Skull Leader

they tested with an ALQ-14 in 1995 before creating a pod that combined the two

A litening pod is not the same as a LANTIRN unfortunately.

I thought I was looking at Revell sidewinders at first.

my last count was around 40 airframes still flying as well. Anyone's guess as to how many are MC. This is the first I've heard about new MFDs in anything other than the F-14AM though. Same stacked screen layout?

Good. Anything and everything the rest of us have to say in this thread has absolutely zero bearing on you.

"Need"? No, this is a hobby... no one NEEDS anything. As. Tomcat fan though, while there are kits that will always be "good enough" for me (the revell tomcat will always be a favorite for me. Good shape, easy to build, easy to modify), I will never not be excited about a new, more accurate and easier to build kit on the market (read: Tamiya). I was initially just as excited about the AMK, until images of the real plastic started leaking, then instead of being transparent about listening to our concerns, they tried to deflect, saying "hey, look at our multi-piece wings!" Or "hey, look at our one-piece nose!" (A superfluous design choice, in most tomcat kits the nose halves go together without issue), or "hey, look at our multi-piece canopy!" (Another party foul, as was recently pointed out). I want to be happy about this kit, but all AMK has done so far is succeeded at putting together an extremely expensive detail set I can part out on other, better shaped tomcat kits. They got so hung up on trying to make the most detailed kit that they could, that they forgot their fundamentals starting with the basic shape. I wish thet would have gotten ambitious and pooched a completely different design, because a tomcat with an accurate shape and and as much detail as AMK had boasted would have been impressive to see.

Soooo nothing. You've fixed nothing. Will the wings fit the academy kit?

The number of apologists in this thread is staggering. "The seats were probably meant for pilots..." "In the end, I won't notice, and neither will anyone else..." And so on. Arent we a little past this point? Besides... AMK proudly proclaimed that this would be the best, most accurate Tomcat kit ever. Shouldn't they be made to learn from such marketing errors? How can they improve if they are not edified? If everyone tries to sweep it under the rug, where is the incentive for AMK to step up their game? From everything I've seen, it's about on the level of the hobby boss kit... certainly not the worst kit on the market, but definitely in no danger of being the best and most accurate. I can find better kits for likely much cheaper.

Are those the final ejection seats?

Sooooo nothing. They've changed absolutely nothing.

This. I can cover and cut a lot quicker than I can a precut mask. And it's usually a better quality tape.

It's been a billion years since I've seen the show, but I seem to recall he had LASIK surgery or something else done on his eyes to restore his flight status

When it comes to reference material, I insist on physical copy. The e-version benefits are nice, but I hate being restricted by a screen that constantly turns off and/or demands battery power. DRM concerns rank pretty high for me too. If I pay for a reference book, I want to own that book until *I* decide to get rid of it, or whatever. DRM doesn't affect things like reference material often, but I'd rather not have to worry about it. I don't like e-books, but occasionally I'll get one on audible to listen to while at work

He also thought he was a @#$%-hot photographer. And he married a wookee from Louisiana.

I have some small skill in drawing/printing decals. Which markings are you wanting to do? PM me.