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Unpacking the Trumpeter Tomcat


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Wow, thats a hell of a price drop, considering MSRP was around $230. Thats actually approaching a price that I'd actually consider. Still uber expensive and probably be a very long time before I get one, but its a lot more approachable than the MSRP is.

Great models has it listed for $155
Edited by Adam Baker
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good to see bomb racks are included. I really want this kit, but I'll hold off until they release the B model. Plus, my trumpy E hornet is on the way and the wife doesn't know yet!

Oooooooo .... ! I'm Tellin' ! :rofl:

Gregg

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Interesting that instead of providing A/G munitions for an F-14D they included AIM-120s....which were not integrated into the jet (unless I'm greatly mistaken).

Still, a nice looking chunk of plastic out of the box!

Thanks for sharing!

Your right no, no AIM-120's on the F-14. The funding for the AIM-120 was diverted so the Tomcat community could work w/ Martin Marietta to purchase, equip, test and train crews with ATFLIR & later Lantrin for A/G.

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I have it on good authority that 2 of these things will show up under my tree this year...because I was the one that placed the order for Mom because she asked me what I wanted, and when I told her, she obviously had no idea what the hell a Trumpeter Tomcat was (and I got the shipping notification in my e-mail today :nanner:).

THANKS A MILLION FOR THE PHOTOS!!!!

Edited by TomcatFanatic123
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amraams on a tomcat, that's gotta be the biggest flaw of the kit.. but i am not complaining. it will be useful for otherkits.

looks like the rivets are not as hole-y as i thought.

now to wait for the hobbyboss 1/48th offering and tomcat nation will be in an uproar again.

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I'll just wait/hope Hobby Lobby has one during their half-off sales. :wacko: (of course, I haven't seen a 32nd Trumpeter jet there since the F-18C)

I've never seen 1/32 Trumpeter (or Tamiya) at the nearest HL to me ...and the F-18C is Academy :cheers:

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Thanks for posting the pics, very informative! :wacko:

The more I see the more I like about this kit.

Sure, a few areas can always be improved (cockpit, rivets etc) but I guess it's less work than dealing with the Tamiya kit.

Still, I very much would like to see a completed example before finally deciding if I should sell the family car and invest in some Trumpeter plastic. :cheers:

Cheers,

Anders

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I see that Hannants in the UK has it priced at £119.98. Ouch! Too expensive for me.

Robert

But that'a 2p cheaper than the Tamiya F-15E on their site. (In fact they list the TAMIYA F-14A 'Black knights' at £125) so I'd say that the £110 - £120 is gonna be the going rate here in the UK. That depending on how our wonderful government manages to screw around with the economy....if the UK £ takes a tumble again then that price is going up!

I'm going to wait 6 - 9 months before commiting to a F-14B - I've already got the wonderful Zotz VF-103 decals waiting.......just need the wife to be out of the house, credit card left lying around........ :thumbsup:

Edited by FIGHTS ON
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Looks very interesting. I decided I wasn't going to get one, but now I'm reconsidering. Like most others I'm going to wait to see what aftermarket stuff comes out. I may have to sell off some of my 1/48 Hasegawa Tomcats first.

One question... can the flaps and leading edge devices be modeled in the lowered position?

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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?

IMO the rivet detail is way over done. Also, something doesn't look right with the ADU-703/BRU-32's (bomb racks), they look too long.

And one last observation, the area with detail under the wing fold area, called the "H E double hockey stick" Hole, is not represetive of the real thing, far from it.

Reddog :wasntme:

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Thanks for posting the pics. I see lots of very good things the Tamiya kit doesn't have, and I see lots of the things the Tamiya kit does a bit better, but overall at this very early stage, I'd call it a tie. The cockpit is a disappointment and a non-starter without resin help. What really matters is what it builds up into, which we already know the Tamiya kit does very well with lots of aftermarket help. If it has a fat short nose like a Revell or Hasegawa kit, I'll never be interested.

The first one to build one of these is going to get a HUGE hit count on their progress!

Edited by chuck540z3
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And one last observation, the area with detail under the wing fold area, called the "H E double hockey stick" Hole, is not represetive of the real thing, far from it.

