Reddog Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Chuck as said this one lovely tomcat and surely my inspiration to my future big cat awaiting next to hit my workbench after a smaller cat is finished. I do have a question though, as the weathering absolutely spot on, it does not correspond with the cleanliness of the black stripe across the fuselage and the tails, it just looks just "too new" for such a weathered aircaft. It just seems too much of a contrast on the photos. Sorry to be a bit nit-picky. The reason why the black looks newer then rest of the jet is because when VF-101 painted the marking on the jet they did not repaint the whole jet, just the markings. Also, flat paint didn't far well while gloss paint held up a lot better. It was illegal to paint the whole jet, if you did that you had to ge the aircraft weighed again and recompute the weight and balance, not an easy or fun job. Reddog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 10, 2009 Author Share Posted November 10, 2009 I do have a question though, as the weathering absolutely spot on, it does not correspond with the cleanliness of the black stripe across the fuselage and the tails, it just looks just "too new" for such a weathered aircaft. It just seems too much of a contrast on the photos. Sorry to be a bit nit-picky. Thanks Jarda and good point, although I do have an explanation which I considered before weathering this model. Certain so-called "Show-birds" of the VF-101 squadron had the black tail and "Skunk stripe" painted on well after the rest of the aircraft had weathered and was touched up with paint to fight corrosion. This black paint would eventually weather too, of course, but this particular bird, Bu No 163222, was freshly repainted in 2004, which removed the names of the pilot and RIO on the canopy and the tail was changed from the classic flying Reaper to the one you see on this build. Other subtle changes include the painting of the TACAN antenna in black, which used to be grey. Unfortunately, 163222 crashed shortly after it's re-paint in 2004, so the black paint never had a chance to get dirty. It must have been glossy and pristine, so that's why I left it that way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Chuck I think your THREAD on the TOMCAT BUILD{ THIS ONE} Should be Pinned for future reference !!! HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Qian Posted November 10, 2009 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Awesome Chuck! JUST ONE AWESOME CAT!!!!!!! This is the MOST BEAUTIFUL Tomcat I've ever seen here on ARC!! You've done a brilliant job on the weathering! It looks spot-on! Will definitely learn some methods from you especially your salt-weathering technique which sure brought this cat to a new level of realism! Good job Chuck! :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmthamade Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Yup!! Great build, chuck!! I really enjoy seeing builds from start to finish especially with workarounds for difficult areas and clear explanations of different techniques. Gives modellers that will do the same kit some ideas big and small. Don Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VFA-103guy Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 (edited) Chuck- You are officially dubbed the 1/32 Tomcat God of modeling. My only critique of the entire build was that you used the incorrect ejection triangles for the time frame 163222's markings were in. You should have used the red ones, not the solid color red ones, but the ones that were more of an outline. Otherwise, this model is very realistic. Brian (Who's packing up his ball and going home) Edited November 11, 2009 by VFA-103guy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 11, 2009 Author Share Posted November 11, 2009 Chuck-You are officially dubbed the 1/32 Tomcat God of modeling. :P Brian (Who's packing up his ball and going home) Gee thanks Brian. That is a real honor, especially coming from a Tomcat expert like yourself! My only critique of the entire build was that you used the incorrect ejection triangles for the time frame 163222's markings were in. You should have used the red ones, not the solid color red ones, but the ones that were more of an outline. Otherwise, this model is very realistic. Hmmmmm, now that is very interesting. Like most modelers, I like to have as many reference photographs of the exact aircraft I'm trying to build, including time frame, in order to get it as accurate as possible. Bu No 163222, however, was VERY difficult to find. As a matter of fact, I did not find ONE pic of this bird in 2004, which is the time period I am trying to depict. That was one of the reasons I bought your album of pics of VF-101 birds, hoping I might find one there, since are none on the web or in any F-14 book I can find. Even queries to Brian Plescia of Fightertown decals did not yield a single pic of this Tomcat in 2004. There are, however, a few pics of the 2001-03 time frame, for those who might be interested in this version. With no pics of the real deal in 2004, one has to turn to the decal instructions verbatim. The pic below shows what Fightertown decals has for this version in 2004 at the bottom, with a black painted TACAN antenna and yellow ejection triangles, which is consistent with black intake chevron decals, like Bu No 162689, an F-14A. Bu No 164342, an F-14D, however, did have the open red triangles you refer to, which is consistent with red intake chevrons, much like Bu No 163414, another F-14D, has solid red ones. These red ejection triangles are also smaller than the yellow ones...... Soooooo, it would appear that one Brian is right and one Brian is wrong. Do you have a pic to set the record straight? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VFA-103guy Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Actually I do!...in print form, but the ones I have are prior to the new reaper markings. A friend of mine is currently scanning in my VF-101 pics on a CD, and once he's done I can share. If you have the VF-101 pics in the photo album you bought, there should be 2 taxi shots of 101 where you can clearly see the triangles. The intake cheverons were also a change, but I'm fairly certain Brian got those correct. This is one reason we removed 101 from our updated VF-101 sheet. I wasn't confident enough to leave it on the sheet, plus, I wanted those GE decals on there. 163222 went through a series of markings changes prior to the crash. 1. The yellow ejection triangles were present in 2001-2003. 