F-14B, VF-74 Be-Devilers Adversary 1/48

[hornet97]

What is the loadout going to be?

[JohnS]

Thanks everyone. It'll be good to get back to modelling, and be active on this site again.

What is the loadout going to be?

I plan to loadout this Tomcat circa 1993/94 when VF-74 worked in an aggressor role.

Both wing pylons will have two LAU-7 launchers, with one training AIM-9 Sidewinder (blue) mounted on the left side 'A' station (top) launcher, and a Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System (TACTS) pod mounted on the right pylon 'A' station.

I also plan on deleting the external fuel tanks, but will be adding the two forward weapons pallets on the fuselage underside. These will be empty.

John

[JohnS]

I was sitting in front of my computer one evening looking at photos of the actual F-14, while planning what I going to work on next, when I saw something in an ejection seat photo that I hadn't noticed before - small cylindrical parts attached to the shoulder belt buckles. I looked at photos of my seats and saw that Aires had also included these on their PE belts - parts PP1 & PP4. Not knowing what these cylindical parts were, I posted a question on both the ARC and the F-14 Tomcat Association forums. As it turned out, these parts are the SEAWARS - Sea Water Activated Release System - used to release the parachute belts in the event of landing in water after ejection. Thanks to Collin on the ARC forum, and Skogs and Bio on the F-14 Assoc. forum, for providing me with a description of these parts and their function. Bio also commented that "SEAWARS helped save the life of me and my pilot". Bio (an F-14 RIO) and his pilot ejected at low level when their F-14 went over the side of their carrier in 1981, when the #4 arrestor wire broke during landing. Both Bio and his pilot landed in the ocean, activating the SEAWARS. Here's a link that Bio provided to a video of the crash -

.

Each SEAWARS unit has a nameplate, so I decided to add this detail to my seats. When comparing my seats to the actual photo, I found that the SEAWARS units on my Aires seats were on the inside of the shoulder belt buckles, while the actual units were on the outside of the buckles.

I had another 'anal moment'. How could this be? I checked the Aires instructions and found I had assembled the PE belts correctly per the instructions.

It looks like Aires got it backward when developing the instructions. The location of PE parts PP1 & PP4 need to be reversed so that the SEAWARS units are correctly located on the outside of the shoulder belt buckles.

I popped the belts off my seats and reassembled them so that the SEAWARS units were in their proper location.

Here's a pic of the reworked seats.

It's a piddly change, but after reading Bio's story I wanted to get these critical parts located just right.

[Gambler]

Good pick up John!...I hadn't noticed them before myself until you pointed it out.

Cheer's,

Jeff.

[JohnS]

It's time for me to start a new modelling season.

I have a number of details left to complete on my Tomcat before painting, including the weapons stations, weapons, landing gear, arrestor hook and gear bays.

I thought I'd start this season with the two fuselage forward weapon pallets. The Hasegawa kit parts lack a lot of the detail of the actual pallets. As a result, there was a great opportunity for adding detail and do some scratch building.

Here's a pic of the kit parts;

I decided to scratch build LAU-93 Phoenix missile launchers to add some visual interest to the pallets. As a result, I cut out an opening in each of the pallets to accomodate the launchers. I re-scribed the pallet panel lines and added rivet and fastener detail. I added a number of access ports using photos of the actual parts as guides.

The modified pallets are shown in the following photos;

Next, I scratch built the LAU-93 launchers using Evergreen plastic sheet, bars & channel, plus copper wire, again using photographs for reference. These small assemblies ended up having 13 parts, each. :wacko:

The completed launchers are shown below;

Here's a photo of the LAU-93 launchers dry fitted in the modified pallets;

And, another pic comparing the model pallets to the actual parts;

Thanks for looking. Hopefully, I'll keep the momentum going and will be able to share another update soon.

[tomthegrom]

This will be one of the greatest F-14 builds of all time. AMAZING WORK

[xavi84]

Holy WOW those launchers look like a model in themselves. Your whole progress this far has been nothing short of amazing!

[Neo]

Nice

ill take 2 sets of those please. did you also make the rear pallets??

[JohnS]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your comments.

This will be one of the greatest F-14 builds of all time. ...

I'm not sure about being one of the greatest builds, but it'll sure be one of longest. :D

... did you also make the rear pallets??

No, I won't be adding the rear pallets. I'm thinking about adding the MXU fuel tank pylons (sans tanks), though.

[JesniF-16]

I am very jealous. Nice work John

/Jesse

[JohnS]

I am very jealous. Nice work John

/Jesse

Thanks for the encouragement Jesse.

[Yorch]

Hello John!

Your WIP along with a few other Tomcat builds have been a great inspiration and a a source of priceless references and tips for all of my Tomcat models from a few months on, it has actually encouraged me to attempt building an acceptable model of my favourite plane of all times. If it doesn´t bother you I'll try to imitate some of your work, and I'll be just trying!

Most importantly I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this, I'm pretty sure you'll end up with an awesome Agressor Tomcat but besides that, know that there will be a piece of it in many more F-14 models out there! At least mine!

Congrats!

