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


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WOW, looking very nice. I was wondering though, are you just going to repaint the area where the forward fuselage and main body come together after you get her attached and fix the nice step thats involved with her? Anyhow, its very nice and crisp especially the windscreen, wish mine would come out looking that nice! Cant wait to see more!

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Thanks everyone.

... you shoud chain build those and sell them as After maker ultra detailed nose for the

tomcat :explode: (if it does work i want my cut :explode:) ...

I don't think we'd get rich too quick, based on how long it's taken me to do just one. :santa:

... I was wondering though, are you just going to repaint the area where the forward fuselage and main body come together after you get her attached and fix the nice step thats involved with her? ...

Currently I'm just applying a light primer coat using a rattle can. I'll apply another coat of primer when the main body & forward section are glued together and sanded. Once everything is primed, I'll be airbrushing the final camo paint colors.

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Currently I'm just applying a light primer coat using a rattle can. I'll apply another coat of primer when the main body & forward section are glued together and sanded. Once everything is primed, I'll be airbrushing the final camo paint colors.

I got ya. I thought you had the forward completely painted, makes sense. Cant wait to see more!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Progress continues ...

I've been doing a little work on the main fuselage - scribing, riveting, and surgery.

I needed to cut out part of the wheelwell openings on the underside of the fuselage to install the Aries wheelwheels.

Here's a photo of the kit part before surgery ...

69Wheelwellskit.jpg

... and here's a photo with the wheelwell openings after surgery.

70Wheelwellsmodified.jpg

I've painted and dirtied-up the Aries wheelwells prior to assembly.

71Arieswheelwells.jpg

After scribing and riveting the top side, I cut out the horizontal stabilizer vent holes, and scratch built the vent grills using Evergreen plastic and wine bottle foil.

Here's a pic of the kit part showing the molded vent grills.

72aHorizStabcoolingventkit.jpg

... and a couple showing the scratch built vent grills.

73HorizStabcoolingventsscratchbuilt.jpg

74HorizStabcoolingventscratchbuilt.jpg

Next up, more fuselage scribing, riveting and some scratch building before assembly to the front fuselage section.

Stay tuned!

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Looking really good so far John. I've done a 'Cat before, so I'll tag along and maybe offer tips as required, although I think you've got everything under control. Nice work with the Aires pit and wheel wells. They are always a trade-off with added detail, but small fit, so your trim pieces are the perfect way to go.

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Thanks for the comments.

Looking really good so far John. I've done a 'Cat before, so I'll tag along and maybe offer tips as required, although I think you've got everything under control. Nice work with the Aires pit and wheel wells. They are always a trade-off with added detail, but small fit, so your trim pieces are the perfect way to go.

Thanks for the offer Chuck. I just might take you up on that. Rhinolover has also given me some great assembly tips & tricks that are helping a lot.

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... a quick update.

Following Rhinolover's lead, I've added more detail to the wing glove sealing plates on the upper fuselage.

Here's a pic of the kit part.

75WingGloveSealingPlates-kitpart.jpg

I sanded down the kit part to remove some of the detail, rescribed the sealing plates, and scribed additional plates to match photographs of the actual plane. Then added some scratch built detail along the edges of the plates using Evergreen plastic sheet and wine bottle foil.

76WingGloveSealingPlates-scratchbuilt1.jpg

Another view of the finished part.

77WingGloveSealingPlates-scratchbuilt1.jpg

Looks like I'm just about ready to assemble the upper fuselage half to the cockpit section. <_<

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Nice work there John. You will love the final look of the seal plates when you get it all painted up. It is a great little enhancement to the HAS Tomcat for the 30-60 minutes of extra time it takes to add them.

The only problem now is that you will never be able to build another HAS Tomcat straight out of the box.

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... The only problem now is that you will never be able to build another HAS Tomcat straight out of the box.

Thanks John.

As you know this is my first Hasegawa kit, so I'm feeling my way along very slowly. Hopefully, the next one will go a lot faster - even with all the scratch building.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Slow progress, but it's still progress ... :D

I've attached the beavertail to the upper main fuselage section, added some scratch built detail to the air bypass/bleed ducts, and attached the upper fuselage assembly to the forward cockpit section. This assembly was primed.

Here's a few more pic's.

1) Scratch built wing glove sealing plates primed. They definitely add some realism to the model. :D

78WingGloveSealingPlates-primed.jpg

2) The beaver tail glued and primed. I rescribed and re-riveted the tail section to make it look a little closer to the real thing.

79BeaverTail-primed.jpg

3) I added some scratch built detail to the air bypass/bleed ducts. I haven't found many topside photos of the actual duct internals, as most photos are taken through the air inlets from below. Here's a photo showing some of the detail I tried to simulate.

80Airbypassduct.jpg

Here's a pic of my model showing the scratch built fixed bleed door supports, the #3 air intake ramp actuator cylinders, and the ramp actuators' hydraulic lines. This is as close as I could get, based on what few photos I have of this area.

