Revell 1/32 F-14 Tomcat

[Rob Colvin]

I have seen a few builds and they looked pretty nice. I picked this up for cheap and wanted to build her up up. Now I am not going to throw the kitchen sink into a kit I have $10 in, but is there anything external I can correct to give her a little better look. This is going to be a case ace and may never see the light of a contest table. Any drawings/ correction instructions would be great. BTW i am going to test some new paint/techniques among other things.

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[loftycomfort]

Quickboost makes some resin seats that will greatly enhance the cockpit without any surgery needed. Otherwise I'm not aware of other aftermarket accessories.

Terry

[Pruz]

The panel lines are like huge trenches big enough to stage your own Death Star battle in. You could probably sink some putty into those, and enhance the surface with some riveting.

The nose section to main fuse join is horrific. Gaps big enough to park a 1/72 Tomcat in. Watch those!

The Eduard set for the Tamiya Tomcat is 80% useable for this kit, as are the Aires nozzles. Even the Aires / Black Box resin cockpits will fit with a bit of effort (just like they don't fit the Tamiya one either!)

Good luck - it will build up really nice with a little effort.

[PNW_Modeler]

The nose section to main fuse join is horrific. Gaps big enough to park a 1/72 Tomcat in. Watch those!

If done correctly, the nose/fuselage join is very easy with little to no gaps.

It does require a bit of trimming, simply trim off some excess plastic on the nose section where it meets the top of the fuselage (right at the walkways). Once you get a nice fit there, take some styrene strips and attach them with CA glue on the inside of the fuselage side of the seam...they should be pointing out, making guide pins for the nose section.

If you take your time and pay attention to what you are doing, you should get a nice smooth joint with very little filling to do.

These two pics show where to put your strips....

And here is what it looks like pre putty.....not too shabby I say. Done about 5 of these birds and the seam has come out the same every time.

Oh....as far as other issues with the kit.....the landing gear suck. Consider looking for some Tamiya legs. Also, the engine nozzles are not the best. I've tried (and failed) to mate the Tamiya kit nozzles. Haven't dared trying any of the other aftermarkets....too rich for my blood for something that might or might not work.

The missles are so so....The AIM-54s in particuliar.

Edited January 20, 2010 by paul.nortness

[ST0RM]

The panel lines are like huge trenches big enough to stage your own Death Star battle in. You could probably sink some putty into those, and enhance the surface with some riveting.

The nose section to main fuse join is horrific. Gaps big enough to park a 1/72 Tomcat in. Watch those!

The Eduard set for the Tamiya Tomcat is 80% useable for this kit, as are the Aires nozzles. Even the Aires / Black Box resin cockpits will fit with a bit of effort (just like they don't fit the Tamiya one either!)

Good luck - it will build up really nice with a little effort.

You've done more to dissuade him from building the kit, than really helping to answer his questions.

Yes, the panels lines are deep, but nothing a bit of primer or pre-treatment with Mr. Surfacer couldn't handle. That will help to fill them in a bit. Be sure not to over do the panel wash if you do apply one. That only highlights them.

Follow Paul's advice for the joint. With care, it's not that bad. Just don't rush it.

The cockpit is rather sparse, so some resin seats and PE would help out to add some detail.

SkullLeader recently built one and had some success with the Tamiya nozzles. PM him for details.

Good luck!

-JS

[karl h]

i used lots of aftermarket for my B conversion

look here: http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.ph...F+14+conversion

[Rob Colvin]

Thanks for the replies. Progress is already being made lol. I will test some new paint and stuff on this bird. Does thenose / windscreen need to be reshaped??Or is it close enough? The blisters under the glove reduce the size or are they ok?

Thanks,

Rob

[Biped19]

It is a great bang for your buck kit. You can learn a lot about building from it. But, considering the age and problems I would not spend more than $35 shipped. I will build another one in the future and post pics with all the mods I will make to it.

[Rob Colvin]

For those that have built this kit does it need nose weight ?? I do not have the kit in front of me at the moment.

[Andre]

For those that have built this kit does it need nose weight ??

Especially if you want to be able to sweep the wings back: yes. It's that way in 1/72nd, so in 1/32nd it would definately be the case.

Cheers,

Andre

[andrew.deboer]

I don't think I've ever built an F-14 that needed nose weight. Certainly the Revell F-14 I built in the mid-80's never sat on its tail. If you want to make sure, I guess you could put some in there, but the main gear seems quite a bit aft from wherever the center of gravity would be. Maybe if you're installing solid resin tailpipes and a cast-iron TARPS pod...

For those that have built this kit does it need nose weight ?? I do not have the kit in front of me at the moment.

[Sebastijan]

I've build several 1/72 Tomcats from Hasegawa, Revell, Italeri and Fujimi and none of them was a tailseater, wings swept or not...

[Joe Hegedus]

I don't think I've ever built an F-14 that needed nose weight. Certainly the Revell F-14 I built in the mid-80's never sat on its tail. If you want to make sure, I guess you could put some in there, but the main gear seems quite a bit aft from wherever the center of gravity would be. Maybe if you're installing solid resin tailpipes and a cast-iron TARPS pod...

The Monogram Tomcats I built needed weight; I forgot to put it in one and with the wings swept back it wouldn't sit on the nosewheel. Put a bit in th radome to be safe. Honestly, I think the only jets I've built that didn't need any weight in the nose are Phantoms and Hornets. The gear geometry and weight distribution of just about everything else* requires weighting the nose.

*Everything else that I'VE built, that is.

[Harv]

For those that have built this kit does it need nose weight ?? I do not have the kit in front of me at the moment.

I built two of these OOTB many years ago- (i.e. no resin or heavy mods, but with both the fore & aft Phoenix pylons & missiles). The first was done with no nose weight, and was okay with the wings forward, but with them swept back, it was right at the 'tipping point': It would sit on the gear, but just about any movement or unweighting at the nose would cause it to rock back on the tail. The second one I built, I put a stack of weight in the forward edge of the fuselage, just behind where the radome is attached, so there was no pressure on that joint. The gear, although criticized for accuracy, is pretty strong, and I've never had an issue with it bending, breaking or collapsing; although I must admit it has been off the shelf & in pieces (for paint-stripping & re-build) for a number of years.