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Massive 1/18th Tomcat


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The scratch work on that landing gear looks amazing! So which has proven to be the bigger project? The Tomcat or the Wedding? :D

The Tomcat is longer but the wedding prep included fixing all the things around the house that I had successfully avoided for the last 10 years so it was pretty intense.

Regards,

Mike

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Mike!

Your work on the big Tomcat is great :) In fact that was you and your work that inspired me to buy and start to build the Tomcat model in 1/18 scale. Me too have bought the briliant landing legs from SkyWorks. They are waiting for theirs turn.

Your job is great on them. Keep it up, PLEASE :)

Buy the way, you have a beautyfull looking dotter.Hope she will be hapy in her mariage.

Greatings.

Marek

Edited by mareku
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Mike!

Your work on the big Tomcat is great :jaw-dropping: In fact that was you and your work that inspired me to buy and start to build the Tomcat model in 1/18 scale. Me too have bought the briliant landing legs from SkyWorks. They are waiting for theirs turn.

Your job is great on them. Keep it up, PLEASE :monkeydance:

Buy the way, you have a beautyfull looking dotter.Hope she will be hapy in her mariage.

Greatings.

Marek

Thanks for the response on the Tomcat and I will tell Christa about your complement... she will be very pleased.

Regards,

Mike

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For some reason the makers of most of these pre-assembled display models feel compelled to make the panel lines extra deep. Some are worse than others and this Tomcat is not ridiculous but the channels are pretty heavy. One observation regarding this JSI model. The overall shape of the airplane and placement of the panels seems to be very accurate just a little overdone. The first pic is of the plane weathered but stock depth panel lines.

CatHand.jpg

The next couple of pics reflects panel lines that have been reduced and IMHO look a little more realistic.

PortFront.jpg

LeftAbove.jpg

To get this I attack each trench with my trusty Dremel.

Dremel.jpg

I used the pictured grinding wheel to shallow out and narrow each panel line. You have to be careful as this thing eats plastic.

Rivets1.jpg

After grinding the sanding begins which I hate but no way around it so I secure a beverage(s) park in front of the flat panel, tune to the Military Channel and begin. The grinding is pretty rough so it requires quite a bit of sanding to get the surface smooth again.

Rivet2.jpg

This approach tends to produce a subtle stressed metal effect which doesn't show up in the photos but I think is more realistic than a completely flat model. Next comes the rivets.

mcaulk out!

Edited by mcaulk
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Yes, your Daughter is Lovely ... Her Groom is quite lucky ... :nanner:

Excellent work on you Tomcat, quite a bit of progress too ...

Between your's and Marek's, I'm having a lot of watching these Big Cats get rebuilt ... :cheers:

Gregg

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Yes, your Daughter is Lovely ... Her Groom is quite lucky ... :cheers:

Excellent work on you Tomcat, quite a bit of progress too ...

Between your's and Marek's, I'm having a lot of watching these Big Cats get rebuilt ... :yahoo:

Gregg

Christa is very special in so many ways. Thanks for the compliment and thanks for the encouragement on the Tomcat. It is proving to take much longer than I anticipated but then they always do don't they.

Regards,

Mike

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The Tomcat is absolutely covered with rivets... well all aluminum aircraft are but they really show up on the F-14. A couple of examples:

F-14Drivets.jpg

Some of this is due the the low viz paint scheme and anti-corrosion spot painting to fight salt water damage while on cruise.

catvent.jpg

Riveting although somewhat tedious is one of my favorite parts of the process. I have several riveters including 3 sizes of "Rosies" however with most of the Tomcat I use a flat rivet gauge tool from Hasegawa.

HasegawaRivet.jpg

I usually tape it down with blue painters tape once in place and then impress the initial rivet location with a semi dull medium size needle in a pin vise.

PinVise.jpg

After I have the rivet pattern in I go back with a larger duller needle and make the permanent rivet impression.

RivetPattern.jpg

Sometimes I run a thinned wash into the panel lines and the rivets. In this shot I have enhanced the rivets by drybrushing a different shade of gray or different color from the TPS scheme.

F14Brivet.jpg

Edited by mcaulk
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That riveting teckniks of yours seems like great idea :salute: I was thinking of reskribeing the whall Tomcat but your idea with the dremel is beter. I´try to do just that.

Great work :blink:

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That riveting teckniks of yours seems like great idea <_< I was thinking of reskribeing the whall Tomcat but your idea with the dremel is beter. I´try to do just that.

