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Paul Juliano (scale_model_dad)
US

F-14D

Album image #1
And so it begins! 
 

Album image #2
Almost all primed! A few pieces need reworking, but the detail is awesome!  
 

Album image #3
Laying down some colors after several rounds of primer. 
 

Album image #4
Beginnings of an ejection seat with some dry brushing and chipping.  
 

Album image #5
Slowly getting there... 
 

Album image #6
Safety first.  
 

Album image #7
Here's a good way to spend a night with your favorite pair of tweezers. 
 

Album image #8
I feel like I have these dials dialed in... but it's slooooow going.  
 

Album image #9
Dry fitting  
 

Album image #10

Album image #11

Album image #12
Nice office! Dry fitting of this seems good so far. 
 

Album image #13

Album image #14
Now I just need to add some decals on the instrument panel and install that.  
 

Album image #15
Control panel looking good.  
 

Album image #16

Album image #17
There sure are a lot of bits and bobs sticking out of these panels! 
 

Comments

4 August 2019, 16:44
Daniel
Ah, here we go! 👍 watching this with interest
5 August 2019, 17:46
Nathan Dempsey
Yahoo! I got the second seat!
3 September 2019, 13:17
Slavo Hazucha
Maverick & Goose have taken up their seats, so I guess I´ve got to be the dude in the tower with the coffee mug...😉
3 September 2019, 13:42
Daniel
this is ghost rider requesting a flyby😉
3 September 2019, 14:44
Holger Kranich
"negative ghostrider - the pattern is full!" 😄
3 September 2019, 14:48
Daniel
[img1]s/brofist-J2d4dWLxCtFOE
 
3 September 2019, 14:59
Michael Phillips
Count me in too! Can never resist a 'Cat build! ????
3 September 2019, 15:08
Chris H.
@Slavo Maverick & Goose were on the F-14A. But who cares...
4 September 2019, 09:50
Paul Juliano
Question for you guys... after dry fitting, I started priming the resin cockpit pieces individually, and last night I added some of the "larger" PE parts to the already primed pieces. I didn't think priming the PE separately would be a good plan. I could just see the parts all blowing away under the airbrush. Fiddly bits like levers and such will get painted on the fret.

I started my model building journey with Gunpla, and when you paint those you really *have* to paint every part individually. I got in that habit and that may be why I wasn't think and got into this situation.

Am I gonna blow away a lot of the detail in the resin if I add a bit more primer to cover the PE? I tend to spray primer fairly light anyhow, so, I think not, but I figured I have access to the collective knowledge of some of the best modelers in history, so why not ask? It's a lacquer primer (Alclad) so it goes on real thin. Worst case I can strip the primer off the resin, but I'd rather not.

I'll give it a try tonight and let you all know how it goes!
4 September 2019, 18:59
Patrick Hagelstein
Hi Paul, here are my two cents on this to start the conversation running. Personally I think you should be fine with a fine coat of primer on those PE parts. The Alclad II primer is fine but still scratch-filling enough to just get primer on the PE parts without obliterating the details of the already primed parts. Remember that after primer, you're gonna cover those parts with (multiple) layers of paint anyway. Even after that the details will stand out just fine if you adhere to a constraint airbrushing discipline and not blast the paint on. I like to prime with Mr. Surfacer and Mr. Hobby self leveling thinner and paint with Mr. Paint lacquer inks. The Mr. Surfacer goes on in a barely wet coat after an initial dusting and that results in an even and smooth coat with the details rendered crisp. The Mr. Paint paints are so thin that I really have to work it to just see any layers being built up. On an F-35 I did the intricate zigzagging of the RAM panels by going over the different lines over and over again without ever seeing the paints build up. So, you should be good! 👍

If, however, you don't trust it still, just dunk the resin parts in a cup with 91% alcohol. That will clean off the primer and brings you back to base with clean resin parts where you can add the PE parts onto before hitting the assemblies with your 'first' coat of primer.

One additional remark on small parts: I use inside out rolls of masking tape stuck to a popsicle stick to make a holding tool for small parts. Just hit them on one side, let them dry and hit the other side. With 10-15 psi nothing should come loose.

I hope I could be of some help and maybe other Mates might have additional tips & tricks.
4 September 2019, 19:15
Bryn Crandell
Watching as usual.
4 September 2019, 19:33
Paul Juliano
@Patrick, thank you! Those are great tips. I'm going to see what things look like tonight and worst case scenario, strip and re-prime. Good call on the tape too! I stuck tape to the back of the PE fret when I was cutting off some parts and thank goodness I did. I can only imagine how long I'd have been on my hands and knees looking for 1mm long strips of brass. And we do this for fun! The levers and such I think I'm going partially snip off the fret (leaving one attachment point that's hidden after the piece is placed), bend, and paint them right there. No sacrifices to the floor monster this time.

I really want to try the Mr. Hobby line of paints.. I think lacquer sprays so nice, and now that I have a dedicated space, I should probably take the plunge. I've just got so darned much Tamiya acrylic...

This may sound crazy, but I've always struggled with anxiety & depression but modeling helps me get it under control most times. But every once in a while, it CAUSES anxiety! Honestly, this time it's not the model. Intellectually, I know my anxiety is being caused by the fact that my little girl is going to kindergarten tomorrow, but for some reason it's surfacing as model kit anxiety.