[JohnS]

Thanks Yorch. I've learned a lot from the model builders on this forum, and me being able to help other builders is a bonus.

[jimz66]

Can you show how you made those pallets? What drawings did you use for a reference?

[JohnS]

Can you show how you made those pallets? What drawings did you use for a reference?

When I start, I try to get as much information about the parts of assemblies that I can. This usually means searching the Internet for photos, and looking through reference books. Once I find the reference photos I need, I crop and enhance them using PhotoShop, as needed, to isolate the specific information I want. I then paste the cropped photos/drawings into a PowerPoint presentation for printing. This way I can put a number of photos one 8-1/2 x 11 page, so they don't take too much space on my work table, and I can save the PowerPoint file for future reference. In the case of the Tomcat, I have a number of reference books in electronic format making cropping, enhancing, & printing the photos very easy. It seems like a lot of work, but I enjoy researching the information, and the printouts prevent the possibility of damaging my books during the build.

Here's an pic showing the 3 page PowerPoint presentation I made for the pallets.

There have been a lot of printouts on this build. :rofl:/>

Although I have over a dozen Tomcat reference books, the best one I've found so far is Danny Coremans' "uncovering the Grumman F-14 A/B/D Tomcat". Danny's book includes some nice detailed photos of the pallets, as well.

Once I had my reference material, out came the tools. :yahoo:/>

I cross-referenced the kit parts to the photos/drawing to identify what holes, rivets, etc. were needed and where they needed to be added on the kit parts. To make the rivet/fastener holes, I made a template out of a strip of thin Evergreen plastic, with holes in a line at 1/16" spacing (I've found that anything less than 1/16" spacing is just too tiny for me in 1/48 scale). I taped the template to the pallet parts and used a small drill bit to make the rivet/fastener holes. I used larger drill bits to make the larger diameter & oblong holes & openings. The size and location of the holes were calculated from the reference photos.

The fillers, & nameplate blanks were also cut from Evergreen plastic, and glued in place. Panel lines were enhanced using a scribing tool.

I cut out the rectangular holes in the pallets for the LAU-93 launchers with an X-acto razor saw, following the kit part panel lines, first drilling out holes in each corner of the rectangle as guides. I used a small file and sandpaper to smooth out the edges to the proper dimensions.

The LAU-93 lauchers were made from Evergreen plastic sheets and channel. Holes and shapes were dimensioned off the photos and drawings, converted to the 1/48 scale. There was a lot of trial and error to ensure the launchers properly fit in the holes cut in the pallets.

I hope this adequately describes what you were looking for Jim. If there's anything else you would like to know, please ask.

:cheers:/>

Edited November 19, 2012 by JohnS

[JohnS]

When reviewing photos of the VF-74 'cats, I noticed a number of the pic's showed the jets without external fuel tanks, but they still had their MXU fuel tank racks/pylons attached. I found there are not a lot of detailed photos of these racks on the Web, so I decided this will be my next challenge, 1st - find some good detailed photos, and 2nd - build the MXU racks for my Tomcat.

Luckily, I found a couple of good photos, including a line drawing on the 'Home of M.A.T.S.' site. So, it was time to begin the build.

I started with the 'gawa kit parts.

Comparing the kit parts to dimensions of the actual racks, I found the kit parts were undersize in length, width & depth. To correct this, I glued Evergreen plastic sheet to the kit parts, and sanded the parts to the correct size.

Here's a couple of photos showing the parts with the Evergreen plastic added;

Now that I had the correct size parts, I used photos to identify, build and add as much detail to the racks as I could, e.g. panel lines, rivets/fasteners, ejectors. etc.

The completed MXU racks are shown below (showing lots of grey putty to correct my many errors );

A pic of the racks dry fitted to the fuselage;

And finally, a pic of both the weapon pallets and fuel tank racks dry fitted to the bottom of model fuselage;

That's it for now. Thanks for looking.

[JohnS]

Hello again!

Ive been working away over the past few weeks creating a little more detail for my Tomcat.

First up are the two LAU 92A Missile Launchers on the belly of the jet. Researching the launchers, I was amazed at the number of tiny details that could be added to the kit parts, e.g. electrical connectors, missile attachment points, etc. The launchers are relatively small in 1/48 scale, but I was able to add a few scratch built details.

Heres a pic showing the completed launchers. Ive inserted a photo of an actual LAU 92A Missile Launcher for reference.

Now, onto what turned out to be another mini-build the arrestor hook.

First I have to apologize, since Im using my own part names and terms in the following description. Hopefully, the pictures help in clarifying what Im trying to describe.

Heres a pic of the kit parts.

When comparing the kit parts to photos of the actual arrestor hook assembly, I found the parts were dimensionally very close to the real thing. The kits operating mechanism for the hook is a simplified version of the actual assembly. There are a few small errors in the kit parts, e.g. the configuration of hook hinge/pivot assembly, the detail at the hinge end of the hook, and the size of the pipe at the forward end of the mechanism housing.

