Darren Roberts Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 In regards to the gun vent, there's something you might want to know. I want to clarify that this isn't a criticism and you can use the info however you want. You may not even care! :D/>/>/> Very few early airframes had the short-muzzled gun with no gas vents. We're talking a handful at most. Also, all the early block Tomcats had a different boat tail area between the nozzles. The Monogram kit represents a later block Tomcat. If you want to keep the decals and the airframe combination accurate, you would need to change the boat tail area. Steel Beach does a resin one for the Hasegawa kit, but it's a bit narrow. You could use Milliput or some other epoxy putty to fill the gaps. Ask me how I know this! :lol:/>/>/> Or, you could switch out the gun vent piece. Steel Beach also carries an early style resin gun vent for the Monogram kit. It has 7 sections in a sideways U shape. That would be appropriate to backdate the Monogram kit to use the decal sheet you have. Again, you may not care. I figured I'd put the info out there and let you decide what to do with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Darren, So, it's not enough to fill the vents, as the shape of the gun is different? As I'm trying to go OOB on this except for the decals, I'm trying not to add resin to the project. since this, like my other models, will never see a show, I will just forge ahead with it as is. Your depth of knowledge is unbelievable. I'd really like to consult you before I start my next F-14. BTW, my next model is the F-14D Monogram that is the same vintage as this one. On that one, I'd like to get as much out of it as possible, and have not selected any markings for it yet! Thanks, Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dryguy Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Michael Firstly can I say you are doing an amazing job with your build; a lot of guts I might add on your part going with full intakes on the monogram kit!! I know you are trying to limit your use of aftermarket, but Steel Beach's radome replacement is a big help. Also, I added the Falcom models vacuum formed windshield on my monogram tomcat and the result was really worth the cost; it doesn't look too different to the hasegawa tomcat with those mods. In my opinion the worst areas of the monogram tomcat are the windshield and the radome as far as shape goes, the rest is almost spot on. Anyway just a suggestion. You are doing an amazing job anyway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Hey again! It's me! Yeah me, the guy who said he didn't want to use any resin on this project! Guess what, my name's Michael, and I have an aftermarket parts problem! Maybe saying from the start that I'm not going to use AM keeps me from buying an expensive cockpit set! Anyway, I bought some Steel Beach nozzles because I wanted to show one open and one closed, and that simply wasn't possible with the kit parts. While I was online, I also picked up the Steel Beach F-14 walkways because, well frankly, they looked super cool. The Steel Beach nozzles are really nicely cast and have great detail! When mounted to the aircraft, I realized that I had slightly misaligned the backside which will require some filling, sanding and rescribing of lines. This is definitely not due to any imperfection on the part of the nozzles, but, the bottom half of the plane is out of line by the amount of the width of the crack. So, a little bit of putty later, and I am left with this. Not too bad. Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 That's looking good. Part if the problem in that rear area is that plastic is too thick. If you take a sanding stick to the matin surfaces of the rear boat tail, it thins it out and everything fits a bit nicer. I know, I'm a little too late in giving the advice! BTW, your parts will be on their way once they've cleared the roads and I can dig out of my driveway. Here in KC, we had what one weather forecaster said was a storm you only see once every 10 to 20 years. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
f4h1phantom Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Great to see your work. I have a Mono F-14A which I am working on too, although at snail pace. My kit was also a "gift", but it was already built, so I am re-constructing it. Yeah, I know, I never learn! It will also be a VF-1 bird, so I am following your build with great interest. All the best, Jorge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted February 22, 2013 Author Share Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks for the heads up! I'll remember it when I do the F-14D that is sitting, waiting patiently. Does anyone have pictures of the exhaust and intake covers on an F-14A and ideally from VF-1? I know the covers frequently have Squadron markings, if not, I'll wing it. Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Wow. Are we really all doing Revell/Monogram F-14A Tomcats with VF-1 markings? (Yes I'm doing one as well). Nice work Michael. Don't feel bad about the covered nozzles. I had the same problem. Can't wait to see more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 When I left off, the covered rear engine nozzles were a bit of a mess, but since have progressed a bit. I got the putty cleaned up, And sprayed some Alclad gloss black enamel. Followed by some Metal Master steel. I think the forward most portion is bare titanium, right? I am using the steel as an undercoat for two reasons. I thought it would look better than it did. It is too glossy from what I can tell from other pictures. Secondly, my LHS is closed on Sunday. Since I am waiting until tomorrow to put down the appropriate coat of whatever metal that turns out to be, I started fiddling with the landing gear. I found this guy all by himself in the box There were two complete sets on the sprue, which leads me to believe they have been mating when the box lid is closed. Navy personnel... I thought I'd show what 20 minutes of cleanup per piece will do. For once, I thought my awesome macro photography would provide sufficient detail, but my camera only reveals flaws that I introduce. Regardless, the one on the right is how it came out of the box, with some pretty wierd mold lines. I got the wheels put together for the main landing gear and sanded off some other nicely placed punch marks, from the sidewall of the tire. Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Sorry for the long-ish delay. I have actually been working on the F-14A, but I was waiting on the gun vent from Darren to get back into it in earnest. Steel Beach F-14A gun vent in hand, I have ventured forward. I had to cut the old gun vent out which of course popped a couple of seams. No big deal. There was a pretty good sized gap on the bottom, but that is due to my overzealous sanding of the resin, cutting out of the old gun vent, or both. Either way, I'll deal with it. Not a super clear picture, but I have at least created another small challenge to overcome! After showing you the landing gear in the box, I thought you'd be dying to see the nearly finished product. I cleaned the seams off of them and sprayed them with gloss white, followed by a light wash of burnt sienna and black mixed together. I painted the burner cans during my ARC-absence using dull aluminum, titanium, jet exhaust, and burnt metal. You'll have to take my word for it, because they are all taped off now like a crime scene... Looking at it magnified five times, it seems pretty obvious I need to round that corner on my masking... Lastly, I freed the canopy parts from the sprue. I tested the fit, and it looks like it will be close enough to pose them closed. I may leave them open, but we'll have to see. I polished them up to 12000 grit and gave them a chance to swim in a glass of Future floor wax. That's all for now. Tomorrow I'm going to deal with my self-created challenge around the gun vent and mask the canopy parts. Thanks for looking, Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted March 17, 2013 Author Share Posted March 17, 2013 I know this won't sound like an awesome accomplishment to many of you, but I was really happy that the Future on my canopy parts dried dust free. This is awesome because my modeling area is also my woodworking area. So, I got accomplished what I wanted to get done today, kind of. I got the gun port puttied in by thinning out some white putty with Tamiya extra thin glue. I also got the exterior of the canopy completed. Tomorrow, hopefully, I can get the interior of the canopy and both sides of the windscreen done! I always love when my canopy looks like an armadillo... Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted March 18, 2013 Author Share Posted March 18, 2013 Well, I completed my goal of getting the canopy interior masked and both sides of the windscreen. Thank goodness for TNT's propensity for playing "The Dark Knight" constantly! Nothing like a 3 hour movie for getting tedious tasks completed. I sprayed a heavily thinned coat of Alclad Transparent Green on the inside of the windscreen. I'm going to let that set for a couple of days before masking to prevent it from lifting. Is this necessary or will the lacquer set enough in a day? Thanks for looking! Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
f4h1phantom Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Great to see your build moving along Michael. One question though: you seem to have tinted the whole windscreen part with green. Shouldn't you have tinted just the center section, or am I missing something here? Jorge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paxtonm Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Jorge, You are correct, only the center section gets tinted. I have taped the side sections which isn't super obvious from the pictures. Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.