin edge, but ugh, it will be super tricky. Never done something like that before.

29 July 2020, 18:57

Daniel
gardening, camping, gaming, relaxing - all sound very nice 🙂 👍

Judging from sergejs reference photos: no antennas
Scalemates F-14 Tomcat Group build 2020 | Album by Vargbrujo (1:72)
should be the same time frame I suppose

I did the lights by closing the hole with a silver sheet part from the inside and applying a drop of colored epoxy later, turned out quite neat. Good thing about it is that it does not shrink.
The canopy sounds tricky!...If there is direct plastic-on-plastic contact along the whole "Blade" I think a drop of extra thin running along it should do the trick

29 July 2020, 20:05

Treehugger
Interesting! It seems also that the upper nav lights are not covered in the early version. 🙂 Ok, knowing this I think I will remove the ECM antennas.

29 July 2020, 21:49

Clifford Keesler
You sure are doing this one up right. Looking awesome.

30 July 2020, 00:33

Patrick Hagelstein
Looking at Sergej's pictures, that's a very early (mid 70's) bird without the ECM bumps and covers over the navigation lights. Your own picture shows a very late F-14A (judging by the crew helmets, ECM bumps and BOL Sidewinder launchers), so that's where those covers come in. If your paint scheme is the same colorful one as in Sergej's and Clifford's builds, just follow along those details and you should be good.

30 July 2020, 22:25

Treehugger
Ok, I have now cut off the ECM parts from the main fuselage near the air intakes.

5 August 2020, 11:44

Treehugger
Re. the two triangluar canards on the F-14A. I did a search and found some info that might be correct. So the carnards aren't on the B's and the D's on the tomcats.

"A feature on the F-14A, which has, since been phased out of the B and D models is a pair of triangular vanes, which retracted into the leading edge of the wing gloves. These vanes deployed automatically at Mach 1.4, providing extra lift to the nose of the aircraft, unloading the tailplanes to some degree. As a result, they assisted the F-14 in pulling up to 7.5 g at Mach 2. The vanes were rendered inoperative if the angle of the wings were less than 35 degrees. Below that sweep angle, the effect of the vanes on the tailplanes led to pitch instability at the speeds associated with that angle of wing. With the B and D models these vanes were eliminated from the design in order to provide additional space for avionics in the wing-glove area."

5 August 2020, 14:58

Patrick Hagelstein
Nice work on the light there! First practice round is there, now you can practice further on those other three. 😉

5 August 2020, 17:12

Treehugger
I feel good about this. 🙂 Doesn't look good with the glue and the protruding plastic, but when flush I think it will look very nice. We'll see. 🙂 I finished the four custom clear parts, wasn't difficult at all. What made me think "ugh" was the prospect of doing something wrong, and having to re-make ONE such part lol.

Btw, it looks like some of me earlier comments on an earlier uploaded photo, is off by 1mm. I wanted at first widen the upper side of the air intakes by 1 + 0.5 (photo 32), but now I am certain it should be just + 0.5 mm added, on the insides. The width I think, should match the lower part of the air intake, so to make a square like cross section sort of.

Other things: The build manual says cut off this one round light on back behind the canopy. Done. Seems to match photos. Also, I noticed that the flappy things on the fuselage that lie down on the rotating wings, isn't correct so I'll try fix that.

The really big "ugh" will certainly be the entire canopy glass area, because I will have to add plastic with sprue goo and sand things into shape, very tedious. I've never done something like that convoluted before I think. So even if I am happy with the clear parts, I have to create a matching surface on the fuselage part.

5 August 2020, 17:21

Patrick Hagelstein
Looks like you're definitely on a Galdhøpiggen learning curve then. Good luck! 👍

5 August 2020, 17:39

Clifford Keesler
You will get it, I have no doubt.

6 August 2020, 00:29

Slavo Hazucha
I do not know much about the Galdhøpiggen learning curve and I am not sure I want to know more... 😄

I see the kit is being reduced to a rough "guideline" for a Tomcat model. Hope all your intentions will bear fruit as you want them too, you´ve invested quite a bit of effort into this horse & it´d be a shame if it would suffer a critical incident now. Good luck with the canopy & looking forward to see the next steps!

