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Tamiya /32nd scale F-14A Black Knights edition


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INDEX

Click the underlined page numbers to go there

p1-3. Engine nozzles and burner cans.

p4-5 TCS assembly and lens making tutorial.

p5 Rear engine trunking shape adjustment. Left forward fuselage modifications

p6Upper rear fuselage re-scribing and rivetting.

p6-7 Vertical tails. Ventral fins.

p8-9 Undersurface details and AIM-7 troughs.

p10-11 Rear portion of main gear well.

p11-12. Intake trunking.

p12-13. Upper heat exchanger exhausts.

p14-15. Wing hinge, bladder and cover details.

p15. Rear nacelle re-shaping.

p15-16. Forward portion of main gear well.

p17. Horizontal tail painting.

p18-20. Windshield, glareshield and front IP mods and painting.

p21-23. Cockpit tubs

p23-25. Ejection seats.

p25-26. Canopy

p27-28. Wing glove pylons and targetting pod.

p28-29. Gas bags.

p30-31. Arrestor hook assembly

p32. Ladder well and canopy rail locking catches.

p33-39. Nose gear leg

p40. Wheeliant wheel review mini

p41-43 Nose gear bay

p43-44. Nose section assembly and painting.

p46-. Auxilliary bypass vents, Main wings

Hi guys 'n' gals,

With all of the superb Tomcat builds going on lately and the interest generated by Trumpeters' impending release of a new "Big 'Cat" I've been struck by a bolt of inspiration.

I've had this kit sat dormant for two years now but all of the on-line builds make harrowing reading so I've avoided starting it until now.

I know that I face an uphill struggle in some areas so I've opted to ease myself in gently and tackle an easier job first.

Those of you who have seen previous builds will know that there are three main centres of interest for me on a jet.

In no particular order they are the cockpit, (got that covered with the lovely Aires resin set ~phew~), the undercarriage/wheel bays and finally,....the jet exhausts/nozzles.

I anticipate a huge undertaking for the gear legs and bays. I've casually looked at the kit parts but have n't done any in-depth comparisons with reference pics yet. Even at first glance there is alot to do. The enormity of that aspect of the build has yet to sink in......~gulp~ :thumbsup:/>/>/>

So, the easiest place to start appears to be the jet pipes and nozzles. I was lucky to get the Black Knights boxing which has additional sprues including updated exhaust nozzles. As you'll see from the first piccie, they represent quite an improvement over the original versions.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles002a.jpg

The detail is crisper with each petal molded in relief as opposed to the fully rounded can of the original offering.

One of the most appealing aspects of a Tomcat is the asymetric way the P&W engines shut down. I love that look so was really pleased with the way Tamiya have modeled these parts.

Although the newer kit parts are better, there is still a little room for improvement. :woot.gif:/>/>/>

Armed with the DACO publications book and the Verlinden Lock-On#18 I've got some pretty good references to start with. I'm sure I'll need some help along the way but here's what I've done so far.....

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles004.jpg

Tamiya tape helped align a row of rivets missed by the manufacturer. There are two rows applied to both nozzles.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles006a.jpg

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles005a.jpg

Tamiya tape to the rescue a second time to help scribe the dimples toward the tip of the petals on the closed nozzle.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles007a.jpg

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles008.jpg

Edited by geedubelyer
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So far so good.......

The next task was to hollow out the slots on the petals.....

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles009a.jpg

and thin the tips of the exterior row of petals...

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles010a.jpg

Well, I've made a start :D

Depending on how things work out I may cut open the gap between each external petal

Tomorrow I plan to finish off thinning behind the slots, add the internal row of petals made from metal sheet and some tiny nubs of sheet on the face of each petal plus start work on the petals of the open nozzle.

I'll post more when there's more to see.... :woot.gif:

Cheers for now.

:thumbsup:

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Hi guys,......oh boy! a huge thank you to everyone for the enthusiastic welcome to this build. I'm really feeling good about the start of this one so let's see if I can maintain my inspiration until the end.

WOW, thos nozzles are looking great! I have always been a fan of the A model Tomcat, love the way the exhaust nozzles look! Great attention to details!
Hey Jman, good to see you here. How're you doin? I read your recent topic, man, I feel for ya.

Hang in there buddy and thanks for the kind remarks.

Lookin good! I just hope this one doesn't meet the fate that the F-16 had... Keep up the good work, buddy. I can't wait to see more pics of this one.

RYAN.

Hi Ryan, glad you stopped by. I wonder if you're thinking of Aarons F-16? We were building 1/32nd scale Vipers at the same time but Aaron had a couple of major setbacks on his build :)

Anyhoo, enjoy this one with us.

woow!!!!

nice start!!

i'll build mine after my Su-22!!

bye!

Hi Rom, now that's something I'll look forward to. If you hurry up and finish your Su-22 I can get some pointers from your Tomcat build..... ;)
I love to see this kind of work...can't wait for more.

