Spook

Fantastic work! I love the exhausts!

I do not really discern any details that could be represented realistically in scale on an existing injection molded kit part or a resin after market set, so a different color variation should do the trick both for the turkey feathers and for the small metal joints that appear in the photos. I guess it is like the P&W -220/229 F-16 engine which in scale is just painted differently than the early version of the engine. Anyway these engines seem to have been fitted to very few aircraft while it was not the norm, so it should see extremely limited applicability. Logic dictates that only aircraft that appear on photos like the ones posted before should be considered definite examples of this unique engine's installation at the specific period only. In every other case, the normal F110-GE should be considered as the only and proper choice. Andreas

Greetings! Some more aircraft with the different engines can be seen on the links below. If the dates on the posted photographs are correct the engines were being tested during the period 1996-2001 at least. F-14B BuNo 161860 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 12/10/1996 (Photo by Chris Hauser) F-14B BuNo 162922 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 25/04/1997 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14B BuNo 163224 VF-103 Jolly Rogers - 11/1997 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14B BuNo 162920 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 25/05/1998 (Photo by Peter Boschert) F-14D BuNo 163899 VF-213 Black Lions - 11/1999 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14D BuNo 163414 VF-213 Black Lions - 10/2000 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14D BuNo 164348 VF-213 Black Lions - 12/05/2001 (Photo by David F. Brown) One more photo came up which depicts the last aircraft on the list above but at a different period. The interesting thing is that it is a 213 jet on a cruise and also is fitted with one of each of the GE engines, the usual one and the carbon fiber one. Note also the I♥ NY on the vertical tail which is a nice detail. Photographer or date were not provided however someone could hypothesize that this is around 2001 also, as messages regarding NY started appearing on aircraft and munitions after 9/11. And this is probably verified by the following photograph of the same aircraft on 24/02/2002 after its participation in OEF. It has OEF mission markings while it seems to have been fitted with at least one normal GE engine and the I♥ NY can be seen on the vertical tail. F-14D BuNo 164348 VF-213 Black Lions - 24/02/2002 (Photo by David F. Brown) 👋👋 Andreas

Greetings to all! I recently stumbled across the following photograph of an F-14B Tomcat while looking for some reference for a friend's build https://www.airfighters.com/photo/186998/M/USA-Navy/Grumman-F-14B-Tomcat/163224/?fbclid=IwAR20LLhexd2eLLeqpR2ENlSjSRjZaXV0VGHjVTGV4ht0zll_mK0yH6xFRSU (Photo is by David F. Brown as can be seen on the link) The photo depicts an F-14B with BuNo 163224 in October 1997. On a first glance nothing seems out of the ordinary. However on closer inspection one can see that the F110 nozzles seem a bit different than one would expect. They appear darker than usual: What someone would expect is this: So I was wondering what was going on. I posted my inquiry on the F-14 Tomcat Association Facebook Group and I was lucky enough to receive an answer by a gentleman who was working on VF-101 Tomcats back at the time and who verified that these were indeed different GE nozzles than the usual ones. The turkey feathers were made of carbon fiber and they were mounted in a unique way. He thought that was odd and something that he had not seen (or as I understood did not see again) and must have been something experimental and seemingly with limited application. He was kind enough to share the photographs that he had taken back then and with his permission I re-post here (all photos were taken by Justin Macezinskas) I find this has modelling interest as I've never seen any other F-14 or F-16 with that F110 configuration, ever before. Based on the above the F-14B 163224 on October of 1997 had this configuration and unfortunately I do not have the BuNo for the VF-101 jet or the exact period. But I am sure some more aircraft probably were configured like that as well. If anybody has info or a photo of an F-14 or F-16 with the carbon fiber F110 it would be interesting to share in order to gather more information about this matter. Many thanks for your interest and wish everyone to stay healthy! Andreas

Great job! Built this one a couple of years ago....Probably one of THE worst kits I've ever built. It is the only one on the scale though so you do not have much of a choice there.

Truly inspiring build! She's looking great Steve! My hat's off to you sir! Andreas

Very nice build Darren!

Steve....This is awesome work! I can't wait to see it finished!

Great paint job and congrats on finishing it! I am building this one and the fit was horrendous at multiple areas. Just wanted to ask you what kind of red have you used for the nose and wing tips?

Stunning! Great job Martin!

Hey guys! Truth be told I really enjoyed the build. Fujimi's kit was a pleasure, Fightertown decals gave the opportunity for a favorite squadron and above all it was a Tomcat! Anytime, Baby....! :smiley-transport006:/> Thank you all for your kind comments, really appreciate them!

Thanks for looking!

F-14A Tomcat VF-154 Black Knights, CVW-5 USS Kitty Hawk, Operation Iraqi Freedom Spring 2003 Κit: Fujimi 1:72 F-14D Tomcat VF-31 Tomcatters No 280219 Cockpit: Aires 7293 Exhausts: Aires 7184 Decals: Fightertown Decals 72005 Pitot: Master AM-72-007 WIP ==> http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=272454