10 August 2020, 16:51

Treehugger
I do like try doing my best, but if it isn't as good as I hoped in the end, I got some needed practice. I am often humbled by how difficult it seems to get rid of sems and other pits and dents in the plastic. 🙂

TODO: 1) Figure out how to add the wings so that they slide or snap into place, because I need to have them loose for painting. 2) Figure out the two big air intake areas. 3) Clean up the two fuselage parts just inbetween the two air intakes. 4) Various clean up. 5) Figure out how to add canopy and nose wheel well. I'll probably glue on the canopy by itself, then somehow glue on the wheel well by itself and then I guess try glue on the smaller bottom part of the fuselage where the wheel well is. Then.. add the nose, and try clean up the nose without scratching the now glued on clear parts on the canopy. :|

I will have to try see if I have any spare decals, because the ones I have aren't good. I might get lucky, I have some boxes with spare parts, decals and stuff. 🙂

Also, it will be fun working with the landing gear, because I want to try add a shiny metal rod, and I will be using resin wheels, where you don't have to freaking mask the wheel at the center. 🙂

10 August 2020, 17:18

Daniel
Wow, you are really meaning bussiness with this one! it is a joy to follow you on this journey.
some great improvements, the lights look great now 👍
just a note: you are planning a metal rod between the stabs? dont forget about the cans in between😉

11 August 2020, 18:35

Clifford Keesler
Man this one is going to be fantastic, great attention to detail.

11 August 2020, 19:29

Spanjaard
I love Aires cockpit details.... but I wonder why they have to be always a pain to fit..... keep at it Treehuger, the result will be worth it

12 August 2020, 20:48

Clifford Keesler
Agree with Spanjaard, they are very well detailed, but a pain to fit.

12 August 2020, 21:21

Treehugger
It is worth pointing out that the Aires resin kit is probably for an open canopy configuration, so I have to cut off the resin hooks and two beams that lifts the canopy open. I also won't be using the resin part that is at the vey end, because it won't be visible with the canopy closed, so the far end wall of the canopy (seen on the fuselage, here roughtly cut off) can be plain or just a hole like in my case. The two sidewalls require some additional sanding/cutting to fit snugly onto the big resin cockpit base part. As for the nose landing gear bay I think a sound idea is to use this one separate fuselage part, as a guide, by simply creating the gear bay separately and glued onto that piece, but only so tall that it matches the separate fuselage piece, that way I can know that the gear bay won't be too tall and bump into the resin canopy just above. Because of this the gear bay probably have to end up being ca 1 mm +- too shallow I guess.

13 August 2020, 08:31

Daniel
Nice work! The correct nose is really a tricky thing to fix...during my build I struggled a lot with this. Elongating, shortening again...Direct comparison showed the length in front of the cockpit to be ok for my kit- What makes it looks off in my opinion is that the whole nose part underside is slightly drooping, a bit flanker-esque. As it is too beefy in the front. So my fix was heavy sanding of the underside, (most critical where the nose joins) to correct the droop, make the complete nose part pointier in side view and flatter on the bottom at the radome joint. Just my approach to this affair, far from saying mine looks like the original now 🙂

17 August 2020, 16:31

Clifford Keesler
You are doing a wonderful job on this kit.

17 August 2020, 23:42

Mathijs Beenhakker
Pic 21...Yes the fourth fin goes inside the pylon...the Sparrow missile first drops from the pylon and then ignites its rocket

30 August 2020, 10:33

Treehugger
Thank you for the encouragement.

This is all delicate and whenever I use sprue goo I have to wait a long time before I can clean it up. The whole canopy area is somethign of a nightmare. I think I can do it, but margins are so small and I can't just glue stuff together because of fit issues.

With the canopy closed, I won't try overdo the insides of the cockpit, but focus most on the outside because that is what will be most noticeable.

I will probably use Pledge floor polish on the two canopy parts, but I will first test with some scrap parts first. Have to make sure things remain dust free. Probably a good idea to clean the inside of the fuselage parts really good to avoid ending up dust ending up inside the canopy clear parts after gluing things together.

I've also been away camping for a week. 🙂 I also nearly cleaved my finger tip before that chopping onions, the finger nail received most of the force, and that came after I sawed into my other finger tip some days before that again using my The Army Painter saw. 😄

30 August 2020, 11:26

Slavo Hazucha
You really are making this one of the most interesting Tomcat GB contribution... I salute your determination - and the results so far too 👍 The muzzle opening looks really good!

30 August 2020, 15:40

Treehugger
Thank you. 🙂 This is taking time, but there is no rush. I am glad I had this opportunity for learning new things. I was also camping recently, so eh this won't be finished quickly.

I want to quickly correct myself, having mentioned Pledge. The product in question is not the polish product, but the 'floor gloss' product which is not milky, but transparent and apparently very fluid like. I had to buy this product a second time, becuause the first one, was a similar, but I think different Pledge product (white bottle).

I hope I can start finishing this. I've been doing lots of various things around the model up to this point. I have to also make the wings snap and fit neatly into the fuselage parts, before I can start gluing things together. 🙂 I tried to drill out the holes for the two flare/chaff dispensers, but it doesn't look good. I might remove it all, and glue in a thin piece of styrene, as an alternative to photo etch. With a little luck I should be able to drill some.. eh.. 30 + 30 holes (seen on the model). :|

30 August 2020, 17:53

Treehugger
Btw, I have this evening now tested the Pledge floor gloss product on this piece of perfect clear part (scrap). It is currently drying, but it looks good. I sanded the perfectly smooth plastic surface with 3000 grit Tamiya sponge, and then I cleaned the part with water, then dunked it into the floor gloss liquid. I can't fully tell how foggy the part is because of the 3000 grit treatment, but it looks fairly good. If I am lucky, then maybe I do not have to use more than 3000 grit on the two canopy parts. Been fiddling so much with up to 1200 grit stuff, but the insides are hard to sand because there isn't much room.

