1/18th F-14B Tomcat conversion

[A-10 LOADER]

Small update for today, got the LANTIRN pod painted and worked on the wing pylon that carries the pod. I cut out the underside of the pylon, like on the real jet so I will have a place for the cables, that hook up to the pod, to disappear into. I will use some small lead wire to represent the cables. It should look pretty convincing once finished.

Decided to tackle the crews helmets also. There was a bad seam that needed to go away and, the visors needed some better shaping. I will completely repaint both helmets and masks.

Thanks for checking in.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

Tonight's update, got the LANTIRN pod gloss coated yesterday and just finished putting the decals on. The gunship grey one, in the upper left, is from my VF-154 jet. I'll let these decals dry overnight and give it a semi gloss coat of flat tomorrow. Why semi gloss you ask because, this will allow more of my wash effect to stick to the pod then I can flat coat the pod. I also got the crews helmets primed tonight as well. I'm hoping to get them painted and finished up tomorrow too. Have a good night and thanks for looking.

Steve

[JMan]

You know those are the best looking Sparrows and Sidewinders. Your Lantien pod is great as well can't wait to see more!!!

[A-10 LOADER]

JMan thanks a lot. While waiting for the wash, on the LANTIRN pod, to dry I wanted to see how some of the finished items looks on the Cat. IMO it looks like this is shaping up to be one pretty cool looking Tomcat. I'm very happy how things have gone to this point but, still a long way to go however. Once the pod is all finished up I'll post shots. The crews helmets are still works in progress too, taking longer than I thought. Thanks for checking in on things, til next time.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

Good Friday afternoon everyone and Happy Veteran's Day weekend to my fellow veteran's out there, thanks for your service !!

OK, today's update is all about the LANTIRN pod. I got everything finished up last night and got the pod attached to the wing pylon. This first shot shows my finished pod on the left with the factory version from JSI on the right, big difference IMO.

Port side shot

Starboard side shot

Closeup of the business end of the pod. I used a thin coat of Tamiya clear green on the laser window.

I used some metal screening, from my stash box, on the back end of the pod for the exhaust vent. The "cables" were made using some old telephone cable. Inside the phone cable itself there is a red, yellow, green and, a black wire. These were about the same diameter as the point where they attach to the pod. I used a little flat white and red to represent the different heat shrink wrap used on the real cables and some steel for the cable ends. The pod was drilled out to accept the copper wire and I stripped off a little of the black coating. A dab of super glue to secure them in place and instant "cables".

Sanded the paint off the front of the ball to give it that worn look from flight.

And finally, the pod mounted to the wing pylon. I'm really pleased how this came out. It looks ALOT better than the stock version and will dress up the Big Cat. Thanks for checking in. Now to get back to the crews helmets. See ya.

Steve

[Crazy Snap Captain]

This is so brilliant. Thanks for the close ups on the Lantrin pod. I just painted mine and a lot of the reference photos I used showed the top sensor as blue. Am I wrong? Will have to redo mine. Top work so far.

[A-10 LOADER]

Andrew, I can only go by my reference photo in my DACO book. There seems to be a greenish tint to the laser window to me. The pods we had on the A-10 looked blue at certain angles. Maybe there is a difference in the two pods ?? The Tomcat used the AN/AAQ-25 pod while the USAF uses the AN/AAQ-14.

Steve

[Crazy Snap Captain]

Ok...that makes sense now. Maybe I don't have to re paint as mine is the AN/AAQ-14. Thanks for clarifying!

[A-10 LOADER]

I hope everyone had a great weekend, tonight's update, got the crews helmets all finished. Everything was repainted and all by hand. Once the seams on the helmet and visor were gone I primed them with Floquil grey primer. I used MM Classic white for the helmet shells. I wanted them shinny to mimic the reflective tape that they are done with. MM Insignia yellow and flat black were used to create the Jolly Roger stripe. MM steel for the bayonets and some gloss black for the visors. I think they look a lot better and should add a nice touch.

Thanks for checking in, time for dinner.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

Today's update, working on the tailplanes.

Since the thickness of these were too thick around the edges I decided to sand them down. I wanted to get the edges more to scale, however doing so I sanded off the radar warning antennas, it was just easier instead of trying to sand around them. Now that I have created more work for myself I need to replace them. I took some extra sprue, from one of my future kits, and sanded it down flat on one side and shaped one end to a point. Once I get the size I need I will glue it to the tailplane and finish sanding off the flat edge. Hopefully once primed they will look acceptable, stay tuned.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

Good day everyone, small update for today. Things have been moving slowly on the Big Cat for a couple of reasons but, finally got the horizontal stabs sanded down and the edges are nice and thin now. I also added the new scratchbuilt radar-warning receivers.

