1/32 Trumpeter F-14D build

[THX1138]

Next parts. Fresh coat of Klear, which darkens the paint a little. Some of the color shift is gone now, compared to the shots above before the Klear coat. I expect this to come back after the wash and perhaps matting down the shinyness, and some more post-shading.

Decals are on. I didn't use the yelllow bands on the vert stabs. and belly fins, instead I sprayed those. Large decals on the vert stabs and nose went on relatively easy. Trump decals are a bit thick. It's also not a massive job with 100rds of decals. Together with MicroSet and Sol it took me about 1 evening, and the results in the morning were great.

Front exhaust and canopy were sprayed black using ModelMaster acrylics, and turned less Matt after the Klear coat was applied.

I like the late VF-2 scheme. But I think it would've looked even better on the 70's grey-white scheme. But the VF-2 livery was different in the 70's.

Things are moving fast now. But there's still a lot to do. Gotta be carefull not to rush this.

Oh, about the last shot. Yes, this is the time to tell it. I forgot to put in the gun......

Edited May 6, 2010 by THX1138

[Dax]

Looks great, never would have noticed the gun....

Agree 100% on the best part of modeling, seeing it come to life with paint, especially on a Navy bird.

[TomcatFanatic123]

That is beautiful! About the gun...on mine, if (when) I do it again, I wouldn't have bothered putting it in mine. I put just enough parts in that I thought would be visible (just the parts that go behind the very first panel below the slime-light closest to the nose), but when I look at it, I can hardly see it in there.

[stump]

Very nice,I can not wait to build mine..I am still waiting on someone to do VX-9 Vandy1 decals for her...Hint Hint..nudge..nudge..fightertown...wink...wink

[TomcatFanatic123]

Very nice,I can not wait to build mine..I am still waiting on someone to do VX-9 Vandy1 decals for her...Hint Hint..nudge..nudge..fightertown...wink...wink

X2 B)

[loftycomfort]

That VF-2 CAG bird sure looks sharp. I'm even starting to second guess my decision to do mine in low-viz... sigh...

I notice that there is some pebbly texture on the top of vertical fin in the second pic, right round the "00" decal. Is that just lighting or something else?

Cheers, and keep up the good work.

Terry

[Marcel111]

Good to see the decals on and well done so far!

Cheers,

Marcel

[Qian]

WOW!! Looking very nice so far bud. Nice to see the decals on too. Keep at it! :thumbsup:

[THX1138]

I notice that there is some pebbly texture on the top of vertical fin in the second pic, right round the "00" decal. Is that just lighting or something else?

Yep, seen that too. I guess the lighting makes it a bit worse then it is. I think I sprayed a bit too much Klear in that area. It dries to fast and doesn't flow as easy ad regular paint does. Much more surface tension, even though I added a few drops of Windex.

There's a few other spots that show the same. Perhaps I'll try to sand them out later.

Thx

[THX1138]

While doing the enamel-wash, in parts since the smell is not nice even with ventilation, I managed to get other things done.

Here's part of the 'things that go BOOM!!!". I'm going for a double AIM-9, single Phoenix on the shoulder and single Sparrow on the rear belly. Other shoulder will have the FLIR pod and the Phoenix rack will have 2 GBU-10's I nicked from my A-7.

They still need a light wash, and a matt finish.

And here's part of the resulting enamel wash on the body. I haven't decided to keep it at this dirt level or do more postshading. I also want to dull it down, a bit too shiny now.

Very happy with the exhausts. Inside there's still many seams but the outside don't look bad at all OOB. Still have to try and add a slight brown-oily wash over it. It's easy to leave the entire engine's out of the body all the time. You can slide it in at the end, and not like the instructions say, fit them while closing the body.

The black slices where spraypainted after tediously masking the rest of the exhaust. A bit of extra work, but the result is there.

In the meantime, my stash has increased with an HB 1/48 F-18D, which I need to convert back to a B-model to fit the Fighting Omars decals. And I suspect the Trumpy A-model Cat will soon join too.

And then the Kinetic E-2C 2000 is on the way too......so many models. Too little time.

[THX1138]

I'm done. Well, 99% that is. Still need to fit two GBU-10's.

More pics later on in the other forum section, here

So what's the conslusion ?

I really really like it. Can't stop staring at the model on the shelf. I'm sure I will build one or two more.

The kit itself is very good I think. By no means flawless, but it absolutely looks and feels like a Tomcat. It has that presence. I cannot think of any reason why you wouldn't like it, if you are into F-14's.

Easy build ? Not for the beginner, but not a huge task in any case. There're a few problem area's but if you follow the progress builds on this site, you will do just fine. And don't rush it. Took me nearly 6 months and I believe it cannot be done in less then 1 month.

The cockpit deserves much more, and I think it's the kit's weakest point. Together with the exhaust tubes, but they are much less visible. Aires or Avionix will have a field day if they were to release a resin pit.

So all in all I am very positive. Apart from 2 problems. It will take me a while to decide which squadron to do next time. And seeying it this big makes me realize we will never see it in real life ever again. I think it's a public shame that the best fighter jet ever is reduced to scrap or used as a museum display.

Edited June 3, 2010 by THX1138

[LZ82]

Very nice!!!

[Timvkampen]

very nice. and yes this jet was taken out of business too fast. Certain D's were only 13 years old. Too bad!! I know all the arguments for the Super Bug, but the cut off by Cheney was a bad call in my opinion...

[brad4321]

I am struggling with the fit of the cockpit inside the front two halves. The cockpit sits a nudge too high. I've looked everywhere and can't find a problem and I've seen no one else say the fit there is anything but fine. Anyone had this problem or have any advice? :D

[THX1138]

Did you fit all the parts on the cockpit already ?

Like the front IP cover (N17) and the rear deck (G38) or the sidewalls ? I fixed all these parts at a later stage. Perhaps this will make your fit easier.

[TomcatFanatic123]

Did you have a problem with wing droop? Whenever I have the wings fully extended on mine, they sag like crazy. It's not a major concern of mine, because it's going to be in the display case with the wings swept, but I was just curious if you had that problem.

I am struggling with the fit of the cockpit inside the front two halves. The cockpit sits a nudge too high. I've looked everywhere and can't find a problem and I've seen no one else say the fit there is anything but fine. Anyone had this problem or have any advice?

I didn't have a problem with mine. Seemed to fit OK for me...more than I can say for those damn covers for the wing-sweep mechanism. What a pain in the a-double-snakes that was...

Edited June 12, 2010 by TomcatFanatic123

[brad4321]

Did you have a problem with wing droop? Whenever I have the wings fully extended on mine, they sag like crazy. It's not a major concern of mine, because it's going to be in the display case with the wings swept, but I was just curious if you had that problem.

I didn't have a problem with mine. Seemed to fit OK for me...more than I can say for those damn covers for the wing-sweep mechanism. What a pain in the a-double-snakes that was...

The wheel well and cockpit are both built and the fit seems perfect everywhere. I had to sand off some of the top of the wheel well and the bottom of the cockpit and I'm close to the right fit. I've looked every piece over a hundred times and have no idea what is off. Maybe my wing covers will go on perfectly. I will never have my wings extended. I think the plane looks far less attractive in that mode. Not to mention it takes up more space.