81Airbypassductactuator.jpg

Next up, I've started re-scribing the bottom main fuselage section. Once that's complete I attach the main gear wells, a few scratch built items and attach this sub-assembly to the top section.

Thanks for looking.

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Looking very good John. I really like those wing glove gaskets.

You may know this already, but if you don't, this Prime Portal site of the restoration of "Christine" is pure GOLD for a Tomcat build. ..

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/bill_spi...ndex.php?Page=1

All the panel lines and vent details are there. For example, before you build those vents on either side of the turtleback, note that the port side has slated vents while the starboard side are straight. This may be an aberration, but I've seen the same thing on a few other F-14's.

Chuck

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  • 3 weeks later...

More progress at a snail's pace. :o

I haven't had a lot of time to spend on the model recently. But, I was able to get some scribing done, and completed a few details on the underside of the fuselage.

1) I added mounting holes for the rear weapons' pallets. Although I won't be using the rear pallets on this model, photos of the actual plane show these mounting points as openings. The actual recessed mounting points are oblog in shape, but due to the scale of this model I opted to just drill the holes round.

2) I cut out the vent opening just ahead of the arrester hook, and added louvers to the opening.

Here's a pic of the mounting holes and the vent.

82UndersideDetails.jpg

Next up was adding detail to the airconditioning openings.

3) Having already cut out the airconditioning fan openings, I added screens using water faucet screen material.

83AirconditioningScreens.jpg

4) I wanted to add the airconditioning fans as a visual detail. Rather than scratch building the fans, I used a photo of the fan and printed out the image in a scale to fit the airconditioning openings.

84AirconditioningFans.jpg

5) I cut the individual fans out of the printout and glued them behind the screens. I first painted the screens and let them dry, to prevent paint from getting on the fans. In the next photo, you might note the different colors of the screens. This is due to what will be the final camo paint scheme.

85AirconditioningAssembly.jpg

Here's a close-up pic of one of the airconditioning openings. Boy, these things look ugly up close! :tumble: But, it gives you an idea of the visual effect I wanted to create.

86AirconditioningAssembly2.jpg

Well, that's it for now. I should be able to start assembling the bottom half of the fuselage to the rest of the plane soon.

Thanks for looking. :tumble:

Edited by JohnS
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Here's a pic of my model showing the scratch built fixed bleed door supports, the #3 air intake ramp actuator cylinders, and the ramp actuators' hydraulic lines. This is as close as I could get, based on what few photos I have of this area.

81Airbypassductactuator.jpg

Please Johns, place another picture from another angle of this detail in the intake ramps.

Looks really good. :thumbsup:

Thanks in advance

Greetings

FEDE

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Please Johns, place another picture from another angle of this detail in the intake ramps.

Looks really good. ;)

Thanks in advance

Greetings

FEDE

Thanks FEDE.

I don't have a lot of detail showing the inside of the bypass vent opening, so I tried to replicate the parts with what little information I could find.

Here's a drawing of the air intake and the vent. I've circled the parts you can see through the vent in red.

intakeductbypassventdwg.jpg

The Hasegawa kit includes the #1 & #2 ramps and actuators, so I scratch built the #3 ramp assembly. I boxed in the vent, and added the actuator, ramp and the fixed bleed door support using Evergreen plastic & stretched sprue. The #3 actuator was centered with the air intake and is offset in the vent opening.

Here's a photo from the left underside showing the assembly.

Intakeductbypassventportdetail.jpg

... and another showing the right side assembly.

Intakeductbypassventstbddetail.jpg

Let me know if you would like more detail.

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...

4) I wanted to add the airconditioning fans as a visual detail. Rather than scratch building the fans, I used a photo of the fan and printed out the image in a scale to fit the airconditioning openings.

84AirconditioningFans.jpg

...

Very clever solution for those fans, looks great! :jaw-dropping:

I really like the details you added or improved all around the airframe. Great stuff!

Cheers,

Anders

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Thanks for the offer Dave. I've got a number of Tomcat books, so I think I've got the topside covered. Interestingly enough, out of all my books, I've only found a couple of photos looking into the air bleed vent from the topside/turtle back and showing the inner detail.

Thanks for your comments Anders. I've learned a lot following your builds.

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Thanks for the offer Dave. I've got a number of Tomcat books, so I think I've got the topside covered. Interestingly enough, out of all my books, I've only found a couple of photos looking into the air bleed vent from the topside/turtle back and showing the inner detail.

Thanks for your comments Anders. I've learned a lot following your builds.

Give until Sunday and I will have the photos you need of this area. I have full access to a Delta Tomcat (Buno 159600 Christine)and can get you anything you may need picture wise. I was just on her topside last Saturday doing some corrosion control. Let me know if you are interested.

Dave Fassett

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