Reddog :wasntme:

Thanks for the input, Reddog. Thankfully, I'm not too worried about the innards and prefer a plane with its "clothes" on. Dunno about anyone else, but I'm more concerned about the kit's overall external shapes and proportions, since I can always scratchbuild "guts" myself or defer to the craftsmanship of any multitude of aftermarket sets.

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Have you had a chance to see how this kit looks shape-wise? Have you had a chance to compare wheels, AB cans etc to pics, drawings etc. I mean all those great options and teails are fine, but if the basic out line is noticbly off, whats the point???

Thank you very much for posting these pics!!

P.S. I didn't see does it come withthe BOL type rails fro the AIM-9's

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I guess the real proof of it's shape can only truely be determined once I have the major parts locked in place. It's not easy to fix things with just rubber straps. For instance you cannot hold the wings in place by clamping the bottom and top half together, since the wings are actually only attached to the bottom half. On top the joint is simply covered over with part of the wing shoulder.

What I can do, this weekend probably, is line up some of the parts, take a long zoom lens and make a shot with minimal perspective distortion and overlay schematics on that in Photoshop.

Some more bits.

Burners. Both open and closed included. Closed are single piece. Open ones need to be build and look to have more detail that way. Once again, not resin cans.

1.jpg

2.jpg

Wheels. Look pretty authentic. But would've looked better with more room in the spokes. Black weathering will add more depth.

3.jpg

AIM-9 rails. Totally different that what I'm used to seeying on A or B models. Not sure if this is typical D. Are these BOL type rails ?

4.jpg

Some on the fly fitting. Rubber insert can be seen also. Beaver tail has extremely nice detail round the airbrake. It would be a shame to close this.

5.jpg

6.jpg

Wing shoulders/gloves. The lights are actually drilled the whole way trough. Perhaps to help actual lightbulb fitting, or to have some light shine through from above to the lower light. I was suprised to see the extra bulbus area at the front end of the glove. Needed to check reference shots to see this is actually a D feature. You learn something new everyday.

7.jpg

Some test fitting. Looks like minimal filling is required. My 15 year old Hasegawa nose section has a worse fit. And the nut-and-bolt fit of the Tamiya F-15E is far worse.

Bottom side is more difficult, since it features an extra flat area to insert. All of these parts do have enough flesh on it to get the glue to really grip.

8.jpg

9.jpg

So who's gonna race me to build it and what's the price for finishing first ? A free Tamiya Cat ? :thumbsup:

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Hi THX1138,

Thanks for sharing the pictures so far. There look to be a number of neat features on this kit. I like the detail inside the air intake bleed vents and also the hollow ECS vents are a nice touch. I have n't seen any shots of the interiors of the intakes yet. Is there a full intake tunnel or is it hollow like the Tamiya version?

I agree that in this scale they could have tried harder on the cockpit though. If Tamiya can produce near perfection in their F-15 and F-16 kits then it should n't have been so hard for Trumpeter to do better with this new mold kit.

I will freely admit that your photos look better than the test shots from some time ago so it will be interesting to see how she builds up.

I'm eager to see more soon.

Cheers,

:monkeydance:

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I just got my Tomcat today and have been working on a review of it. I have to say a lot of this kit looks really nice. And I'm now convinced that filling the excess rivets is far easier than rescribing the Tamiya kit.

There is a full intake trunk which is also a great add on. And I have to say that the cockpit might not be up to AM standards but it's the best OOB Tomcat cockpit I've ever seen. They did add quite a bit of detail and made a great effort to do a lot in there. It's not perfect but it's way better than the Hasegawa cockpit and much more detailed. I will say this is the first kit to get the D pilot stick correct. Not even Aires corrected that. They have canopy locks, cockpit and canopy framing and the aft deck and canopy details and while not perfect - sidewalls. The only thing actually missing is the RIO's box on top of the coaming. Oh, and they have rudder re-enforcement plates on the tails. Something that's been on Tomcats since 1978 and one of many things Tamiya overlooked.