Brains are so weird... or maybe mine's defective.
4 September 2019, 19:54
Patrick Hagelstein
😄 Sadly enough my OCD prevents me from building kits as well sometimes. I'm more concerned about all the right details in hardly seeable spots than actually getting glue and plastic combined. 🙁 What really helped me out are a couple of my model club's competitions. They have deadlines which get me out of my obsessive reference scrounging rut and get kits built. They might not be to my desired standard but they look darned good sitting finished (!) on my shelf! 🙂

Some more tips then:
- Tamiya acrylic can be thinned with their lacquer thinner (the one with the pale yellow cap) and this turns them into lacquer paints hardly distinguishable from the Mr. Color range.
- One way to attack the Carpet Monster is to cover the vacuum cleaner hose with a stocking and vacuum the general area where that small part maybe hiding. Apart from a lot of stuff you never would've imagined showing up there, there's that pesky PE part that wanted to live a free life in your modeling room. Just don't get too carried away and try on those stockings. Even a daughter in kindergarten age remembers things like that... 😉

Hang in there and if your daughter likes kindergarten, you eventually will like the new situation too! 👍
4 September 2019, 20:30
Slavo Hazucha
Well my re-ignited hobby activities go only a few months back, but here are my experiences & impressions: I started with the firm belief that primer is a must for a solid following paint-job - I did a serial testing of Revell, Vallejo, MiG & Tamiya colors before settling on MRP's. Testing different layering approaches I now tend to use primer much more selectively - on heterogenous surfaces, like larger filled, sanded and areas with major PE pieces I still use it, mainly to confirm the job is done well & smooth enough.

On others - smooth plastic surfaces, resin & small PE assemblies, I just properly clean the parts and go directly to base color. Even 2 successive color layers (not always necessary) give me a much more smooth surface than 1 pass of primer, not to speak about 1x primer + 1x color. The hue and coverage 99% work absolutely fine and no difference vs primed surfaces is visible in this aspect... I still prime black for metallics of course. But for main surfaces, unless really scarred by filling & sanding, I go for underlying color 1x, pre shading as needed + main color layers as desired directly, no primer...

So much for my little rant specifically for MRP colors... 🙂
4 September 2019, 20:39
Maciej Bellos
Oh, shame of me, I missed this one...
4 September 2019, 20:40
Paul Juliano
BTW folks, thank you all so much for your insight and support. I don't know why, but this album seems to double post when I add to it. It's like, the Project and the Album are both posting separately. Sorry! Not trying to spam you all!
11 September 2019, 14:47
Slavo Hazucha
There has been much worst spam than this...😉
11 September 2019, 15:17
Neuling
I work the way Slavo described it above: normally I use no primer.
11 September 2019, 16:42
Patrick Hagelstein
And exactly that's why I love the Mr. Surfacer so much. I feel it has that Haftgrund property to it and creates this very durable shell over the object (parts or model) and acts as something for the actual paint to eat into. That's because it's a lacquer thinner vs. a rubbable acrylic Grundierung.
11 September 2019, 17:55
Patrick Hagelstein
😄 👍
11 September 2019, 18:03
Jos Jansen
I agree Roland, all those water based primers are crap...my favorite one is the Black Primer & Microfiller ALC-309 from ALCLAD II. This primer can also be sanded nicely and smoothly!
21 September 2019, 13:34
Michael Phillips
Oooh, a Tomcat! Count me in. Off to a great start, that seat looks very nice!
26 September 2019, 13:18
Daniel
That bang seat is pure awesomeness 👍 👍 👍
27 September 2019, 20:34
Paul Juliano
Thank you! The resin replacement from Eduard is really detailed.
27 September 2019, 20:36
Clifford Keesler
Very nice seat.
28 September 2019, 01:24
Stephan Ryll
I'm late to the show😉 but the progress is very nice so far 👍
21 December 2019, 19:12
Patrick Hagelstein
Really looking good! 👍
21 December 2019, 23:27
Munkyslut
I love that cockpit 😉
21 December 2019, 23:56
Daniel
Very neat, nice job with that pit! 👍
22 December 2019, 11:05
Slavo Hazucha
Sharp work on the cockpit, I like how you avoided over-contrasting it, this looks really good! 👍
22 December 2019, 17:33
Paul Juliano
Thanks all! It's very slow going, but I'm enjoying it. =)
26 December 2019, 13:31
Paul Juliano
Well, still slow going that's for sure but at least it looks like something now! I can't stick to one project for too long or I get burned out, but maybe with this global pandemic I'll get some more done.
20 March 2020, 15:45
Roland Revolvermann
Great progress 👍 I'm building the Tamiya F-14A OOB, so it's nice to see the comparison OOB/ + Aftermarket.
14 April 2020, 15:29
Clifford Keesler
Very nice cockpit.
14 April 2020, 22:39
Spanjaard
looking good
14 April 2020, 23:01

Album info

This is gonna be a long project, so buckle up!

17 images
1:48
On hold
1:48 F-14D Tomcat (Tamiya 61118)1:48 F-14D Tomcat Sagged Wheel Set Late. (for Tamiya) (Def.Model DS48013)1:48 F-14D engines STEEL (Eduard 48969)3+
Grumman F-14D Super Tomcat
US US Navy (1794-now)
VF-213 Black Lions 164602 / AJ 213
March 2006 - USS Theodore Roosevelt
 

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