Update: Hrm, the shine isn't the best on the scrap part. So, not good enough with 3000 git I guess. But I will try a second layer of this stuff on the scrap part, just to see what happens.

30 August 2020, 17:56

Sergej I
Photo 58... almost a MiG-21 😄

30 August 2020, 21:35

Mathijs Beenhakker
All those special products...yet i use a 1000 grid, than 2000 and final is 2500, than i use 3M car polishing and most important is the cloth you use...if i use a T-shirt i can polish till the end of days and it wont get that Shine i want...if i use blouse i'm usually done in minutes and no need for "Pledge Floor finish"

30 August 2020, 22:00

Treehugger
@ Mathijs Ah, nice. Very interesting. The microfiber cloth I used previous was very soft. I found some similar cloth for cleaning either windows or kitchen surfaces and this time, lots of tiny scratches have been cleaned out. 🙂 Thanks for the tip!

31 August 2020, 08:35

Clifford Keesler
Looking very nice there sir.

1 September 2020, 02:21

Mathijs Beenhakker
@Treehugger, you're welcome sir...And may i compliment you on this very nice job you're doing on this "Dog of a Cat"

1 September 2020, 03:16

Daniel
Still no shortcuts taken! 👍 I really enjoy watching this battle!
Some thoughts:
Pic 61: You could simply sand the rear seat underside? 🙂 Since those are height adjustable in the real jet I think this would be my cheap solution to this
Pic 65: This is a very, very sensible step, wish I had used that on mine...
Pic 67: How do you get around the engine parts in between?

5 September 2020, 20:26

Gary Dahlström
Love your perseverance...looking forward to your victory.

5 September 2020, 21:19

Treehugger
If I can just get the damn canopy pieces on without screwing up, I think it will end up being a nice looking model. 🙂 Except the nose gear bay which will look so basic, it won't be interesting to look at, and I'll be happy I managed to get the nose wheel on in the first place. 🙂 I am currently painting the cockpit. I started with glossy black primer.

@Daniel
I moved the whole canopy down, which made the rear seat fit. I did try to sand the base of the rear seat, but it wasn't enough. Aah, interesting about the engine parts. I checked just now and it looks like my rod will go clear, just barely, so it looks it will fit.

5 September 2020, 21:57

Clifford Keesler
I am just amazed at what you are doing with this kit. I was looking last night and figured out why I had so much trouble with my kit. The 2 prior ones I built were newer boxings, the last one I built was one of the first boxings. It had been in my stash for a long time.

6 September 2020, 01:04

Treehugger
Ooh, the figures are tricky stuff. I tried to make the look as good as I could as mere plastic figures, but masking the tiny edges is tricky. I airbrushed the black primer, green and white, but it seems it is now back and forth fixing things here and there with a tiny brush. The hands and the few details I will have to paint with a small brush. I used multiple layers of Vallejo Green Flourescent over glossy black primer, with a brush and I think it worked nicely, or ok. Still more painting to be done with the cockpit/seats/figure. I will have to add a gloss coat to the figures and seats, and add a pin wash.

7 September 2020, 16:12

Clifford Keesler
It looks good to me sir.

7 September 2020, 23:38

Michael Hickey
WOW... You've put a mountain of work into this project so far, well done.👍👍👍

9 September 2020, 11:16

Album info

Content will be added later. I just quickly made a project and an album as soon as I learned about this group build. I like being motivated like this, so I am in!

Checking with other people's old builds of this Academy kit, one seem to make the point that this is a copy of a 1:50 Fujimi kit, I wonder if that is so with my kit as well.

I do NOT recommend buying this kit. 🙂 Also, btw, the decals is also very much so so.

I might try use self adhesive shiny chrome metal foil for the slats. 🙂 Or, maybe I also have some polished steel foil as well, I don't remember.

Colors? Unsure.
1) Vallejo 70.820 "Off White" (model color, must be thinned and such)
2) Vallejo 71.121 "USAF Light Grey" aka "Light Gull Gray"
3) Vallejo 71.074 "Beige" aka "Radome tan"

Academy's F-14A in 1:48 scale (maybe don't buy it)

70 images

1:48

In progress

1:48 F-14A Tomcat - Weighted wheels (Wheelliant 148 013)

1:48 F-14 A early version - nose tip & Angle Of Attack probe (Master AM-48-048)

Group Build

Scalemates F-14 Tomcat Group build 2020

1. May until 31. December 2020

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