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

[JohnS]

Hi John, I'm reading your build from cover to cover. The amount of work you're putting into your Tomcat is incredible and your attention to detail is amazing! Mind if I ask how you did those decals on your ejection seats?

Thanks! The seat decals were included in VF Decals F-14A/B/D Data Detail Set - VFD48-010. I purchased the set from Spruebrothers soon after I started this build (a long time ago). I'm not sure if this decal set is still available.

Here's a little more information about VF-74.

I was concerned I was going a little overboard on making the model a little too dirty. I received some great feedback, on Zone-Five, from a fellow who worked with the VF-74 Squadron during it's last couple of years before being decommissioned in 1994. Here's what he said,

"The outside of the nacelles were dirty also, all -74 did was paint the camo pattern right over the existing camo so the area's what didn't get painted were still dirty.

As for the birds being dirty on that cruise (92 Med Cruise on the Saratoga), I was on that cruise, the ship would not let us paint the aircraft except for spot painting and at times we did not have enough fresh water to wash aircraft, in addition to the ship being an oil burner, cause the aircraft to get very dirty very fast and trying t keep them clean was a real challenge.

Also, the weapons rails, Sparrow Adapters and LAU-7's were not painted in the camo pattern except for a few birds. That gear was not suppose to be painted by the squadron and when the FitWing found out the had painted them they lost their minds, only AIMD was allowed to paint that gear. Those items did not stay with the aircraft and were changed out every so often due to schedule maintenance.

Once they (VF-74) crossed over to being an aggressor squadron, they removed their weapons rails, drop tanks and MXU-611's, and most of the Sparrow Adapters and went with 2 to 4 LAU-7's. They didn't last long once as an aggressor squadron and were decomm'ed shortly afterwards. While they were an aggressor squadron I don't remember them flying a lot either, it's like they knew the end was near and were just resigned to their fate.

... right before they decomm'ed, they had just repainted Devil 101 for the up coming decomm'ing ceremony ... . The clean bird was very short live and the squadron was decomm'ed a few months later so if you want to do a bird that flew regularly, dirty the hell out of it, that's how they were."

As a result, I'm using a little modeller's license to finish the jet - very, very dirty on the bottom from it's days as a line jet, & light weathering on the top simulating it's repaint just before the squadron was decommissioned.

[A-10 LOADER]

Interesting approach John.

Steve

[JohnS]

Interesting approach John.

Steve

For sure! This wasn't the approach I originally had imagined. The photo of the repainted jet caught my eye, and that's what got me interested in building this plane. I like to clean look of the repaint, but the reality is these jets were very dirty. So, I'm taking the approach of having the best of both worlds - show how dirty these planes actually got, as well as commemorating the the final days in the 50 year history of the VF-74 squadron. I understand that this is pretty close to what the real jet may have looked like in 1994, since only the visible areas appear to have been repainted, e.g. the camo scheme did not go all the way under the jet, but faded away out of sight.

I've started blending in the finish coat of light ghost grey into the dirty areas under the engine nacelles. So far, so good!

John

[crackerjazz]

Hey John, thanks -- yes the detail set is OOP unfortunately. Looking forward to more updates!

[JohnS]

Tail decals are on & I just finished putting on a coat of Future/Pledge. Here's a photo.

There's no mistaking what squadron this Tomcat belongs to.

Edited March 16, 2016 by JohnS

[A-10 LOADER]

NICE, getting closer.

Steve

[JohnS]

Whew! I finally finished installing the wing decals. The 1/48 scale decals were a challenge for these old eyes. Thank goodness for having a magnifying glass. e.g. the formation lights on each wing are made up of a total of 8 tiny decals, each.

Here's a pic of the wings, horizontal stabilizers & tails in a fresh coat of Future/Pledge.

And, a couple of photos showing the top & under sides of each wing. The bottoms of the wings of this jet were apparently left dirty, so I added some umber paint to simulate the dirt & air flow.

Next up, the tails will be painted matt clear and, once dry, attached to the fuselage.

Thanks for looking.

[A-10 LOADER]

Great progress John, things are really starting to come together. Looking forward to the next installment.

Steve

[JohnS]

Thanks Steve! Hope you're feeling better.

[falcon20driver]

Looking great. I really like thd Tomcat in that scheme.

[JohnS]

Looking great. I really like thd Tomcat in that scheme.

Thanks! It's one of my favourites.

[JohnS]

Well, she's starting to look more like a Tomcat.

The tails have been given a coat of matt clear, the red anti-collision lights were added, and tails were glued to the fuselage. I used white glue to fill in the small gaps between the bottom of the tails & the fuselage.

The tails sit outward at an angle of 5°. I made a rough cardboard template to position the tails properly.

Finally, I added a coat of light ghost grey to the sides & bottom of the fuselage, and blended it into the painted dirt & grime on the bottom of the engine nacelles.