2. The red triangles and slanted side numbers made their appearance in Jan/Feb 2004, and were present prior to the new reaper markings on the tail. In March 2004, the new reaper tail markings made their debut, but when I saw 163222, all the markings on the front end were sanded off. All the information I have from VF-101's former MMCO are just side notes on 163222's maintenance report, which states red triangles. Now, whether they were solid or line form, I can't recall at this point. It's been almost 6 years since I last had contact with him. So, neither one of our sheets is "wrong" per say, but we did the best with what information we had, which in turn takes nothing away from your model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete "Pig" Fleischmann Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Chuck, What can I say? This is spectacular. Particularly striking is the finish. You have really mastered this, and taught us all a lot by sharing your technique. Very, very nice! Regards, Pig Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 12, 2009 Author Share Posted November 12, 2009 (edited) If you have the VF-101 pics in the photo album you bought, there should be 2 taxi shots of 101 where you can clearly see the triangles. The intake chevrons were also a change, but I'm fairly certain Brian got those correct. 1. The yellow ejection triangles were present in 2001-2003. 2. The red triangles and slanted side numbers made their appearance in Jan/Feb 2004, and were present prior to the new reaper markings on the tail. In March 2004, the new reaper tail markings made their debut, but when I saw 163222, all the markings on the front end were sanded off. I just looked at the pics you took and I see what you mean. The intake chevron is also red, just like 163 and 164, but the decal sheet calls for black. The problem is, nobody has a single pic of 163222 with the new reaper tail and the front at the same time, so it's impossible to say what's right and what's "wrong", although I do not doubt your claim now that I see the pics. It's also possible that there were no ejection triangles at all- I guess we'll never know unless a pic shows up. I do know this though. Had I used red triangles and red intake chevrons, someone, somewhere, would say I screwed up! You can't win! This also brings to light an "error" I found on 163 vs. the decal sheet. The pic below shows the "AD" on the starboard stabilizer to be at the front, rather than centered within the stabilizer, just like the other F-14's of VF-101... http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Navy/...4e1347bb25d021b I don't like this placement, even if it is "accurate" and if you wanted to be super accurate you'd also have to eliminate the rear part of the reaper on the rudder, which would be ugly. If I was making this bird I'd still follow the decal sheet instead. Anyway, these subtle changes of markings through time are interesting. 163222 went through a series of markings changes prior to the crash. What exactly happened to this bird? BTW, Now that Gunfighter 101 is complete, Victory 103 just got kicked upstairs... Edited November 12, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VFA-103guy Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Aahh Chuck...don't beat yourself up over some minor details. The effort you put into finishing that model more than make up for any minor inaccuracies in the placement guides you had to work with. :D It truly is a masterpiece and you should be proud. Hell, even my own F-14B's aren't 100% accurate. I'm too damn lazy to add the HUD's in them. Having said that, I know FT puts every effort into assuring their sheets and placement guides are the most accurate out there. If you think about it, Brian had 3 jets in 2 different time frames that in essence, were pretty much almost the same scheme. A mistake in the placement guides was bound to happen, however typically uncharacteristic of FT. Dude, how do you think I feel? VF made 2 spelling errors on our flag-tailed VF-84 bird and got the right side tail markings wrong due to my not properly checking references and using spell check. It was a $1000 mistake and one I never forgot about. As for 163222's crash, I can't say I know exactly what happened. Somone on the F-14 forums I think posted an incident report, but I'd have to do some searching. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ole Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 What a masterpiece! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eastern Posted November 12, 2009 Share Posted November 12, 2009 Great looking build! A real masterpiece! Awesome paintwork. Congrats! Alexander. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Youngtiger1 Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Amazing Chuck. Simply Amazing. I learned quite a bit from your build. In fact, I have saved it all as a future reference. Now, I can't wait to see what's going to happen to the hornet. Thanks for sharing. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 18, 2009 Author Share Posted November 18, 2009 Now, I can't wait to see what's going to happen to the hornet. Thanks for sharing.Mike Thanks again guys! As for the Hornet, it would normally be a much simpler build than this old Tamiya kit, but with all the resin I have planned, it's already a real workout! Stay tuned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blunce Posted November 19, 2009 Share Posted November 19, 2009 HOT DAMN!!! What can I say that hasn't already been said? What a fantastic job. One thing that jumped out at me is that you can see the wear/dirty marks where the wings swing....awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graves_09 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Just a heads up to those of you that download the build thread using the forum's downloading function: only the first 15 pages are saved, the last 16-28 are not. I downloaded each one manually using my browser's "save page" command. An extra 5 min, but well worth the time. Thanks again Chuck for taking the time to catalog and post your efforts of this amazing model! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) Just a heads up to those of you that download the build thread using the forum's downloading function: only the first 15 pages are saved, the last 16-28 are not. I downloaded each one manually using my browser's "save page" command. An extra 5 min, but well worth the time. Thanks again Chuck for taking the time to catalog and post your efforts of this amazing model! If anyone would like to just review all the build pics, they can be found here where I saved everything (along with some other builds).... http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh66/chuck540z3/ Edited November 23, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 23, 2009 Author Share Posted November 23, 2009 (edited) Another few pics of the cockpit and with an F-4J, I made about a year ago.... Edited December 21, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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