Here's my review of the decals which is pretty subjective. I'm not including it in the review I'm doing because it goes into too much detail. I make no apologies for caring about the accuracy of decals and details when it comes to the Tomcat, so take from it what you will. I would say that most modelers won't care about the details I point out but for those that do - enjoy:

The decals were designed by Jasmine Decals. I don't know if these errors are ones that pass on from their line of decals as I don't have those sheets. I do have issues with their TPS profiles because they aren't right for the VF-2 and VF-213 jets. The VF-31 color profile looks good from memory. Also note their profiles have the incorrect antenna arrangement on the spine and gear doors and show what looks like original 70s wheel hubs. (minor details for most)

The decals definitely have the look of 'printed in China'.

VF-31: The names for the right side canopy and gear door are missing (they duplicated the left side), the fonts for the Rescue arrows is incorrect, the intake chevrons are ‘generic’ and not the right size or shape the fonts on the writing is incorrect. The flag Felix on one drop tank is included, but they missed the ‘hat’ color Felix and the ‘globe’ Felix on the other tank. The no steps are printed in white instead of light gray.

VF-2: I can’t help but think they copied much of the information and errors from another aftermarket sheet. The same issues that appeared on another sheet are duplicated on the Trumpeter. The Langely stripe for the fuselage doesn’t have enough space below the national insignia to account for the curvature of the fuselage. Or it will fit the kit but the national insignia will be placed too low. ALL canopy and gear door names as well as the USS CONSTELLATION on the glove vane, Rescue arrows and Intake markings are in the wrong font. The modex and tail numbers have an over exaggerated stretch. All four of these national insignias have the red bar out of register and most of the color stars have the red bar too thin. Lastly the national insignia shown on the wings is placed too far outboard.

VF-213 - The infamous ‘rat head/lion head’ 101 jet. I don’t have photographs of this jet at this exact timeframe but I have some from a few weeks before the nose art was applied and some from after it was removed, so my comments are limited. In fact, I don’t know of many pictures that even exist of this particular paint job so I do wonder how Trumpeter got the reference. What I do know is that VF-213 didn’t use the font shown on the Jet Intakes. From all the reference I have on this jet, I would suggest that the canopy and gear door names close but not an accurate font. VF-213 was using a different stylized font from the early 2000’s until their retirement in 2006. My real concern is what Trumpeter used for Medium Gray. The ink looks far too light to be FS35237. I held it next to several sheets we did with fs35237 as well as a number of other decal’s that represented this color and the Trumpeter sheet is noticeably lighter. I question that the fuselage national insignia’s are in 36081 Euro gray like the modex and tail markings. Lastly the national insignia shown on the wings is placed too far outboard.

Lastly, all the turbine warning stripes are too thin. They are in 1/48 thickness but appear to be the right length. I found it interesting that a few details that they added decals for were previously only available in our data sets. Secretly I'm wondering if our data influenced the addition of these pieces. I'd like to think we had a good idea :woot.gif: Oh, and only 1 main landing gear data placard is on their sheet.

Again, 95% of the modelers out there won't care about all the above, but I do.

This solidified the decision to me that Fightertown Decals needs to make a VF-2 OIF sheet in 1/32 scale along with some of the other stuff we're printing because building a D is a toss up between VF-2 OIF CAG and VF-31 Last Tomcat Cruise 101 (which we fortunately already printed :woot.gif:

Overall, I have to say that I'm very, very happy with this kit. How it fits and if the dimensions in a few critical areas are correct remain to be seen. I'd like to have some A-G bombs instead of the full engines and I wished that they provided a left side fuselage without the gun bays all opened up. I thought about seeing if this would kit bash with the Tamiya but then you have to remove the heavy plating...

-brian

Edited by Brian P: Fightertown Decals
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Thanks for the Brian , it looks like I did the right thing buying thie one instead of hacking up another Tamiya Cat!

I think I speak for all us Big cat fans in saying yes, please turn your attention to the D .. I've got your VF-101 set , and i've already used your VF-31 set on a converted Tamiya model, so bring it on ... !

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Got mine in the mail yesterday ...... had about 5 minutes to crack open the box and take a quick look

before the W chased me back upstairs to hand ornaments on the tree !!!! What is the woman thinking ?!?!?!?!

There are more important things to be doing than that ............

It would be great if Brian releases a VF-2 sheet for this kit ...... though I think I'll be using his VF-31 sheet for

my first boxing of this kit !

-Scott

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