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Unpacking the Trumpeter Tomcat


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Great pics THX, thx...

just one thing for now, are there still thousands of bullet-holes aka Trump-rivets under the cockpit

Thx,

J

Just checking my Hase 1/48th, it has those "holes" also

Oh, wait, one can't bash "hollygawa" with the same standards used with other brands...

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Oh, wait, one can't bash "hollygawa" with the same standards used with other brands...

THOU SHALT NOT BLASPHEME THE HIGH LORDS TAMIGAWA AND HASEMIYA....

Just look at all the flack I'm taking in the F-22 thread. Ewoks and such...height jokes. Telephone books. It's just not fair, I tell ya.

To keep this on track... I'm not an F-14 fan, but that sucker looks pretty nice. If somebody came out with the VF-213 decals from last cruise with the blue on the spine, I might have to consider it.

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I'm floored. :worship:

From the looks of things Trumpeter has my vote for sure. Decals even look nice.

The rubber air bladder bags do have a cause for concern for me, but then again, I've painted Hasegawa's rubber tires before and never had an issue with them.

Nice job Trumpeter!

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About the LGB (or lack of them), does this kit come with any bomb racks or will we have to wait for some resin ones?

Looks great, should make a nice kit OOB. The seats are the best I have seen injection moulded.

Julien

That's kind weird, have you seen the SJU-17 included with the Trumpy 1/32 F/A-18E, it looks bad, really bad. Obviously they had 2 different crews working on these kits.

To keep this on track... I'm not an F-14 fan, but that sucker looks pretty nice. If somebody came out with the VF-213 decals from last cruise with the blue on the spine, I might have to consider it.

Im really interested in this kit, looks really nice, I cant wait to get my mits on the Tamiya kit I got in the Holiday Raffle so I can compare the 2. I would not be surprised if the first 2 decals sets released will be a VF-213 sheet including the blue spined CAG jet, and a sheet with low viz VF-2s.

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HI

Appreciate the inside look.

I'm curious to see how it builds up before I commit.

For those concerned about the lack of weapons, does the Academy HORNET offer what you need? I am sure there are lots of spares about.

T

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Ready ? Take a seat. Here goes.

Pretty cool box eh ?

Ouch, hope this didn't hurt the inside.

If you need to show of your purchase, it's piece of cake to walk 10 blocks.

Going inside

Excellent protection with extra padding.

Big @$$ Phoenix (I actually looked up what the plural of Phoenix was, it´s simply Phoenix ;) )

Continued in part 2.

Just curious....how much is this beast?

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I think that's gonna be a loose fit in the Trumpeter cockpit, then. :D

Just use putty to fill-in the gaps ;)

I have a Technics tub and seats that were designed for the Tamiya model; not sure if that will fit though, depending on how the forward fuselage shapes were interpreted, and the fact that the Trumpy model has all those open hatches around the gun.

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Thanks for all the comments and extra questions. Let's run through them

@Alpaqeuer:

Front fuselage is split vertically. Left side with the gun-bay, ammo drum. All with open panels. Right side with open fuel probe. Not sure yet if this can be closed too and how the panels fit closed.

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

@pminer

I paid €122 without shipping. I could've gotten it for less if I searched some more, but this store was familiar to me and I wanted it like right now. Even though I won't start on in right away. Call it KAS.

@Carlie Cheetah

Bomb racks aren't mentioned in the instructions. But I did spot 4 half sides on sprue W that would make up 2 racks that look just like the modules that fit the Phoenix pallets. Those parts aren't mentioned anywhere else, so either they remain unused or Trumpy forgot to mention them.

4.jpg

@dmtthamade

No mechanism. You can move each wing seperately. I do hope the joint is solid and sturdy enough to prevent te wings from bending to far down, causing upward friction in the fuselage. The Italeri 1/48 has this problem.

@Viperbite

Yep, below the cockpit is like swiss cheese :lol:

This doesn't seem authentic. I checked my Walk around book. Can't see any similar riveting there. But, it's not very heavy. There's a lot of holes, but not very deep. I think you can clean them up easy. Anyone with definite proof they don't belong there ? Check the pic.

5.jpg

@Admirtal T Juris

I'll see if I can do a quick test-Fit this week. About that flat area, well.....shoot me. I have the part here in my hand but I just don't see it. Will not be easy to check this.

In general. For the cockpit, there will be more detail that what was shown in the pics. The instructions show some more bits beeing added, and it does seem like it will turn out great. Still no resin levels, but I don't think that's a real issue. Not having things that go BOOM! included is actually worse if you ask me.

AMRAAM's.

Well, there's photographic proof of Cat's test-firing them. Don't recall if they were D models. But to include them in a kit just so you can make a test-bird, is pushing it. Especially if you forget to add things that go BOOM! at the same time ;)

Any more requests ?

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Dang-it!!! STOP posting photos!! You're going to make me want to go get one!! lol

It's bad enough that I'm all gunned up to build a ton of models after taking a break - but with all the new plastic I'm discovering.....eeeeshhh!! =P

This kit looks great!!

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Any chance of seeing the wings where the wingfold mechanism would ordinarily have been?

I imagine there is a pin/hole and that's it?

Thanks for posting all of the pics!

Edit- Perhaps its a you decide to build it fully swept or unswept deal?

Edited by Av8fan
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@Carlie Cheetah

Bomb racks aren't mentioned in the instructions. But I did spot 4 half sides on sprue W that would make up 2 racks that look just like the modules that fit the Phoenix pallets. Those parts aren't mentioned anywhere else, so either they remain unused or Trumpy forgot to mention them.

4.jpg

Yup, that would be them. Thats a good sign.

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Hmmmmmmmm, Those rivets survived didn't they. Well I can deal with them I suppose. Gonna need to save up for a while though to get my hands on the Beast. I might also think about moving into a bigger house! No Seriously!

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Hmmmmmmmm, Those rivets survived didn't they. Well I can deal with them I suppose.

If that's the worst "flaw" on the kit, we should consider ourselves very lucky indeed. Incidentally, I've been sifting through some of my books to see if perhaps there's any photographic evidence to support that seemingly superfluous riveting. I've got my Verlinden Lock On number 18, page 12, right-hand pic (showing the boarding ladder.) Is it possible that these rivets actually are there, but very slight and mostly covered by the primer and paint? I've only seen an F-14 (B-model, VF-101) once, 15 years ago, and I don't trust my memory... Perhaps someone with first-hand knowledge of the Tomcat could comment?

Edited by Admiral T. Jurisdiction
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