As I go thru this re-build I am gluing all the seams so there are no issues later on, or so I thought. I don't know what type of plastic this Tomcat is made out of but, most liquid cements won't work on it ?? Currently I am using Ambroid Pro Weld liquid glue. Before I wet sanded the horizontal stabs down I flooded all seams with the liquid glue and let them dry overnight. While wet sanding, some of the seams reopened and, water got inside so, now I had to wait and let them dry good before proceeding. Once they dried I re-glued them with Loctite super glue and sanded them again, this seems to work. I also had an issue when I glued the radar-warning receivers on using the Ambroid. After gluing and clamping them in place, for a few hours, I went to blend them in with the sanding stick and they popped right off. I had to glue them again with the Loctite, very frustrating to say the least. So I guess from here on out the Loctite will be the glue of choice. Has anyone else ever had an issue like this ??

Next up I will get them in primer and see how they look, one step forward and a few steps back but, progress none the less. Thanks for checking in.

Steve

Top view

Bottom view

Close up

[A-10 LOADER]

Another small update for today, received my "01" decals for the tails the other day (thanks Brian ). Decals applied and waiting for a flat coat then, weathering followed my a final coat of flat. Another small step forward but progress, thanks for looking.

Steve

[Crazy Snap Captain]

Steve,

Seeing the v-stab on your A3 size cutting mat just gave me an idea on the size of this thing. Sweet mother of God, it's enormous! You're a madman! We'll done on your progress thus far! Looks absolutely amazing!

[USMC6094]

Once you finish this build I'm going to use one of the pictures as a background for my computer

[A-10 LOADER]

Crazy Snap Captain, thanks for your encouraging words.

USMC6094, thank you as well, I am honored that you would do that.

OK so, after having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner last night and helping the wife clean up the "fall decorations" around the house and getting out some of the Christmas decorations, I was able to get some time in on the Cat today. After letting the horizontal stabs dry over night ( primer and spot putty ) I wet sanded them with 400 and re-primed them. They look good and will get one more sanding with 400 before paint.

I also got the tails flat coated as well. I am a little concerned about still being able to see the edges of the decal ???? Hopefully after they are weathered and flat coated again, this will disappear ( fingers crossed ). What color wash would look better on the tails ? I use the Flory washes and have black, dark dirt and, light dirt. Ideas welcomed. Thanks for staying along for the ride and keeping me motivated.

Steve

[JesniF-16]

Looks great Steve! I like yer meticulous approach to painting.... Sanding and polishing is the key to a smooth silky finish which you have achieved... As for the decal film, it is very difficult when using decals over black paint. I would say that the outcome is as good as it gets especially considering that the decals did not silver on you! I would maybe try a dark grey pastel wash and use a slightly lighter grey wash for the rest of this beast!

/Jesse

[Devilleader501]

^ this man knows what he's talking about. I was going to say the light dirt wash for the Vertical stabs and maybe the dark dirt for the rest but I am just a rookie. seems to me that the dark painted areas need the lighter wash where as the lighter areas need the darker wash to make everything flow together.

[Torn7th]

This is a fantastic build....Great work.

[A-10 LOADER]

Thanks Jesse, DeVilleader501 those were my thoughts too but, figured I'd throw it out there and see what response I got.

Torn7th, much appreciated.

Steve

[JesniF-16]

I just remembered... i wouldn't attempt to do a wash with a flat coat on either! The wash will be VERY difficult to remove! I apologize if you already know this... Another tip is that you can mix the Flory black & light dirt washes to get grey. HTH

/Jesse

[A-10 LOADER]

Thanks Jesse, I purposely put the flat coat on for weathering purposes because, I'm going for a very weathered look.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

I hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday weekend. I know I sure did, good times and great food.

The weekend update, Part 1. I spent quite a few hours yesterday and today sanding the big beast. I started out by putting the finishing touches on the F-110 engine shrouds. I still need to add some panel details here and there but, the horizontal stabs line up real nice now.

Also spent some time re-shaping the ECM antenna on the beaver tail. I will hit the seams with some CA glue and give it another sanding prior to priming.

Steve

[A-10 LOADER]

Weekend update Part 2. Since this beast is getting a total redo, every square inch will get sanded prior to priming. I chose to tackle one of the wings. There was a high spot along the entire bottom of the wing, where the flaps meet the wing area(factory seam). Thank god the plastic this thing is made out of is thick. This allowed me to block sand everything down and get the trailing edges nice and thin too.

The topside trailing edges had a lot of shallow sink holes and they got block sanded out as well.

Since the wingtip formation and slime lights have the incorrect raised detail around them, this got block sanded down as well. I cut out the cheesy formation light and will replace this will some clear red and blue plastic like I did on the tails.

Lots of work ahead but, progress being made. Hopefully things will go smoothly and I can get thru this next stage rather quickly. Thanks for following along.

Steve

[chuck540z3]

Steve, I've made a few 1/32 Tomcats, so I pretend I know what to look for. Your details ROCK! Keep it coming. This Kitty will be awesome!

[A-10 LOADER]

Chuck, thanks for your kind and supportive words throughout this re-build. Coming from someone with such talent and attention to detail, it is much appreciated. No work on the Cat tonight, Flyers game on T.V., hopefully something in the next couple of days.

Steve