So, I decided to modify the hook assembly to make it look a little more realistic. Ive broken the assembly into four parts; 1) the vertical linkage for raising/lowering the hook, 2) the arrestor hook itself, 3) the mechanism housing & pivot point, and 4) the modification of the fuselage mounting point.

1) Vertical Linkage:

I found the kit part linkage was too long with the hook in the up position, so I shortened it. I removed some material for the part, and then added a small piece of Evergreen sheet to make the linkage visually close to the actual assembly. Finally, I drilled holes at the hook pivot point. Heres a pic of the before and after.

2) Arrestor Hook:

The kit arrestor hook has the hinge/pivot molded to the end of the hook arm. I cut this off and cut out the end of the arm to look like the real deal. I cut off the bumper from the kit hook arm, and added a new & bigger bumper plus a new release mechanism made from Evergreen plastic. I also added a new link part at the hinge end of the hook arm. For added detail, I hollowed out the hook and added a circular plug to the hook end of the arm. Finally, I scratch built a new hinge/pivot. Heres a pic.

3) Mechanism Housing:

After gluing the two kit halves together, I found that the arrestor hook assembly was a little too long. The hook extended too far past the fuselage beaver tail. To correct this, I shortened the mechanism housing a tiny bit, and changed the mounting position on the fuselage (item 4, below). I removed the molded pipe from the housing and then added a new pipe made from Evergreen plastic round stock. I scribed new panel lines, added rivet detail, and added a new little cross member piece to enhance the appearance. Finally, I filed down the round pivot points thickness to make them more dimensionally correct, and to accept the new scratch built pivot/hinge. Heres a pic.

Heres a pic of all the parts before assembly.

And, a pic of the parts assembled. Note that I added some detail to the mechanism housing pivot points, plus I added a small pipe under the pivot point made from coopper wire.

4) Fuselage Modification:

As described above, I needed to move the arrestor hook assembly forward so the hook wouldnt stick out past the beaver tail. To correct this, I filled in the kit mounting hole, as well as added a new mounting hole (to accept a new mounting stud I added to the mechanism housing) and an opening to accept the vertical linkage (item 1, above). Note that the linkage opening is oblong and not round. Heres a pic of the before and after.

Here are a couple of pics of the final assembly, dry fitted to the fuselage. BTW, I really hate close-up photos cause they show too many flaws. It looks like I have somemore sanding to do. :bandhead2:/>

From the back;

From the left side (Ive inserted photos of the actual assembly for comparison);

Whew! Thanks for spending the time to read this lengthy post. Next up, Ill be building the Tomcat's chin pod.

I probably wont be posting again until after Christmas, so Ill use this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

:cheers:/>

Edited December 19, 2012 by JohnS

[sharkey]

Amazing work here. You need to cast some of that stuff.

[JesniF-16]

Hey John. All of these tiny details are really gonna pay off in the end result! The arrestor hook looks sweet, as well as the scratch-built fuel tank pylons :thumbsup:/> It must take great patience to work and shape those tiny styrene bits :blink:/>

/Jesse

[john53]

Beautiful detail. I wish I had the patience to do

that level of work.---John

[chuck540z3]

Here are a couple of pic’s of the final assembly, dry fitted to the fuselage. BTW, I really hate close-up photos ‘cause they show too many flaws. It looks like I have some more sanding to do.

Ha! I know the feeling! It DOES, however, make us better modelers. Beautiful detailed work John- and Merry Christmas to you as well!

[JohnS]

A little update, both literally and figuratively.

Another tiny detail not included on the Hasegawa kit are the ventral fin towbar attachment points. Continuing my quest to include as much detail as possible to my 'cat, I fabricated the attachment parts by first laminating pieces of Evergreen plastic and then shaping the parts to size.

Here's a pic of the laminted part and the final part shaped to size;

I hollowed out a small portion at the rear end of the ventral fins and glued the attachment points in place.

Now, back to my original plan to build the chin pod. :cheers:/>

Edited December 31, 2012 by JohnS

[coneheadff]

Great job so far!!! Love it and I hope you don't mind if I use some of your ideas

Just one question about the exhaust...why did you drill through the shrouds?

Cheers,

Alex

[JohnS]

Great job so far!!! Love it and I hope you don't mind if I use some of your ideas :whistle:/>/>/>

Just one question about the exhaust...why did you drill through the shrouds?

Cheers,

Alex

Thanks Alex. Luckily I'm not in a hurry to complete this build, so I'm trying to do as much research as I can to make this 'cat as close to the real thing as possible (in 1/48 scale). I'm also trying to keep the costs down by scratch building as much as possible. Please feel free to use any of the ideas I'm sharing in this thread.

As far as the shrouds go, I drilled them to simulate the screws in the actual shrouds.

My shrouds are Wolfpack resin parts (to convert this 'A' model to a 'B'. I initially only wanted to accentuate the screws, but since the resin parts were so thin I ended up drilling right through. Once the Wolfpack nozzles are glued in, the holes in the shrouds should look better.

John

[Benjaminht99]

Stunning work!! Great attention to detail, In my opinion it's the small things that really count in making it from a model to a piece of art!

Thanks for sharing,

Ben