Next up, I finally get to paint the top of the fuselage & canopy, and add the camo pattern.

Thanks again for looking.

[A-10 LOADER]

Nice work John, looking really good.

I have a question though, Why glue the tails in place BEFORE painting the top of the jet ? Just curious.

Steve

[JohnS]

... I have a question though, Why glue the tails in place BEFORE painting the top of the jet ? Just curious. Steve

Hi Steve.

I'm not sure if I have a valid reason. Just personal preference, I guess. I felt I wanted to be able to work on filling any gaps in the joint between the vertical stabs & the fuselage without worrying about damaging the paint finish on the fuselage. Another reason is that the camo pattern overlaps the forward fairing on one of the tails, & I thought it might be easier to get better consistency in the camo pattern if the tails were glued in place before paint. Putting the finished tails on before fuselage paint means I'll need to mask off the tails while painting the fuselage.

By the way, if you look closely at the above fuselage pic, you'll see a couple of pieces of masking tape under the rear end of the tails. I painted this fuselage area first, since it's difficult to get paint under the attached tails. I've used the masking tape to protect the paint.

John

Edited March 20, 2016 by JohnS

[A-10 LOADER]

I thought it had to do with the camo pattern but, just thought I'd ask.

Steve

[crackerjazz]

I never would have thought about measuring those angles! That template is ingenious - thanks for sharing! Will the horizontal stabilizers require something similar?

[JohnS]

I never would have thought about measuring those angles! That template is ingenious - thanks for sharing! Will the horizontal stabilizers require something similar?

Good question! I don't know the actual angle of the horizontal stabilizers. I've just assumed they're at 90° to the fuselage. Up until now I've just eye-balled it when attaching them.

[JohnS]

A milestone has been reached in this build & one I've been waiting for, for a very long time ... painting the camo pattern on the fuselage.

Here's a few pic's showing 101 during the paint process;

- laying out the camo pattern on the top of the jet.

- the camo painted, covered with a layer Pledge/Future, & waiting for decals.

Next update will be when the fuselage decals have been applied.

Thanks again for looking.

[A-10 LOADER]

Loking good John, another step forward.

Steve

[JohnS]

Fuselage decals are on and covered with a coat of Pledge/Future.

The Fightertown decals look great & were easy to apply ... with one exception. For some reason, all the red decals (e.g. intake danger triangles & tail lightning bolts) disintegrated as I slid them off the backing sheet. I have two sets of the VF-74 decals and the red ones were a problem on both sheets. I found Fightertown's VF-102 decal sheet in my stash, & cut bits and pieces from 102's red decals to repair the damaged VF-74 ones. The red decals on the VF-102 sheet were perfect with no problems during application.

In my continuing quest to make this jet look as close to the real thing as I can for this scale, I added nameplate decals to the back ends of the weapons pallets. The decals aren't exactly the same as the real ones, but you can't read them at this scale, anyway. Here's a pic showing the underside of my Tomcat with an inset photo of the real thing.

Next up, I'll be applying a finish coat of matt clear to the fuselage & wings.

:cheers:/>/>

[A-10 LOADER]

Nice, clean work so far John. Nice save on the decals too.

Steve

[JohnS]

Hello, again!

I've been waiting to finish the fuselage & wings with a matt clear coat from a rattle can. Because of the fumes, I planned on doing this outside. But, it's been too #@%& cold. Our winter just doesn't want to leave.

So, in the mean time, I've been working away at the glove pylons. The pylons & missile rails have been finished for some time (see Post 262 & Post 263), but I still needed to complete a TACTS pod & a training inert Sidewinder from the Hasegawa Weapons Sets. I did a little scratch building on the Sidewinder modifying the body & rear fins, plus adding a protective boot to the nose. In addition to the Hasegawa decals, I cut some custom decals for the nose of the TACTS pod.

Here's a pic of the bits & pieces ready for assembly, including the finished Sidewinder & TACTS pod;

Assembly was pretty straight forward.

A pic of the finished assembly;

Well, it looks like we're going to get some warm weather over the next few days. Hopefully, I can apply that matt coat to the fuselage & wings & start final assembly.

[A-10 LOADER]

NICE !!! The parts look great john, getting near the home stretch now.

Steve

[JohnS]

NICE !!! The parts look great john, getting near the home stretch now.

Steve

Thanks Steve!

Here's another very small update.

I was unhappy with my paint job on the Sidewinder's 3 silver clamp rings. I decided to use a little scratch building trick to make the clamp rings out of foil - similar to what I used on the landing gear shown in the pic, below.

I cut a thin strip of silver foil adhesive (duct) tape for the clamp rings. Here's a pic of the Sidewinder with the foil applied.

Much better!

[A-10 LOADER]

I have to agree with you, they do look much better.

Steve