Jerry

Hi Jerry, good to see you. I hope you'll enjoy the remainder of the build. I suspect that this may take some time so I hope you can stay along for the ride.
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Oh, baby! This is what I've been waiting for. LMK if there's anything I can do to help with refs, info or suggestions.

btw - do you have decals in mind yet?...We've got a few 1/32 F-14A Tomcat sheets...

-brian

Hi Brian, terrific to see you here. I was kinda hoping you'd stop by. ;) I think I'll take all the help you're willing to give bro'. I don't know one end of a Tomcat from the other so I'll be relying on you to stop by regularly and give me some pointers please. The plan is to model an -A in low-viz with AN/AAQ-14 pod and perhaps an inert AIM-9 if that's any help.

As for markings,....the only thing positive that I'd like to do is a heavily weathered line bird. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions. I've no particular time frame in mind either. So long as it looks like a Tomcat when I'm through, I'll be happy.

Of the two kit decals I'd have gone with the VF-14 "Tophatters" but I don't have a favourite Tomcat squadron so the world is my oyster. I'll drop by your forum and check out what you've got

I'd value your input on this one Brian so I hope you'll keep tabs on the progress.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

come back from (to??) the Dark Side.

Where's the A-10?

Aaron

:P .....Ha,..ha...you crack me up Aaron. :lol:

It's not so bad buddy. I'll get to the A-10 at some point in the future. I looked for one at Telford but did n't see a single one for sale. Perhaps I should ****** (huh? the filter did n't like s.n.a.t.c.h......!) pick one up before they're all gone? Are they getting rare now?

I hope you'll put aside your disappointment and try to enjoy this build. Who knows, you might build an F-14 yourself one day?

Oh yeah, now this is going to be nice.....where's my popcorn's.....oh ya...got it
WOW!!!!!!
Wow, Guy! It happend finally! After so short delay - another great project!

Nice start! I will follow with a great interest.

Happy modeling!

Alexander.

Hi fellas, it's marvellous that you dropped in to say hello. I'd like to think that you'll visit often to check out what's been going on. I can't promise fast progress but I will detail stuff as I go.
Big Kitty getting the GeeDub treatment! ......... Should be fun to follow!

funny-pictures-proceed-cat.jpg

:) Yes Sir!

Too cool Moritz :lol:

Edited by geedubelyer
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So, on to todays' progress.

I began by hollowing out the back of each petal slot.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles012a.jpg

Perhaps a bit OTT but it does let more light into the slot and give the impression of thinner material to the petals.

Here are the tools used in this process..

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles011a.jpg

The rivetting tools help to clean up the slots once I've finished using the mini-drill then it's wet 'n' dry (used dry) followed by the toothbrush. It certainly took some time to complete.

I decided to saw through the gap between the petals after all. It just gives greater depth than a wash could.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles015a.jpg

I was going to leave the outer petals like this but a thought occured,......if I did n't get the inner petals exactly right, I'd be letting light through the slots.....not good!

Instead, I've chosen to line the petals with foil. This turned out to be a happy accident because reference pics show the actual petals of the full sized article differ in profile to the Tamiya parts. By fitting the lining, I've managed to get closer to the real shape. (Luck more than judgement, I assure you...)

If I had Wojtek Fagjas' skill with photo-etch I could have made these petal inserts that way but, I don't so, I had to make them the long way.

First, a template........

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles015b.jpg

After cutting eighteen petals I used the point of a compass to inscribe the stiffening detail...

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles016a.jpg

(These outer petals seem to have a single stiffening bead running through the centre of the metal, the inner petals have two which are spaced closer to the edge of the metal.)

A second template was carved to give a curve to follow. Using this template enabled each petal to match its' neighbour (well, sort of..)

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles017a.jpg

The final step simply involved glueing all of the petals in place one after the other using CA.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles022.jpg

The interior sweep of the petals becomes more acute with this technique giving the nozzle a fuller look more like the real deal. The inner petals will fit over these additions like the one in the picture below. Before that happens I'll need to paint this set.

tn_Jetexhaustnozzles025a.jpg

More soon I hope....

Cheers for now and thanks again for all of the kind words.

;)

Edited by geedubelyer
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Glad you caught the humor in my post there Guy. I'll be following this one just as closely as I followed the Strike and Viper, and look forward to the updates. I do want to build an F-14 one day. I've got the VF-decals VF-31 Tomcatters decals in the stash (1/48 scale) but the Hasegawa Tomcat scares the crap out of me, so it'll be a while before I get to it. I've gotta grab up a Delta one of these days before they disappear or something....or they all turn into 100+ dollar "Special Releases"

Aaron

Edited by strikeeagle801
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"Hi Ryan, glad you stopped by. I wonder if you're thinking of Aarons F-16? We were building 1/32nd scale Vipers at the same time but Aaron had a couple of major setbacks on his build

Anyhoo, enjoy this one with us."

Yeah, my bad. That was Strikeeagle801's model. Sorry for the mix-up.

RYAN.

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I can see why your models look different and I mean by different.....real good. You bring some interesting ideas into your build. Love the petal detail that you are doing. I would have never thought of that. Very nice!!

Mike

Edited by Youngtiger1
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