IrishGreek Posted July 1, 2011 Share Posted July 1, 2011 She's looking sweet. I've been wanting to do a Sluggers Tomcat and F-4 too. He was a RIO in the F-4 days and that got me interested in the Sluggers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anders_Isaksson Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Loverly paintjob allaround and those helmets look really good! Looking forward to see more of this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bdt13 Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Daniel- The weathering looks fantastic! The layering of multiple effects is really paying off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted August 22, 2011 Author Share Posted August 22, 2011 Thank you! Back to work on it, and I'm hoping to have it done now in just another couple of weeks. I have to thank Bigasshammm again for hooking me up with his spare Has. AIM-54s. I don't think any company makes an accurately-shaped 1/48 AIM-54, but here you can see what I did to re-shape the nose (the original rounded one at the top, the corrected pointy one at the bottom): All the weapons are done now: Originally I planned on using 2 Phoenixes, but 1) I used up my entire spares' worth of little black lines and dots decals on the first one, and 2) looking at photos taken of VF-74 and -103 Tomcats during this cruise, 4xAIM-9s/4xAIM-7s seems to have been the most common loadout, but when they did load AIM-54s, it looks like it was mostly a single one, along with a pair each of Sidewinders & Sparrows. So as luck would have it, this is actually more accurate than my original plan of 2x2x2. (But I really wanna use more AIM-54s in the future, so I'm hoping FT re-releases their data sheet with the markings for 'em on it. ) And, testing out the fit of the wings: There's a little bit of sag to them, so I think I may end up attaching them with epoxy. I really don't want to, 'cause I'd like to be able to remove them if I ever have to pack it up and move it, but even tho the sag's not bad now, I'm worried it might get worse over time. So I'll just have to hope I can find a nice wide box if I ever need to someday... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Wow Just wow. Never has a HAS Aim-54 looked so good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twhite80 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 wow. Looking fantastic. The weathering looks great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Wow Just wow. Never has a HAS Aim-54 looked so good. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but thanks very much. B) I certainly hope it looks good--I probably spent a week on it alone, between sanding, painting, and decaling (all the thin black lines, and each and every little black dot, are separate decals :o ). wow. Looking fantastic. The weathering looks great! Thanks! A couple of last things to point out about building the Hasegawa kit. The first is the wings. A mistake that gets made a lot, even on some otherwise-outstanding builds, is the wings not being slid all the way into place. If you just go until you meet resistance, you end up with this: You need to apply a little pressure and push until they "click" into place, and the gap is gone: Also, Hasegawa makes the tailhook too long. You need to cut a short section out of it. I forget offhand exactly how much, but it should be even with the end of the beavertail: Getting real close to closing the book on this one. The biggest thing still left to do is paint the canopy and windscreen. Assuming we don't lose our power (for very long) to the hurricane and I can still use my airbrush next week, maybe I'll be done by next weekend. If the power does go out for awhile, then maybe a week after it comes back. Since I won't be turning it upside-down again once the wings go on, this was my last chance to get a few good shots of the underside: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 Couple of more shots before the hurricane gets here: (The tails look dark here because I didn't worry about getting good light on them.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Looks great see you after the storm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kilroy Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Holy...what an epic build. Great paint work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks, guys! 28 hours in the dark, but otherwise I survived Irene okay. Here's the last in-progress update for this baby: A few more days and I should be finished. Thanks again to everyone who's commented! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IrishGreek Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 The paint work is awesome. The crew looks great too! How did you do the helmets? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) The paint work is awesome. The crew looks great too! How did you do the helmets? Thanks! For the helmets, step-by-step my process was: 1) Make the velcro(?) strips on the tops of each from Tamiya tape. Once they were in place, I dabbed a thin layer of CA across them to make sure they wouldn't come un-stuck later. 2) Drilled a hole in the bottom of each and used white glue to (temporarily) attach them to thin bits of steel wire, then stuck the wires into a strip of balsa wood, just to make them easier to handle (see the photo below). 3) Airbrushed them MM insignia yellow. 4) Painted the strips of tape black. 5) Dipped them in Future. 5) Made the decals out of spares from a VF Decals data/detail sheet. The arrows on top pointing forward from the strips of tape were done with some of the fuel filler-cap markings, and the arrows on the sides of the helmets were done from those thin black parallel lines that wrap around the underside of a LANTIRN pod--I cut them up, cut them to the right lengths, and applied them one by one. It was... time-consuming. I think I spent 2 whole afternoons just on the helmet decals. 6) Painted the visors black. 7) Dipped them in Future again (twice, actually, just to make sure they were really shiny). 8) Touched up the black on the tape, just so it would be flat. 9) Painted the oxygen mask and hose dark gull gray, drybrushed with gunship gray. The fasteners on the side are light gray, and the necks radome tan (the closest thing I had to flesh-color). Also, these aren't Hasegawa heads. I think they're actually from the one and only Academy Tomcat I'll ever build. I'm not positive, because I chuck all the people parts into the same ziploc bag when I'm sorting out the spares at the end of a build, but they're the only 2 I had like this, so they're probably Academy. Edited August 31, 2011 by Daniel_B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
uscusn Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Simply an outstanding Tomcat. Excellent attention to detail, weathering, maintenance spot paint panels and corrosion control. This is one of the nicer F-14's at it's dirtiest. As it should be when out on the boat. Very nicely done. Chuck Fly Navy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neo Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Wow your work is amazing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 wow, great work Daniel! Those pilots/helmets are among the best I have ever seen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IrishGreek Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 Thanks! For the helmets, step-by-step my process was: 5) Made the decals out of spares from a VF Decals data/detail sheet. The arrows on top pointing forward from the strips of tape were done with some of the fuel filler-cap markings, and the arrows on the sides of the helmets were done from those thin black parallel lines that wrap around the underside of a LANTIRN pod--I cut them up, cut them to the right lengths, and applied them one by one. It was... time-consuming. I think I spent 2 whole afternoons just on the helmet decals. Thanks for sharing your method. I can see time-consuming, but well worth it!! (FYI - i cut most of the response to not take up too much room...) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel_B Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 wow, great work Daniel! Those pilots/helmets are among the best I have ever seen. Thanks. They were definitely a lot of effort, but I think it was worth it. And... I'm done. Finished photos posted here: http://s362974870.onlinehome.us/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=237102&pid=2259961&st=0entry2259961 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bigasshammm Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Incredible! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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