Great work <_<

Mareku,

Re-scribing the entire plane would take a long long time. Just be careful grinding with the Dremel until you get the feel of it. Is still a lot of work but I think worth it in the end.

Mike

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Absolutely stunning work.....one question does SWMBO...know how much the hangar is gonna cost to put this one in? :salute:

They are big! I'm going to hang one and display another gear down. Need to make a dedicated shelf just for that.

Thanks for the feedback.

Mike

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Your Daughter Christa is very pretty and she looks lovely in her Wedding dress..BEST WISHES to her and her new Groom..

AND

your BIG KITTY looks WONDROUS !!!

Holmes,

Thank you I will pass along your complement and thanks as well for the Tomcat support.

Mike

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Mike.

Where did you get the GE nozzles, if I may ask? At Military Toy Shop the are still on pre-order...

BTW: great job so far on the big cat. Also, my best wished to the lovely bride and are husband. He must be a very happy guy.

Cheers,

Lutz.

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Mike.

Where did you get the GE nozzles, if I may ask? At Military Toy Shop the are still on pre-order...

BTW: great job so far on the big cat. Also, my best wished to the lovely bride and are husband. He must be a very happy guy.

Cheers,

Lutz.

Lutz,

Happy and lucky... Christa is a great girl. I will pass the complement on to her. As for the F-110s Jack at SkyWorks ran a special about a month ago offering some seconds at a discout price. They are only partially painted and have some minor flaws (mostly just pin holes from bubbles in the resin).

GE110Flaws.jpg

Easy to fix and the price was right. Email him he may still have some. jackskyworks@aol.com

Mike

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Bought those "second grade" nozzles too for my big kitty but will rather stick to the ones I scratched as the ones I got are waaaayyyyyy to big in diameter and somehow "stick quite out" of the engine covers. Guess if I really want to use them I would have to massively sand them down at their front end and rescribe everything but doing them scratch from metal parts was the easier way. You had the same problem? Can't really see it on the shots.

Fantastic kitty!!!!! Will keep watching!

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Bought those "second grade" nozzles too for my big kitty but will rather stick to the ones I scratched as the ones I got are waaaayyyyyy to big in diameter and somehow "stick quite out" of the engine covers. Guess if I really want to use them I would have to massively sand them down at their front end and rescribe everything but doing them scratch from metal parts was the easier way. You had the same problem? Can't really see it on the shots.

Fantastic kitty!!!!! Will keep watching!

Mine seems ok with a few minor flaws. Reworking the fairing has helped capture the overall look of the GE engine and nozzles. You are a brave man scratching out those babies. My hats off to you.

Mike

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Mike,

I see you have the same type of daughter I have. God's revenge upon you for being a teenage boy. She makes a truly beautiful bride. I'm sure you're more than just a little proud of her. I wish her and her new husband well. Now comes the fun part; Grandchildren, and the chance to get even. (evil scientist/bad guy laugh here). I've received my 1/18 F-14. JEEZZZ this thing is hugh!!!!! I'm torn now between keeping the VF-84 or getting the VF-111 Miss Molly. I've noticed something though. Is it just me, or does the VF-84 on the outside of the vertical stabilizers look somewhat off to you as well?

Paul <_<

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Mike,

I see you have the same type of daughter I have. God's revenge upon you for being a teenage boy. She makes a truly beautiful bride. I'm sure you're more than just a little proud of her. I wish her and her new husband well. Now comes the fun part; Grandchildren, and the chance to get even. (evil scientist/bad guy laugh here). I've received my 1/18 F-14. JEEZZZ this thing is hugh!!!!! I'm torn now between keeping the VF-84 or getting the VF-111 Miss Molly. I've noticed something though. Is it just me, or does the VF-84 on the outside of the vertical stabilizers look somewhat off to you as well?

Paul <_<

Yea I think it goes something like: moohahahahahahahahahahah... God owes me big time. As for the JSI cats I have three of these monsters. This first I simply filled all the join lines, bent the vertical stabilizers, reworked the ejection seats, painted over the spots and did some weathering. Other than that it is pretty much stock. The second is this "B" conversion. And it is proving to be a real job. I decided to mute the panel lines which are too deep and it has taken me many, many hours to get them done. Hope to finish riveting this week and begin painting next week. I already have the forward fuselage painted and finished except for the "B" hud and the chin pod which needed reworking. I have a third bird in stock and the plan was to super detail the cockpit and do it as theVF-111 Miss Molly. I picked up a set of markings form Zotz and they are beautiful! However I think when I finish this one I will need a break from Tomcats.

Regards,

Mike

Edited by mcaulk
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