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Trumpeter 1/144 Grumman F-14A Tomcat


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INTRODUCTION

It looks as though this will be my first project of 2015: Trumpeter's 1/144 scale Grumman F-14A Tomcat.

Box artwork.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatArtwork_zpsd96ce4ff.jpg

Shortcuts

Kit Contents - immediately below.

After Market Accessories

Kit Walk Around

Parts Clean Up

Kit Contents

There's a double-sided single sheet of instructions.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatInstructionSheet1_zps5c5199cd.jpg

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatInstructionSheet2_zps8e3cf96e.jpg

The kit has five sprues.

Sprue A.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueA_zpsd0516d9c.jpg

Sprue B.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueB_zps2026d3dc.jpg

Sprue C1.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueC1_zps8ac9b18f.jpg

Sprue C2.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueC2_zps7c4e433f.jpg

Sprue GP5.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueGP5_zpsdad4b16b.jpg

The Painting and Marking Guide provides for two options: a 1989 VF-84 Jolly Rogers bird or a Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center Aggressor bird.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatPaintingampMarkingGuide_zps0177c94b.jpg

The numbering on the decal sheet suggests that you could build any one of the 200 – 209 aircraft of VF-84.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatDecals_zps7b93543b.jpg

Next up: After Market Accessories.

Edited by Air-to-Air
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KIT WALK AROUND

Kit Walk Around - Part 1

I thought I’d show you some of the detail of this 144 scale kit.

In Part 1 of this three part Kit Walk Around, we look at the external surfaces.

The forward fuselage halves have the moulded-in first style of chin pod. This can be removed and replaced with the later style chin pods with either integrated Television Camera Set (Part C1-14) or the double-chin pod of the F-14D (Part C2-32).

The nose wheel gear doors are integrated into the forward fuselage halves avoiding the difficulty of affixing such small parts.

The second style of gun-gas grill vent has been moulded, applicable from Block 85 aircraft onwards.

The RIO’s step reinforcing has also been moulded in (circa 1980s).

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatFuselagehalves_zps7b67b04e.jpg

The upper fuselage has an appropriate amount of detail for an aircraft of this scale.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatUpperFuselage_zpscc7262ea.jpg

Similarly for the lower fuselage.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatLowerFuselage_zps9f9ae9ea.jpg

The upper wing surface. Not everything is accurate here but there’s no point going over the top at this scale.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatUpperWingSurface_zpsc5279623.jpg

The lower wing surface.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatLowerWingSurface_zps864a99a2.jpg

The vertical stabilisers have the stiffeners that were introduced in the early 1980s.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatVerticalStabilisers_zps7b7d77b0.jpg

There is a nice amount of detail in the exhaust nozzles…

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatExhaustNozzle_zps9b25b65b.jpg

…and in the exhaust turbine.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatExhaustTurbine_zpsb37f85fd.jpg

Next up: Kit Walk Around – Part 2.

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Kit Walk Around - Part 2

In Part 2 of this three part Kit Walk Around, we take a closer look at the landing gear.

Main Gear

The main landing gear legs contain a nice amount of detail for this scale. The scissors, retraction arm and hydraulic cylinder are all reasonably well depicted. Some of the finer details such as hydraulic mechanisms and line ties are present (if a little oversized).

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatMainLandingGearLeg_zps6530d49a.jpg

The main wheels are a reasonable enough proxy at this scale. If a raised rivet were added to each “spoke” close to the rim, it would be just that little bit better.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatMainLandingGearWheels_zpsf997da70.jpg

The main gear bays depict some of the framing and cabling present in this area.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatMainLandingGearWheelBay_zps8905ff83.jpg

The internal side of the upper fuselage half depicts some of the prominent cabling in the main wheel bay.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatUpperFuselageInternals_zps2419144b.jpg

The internal faces of the main landing gear doors also depict some of the frames present on the actual aircraft.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatMainLandingGearDoorInteriors_zps92d835a1.jpg

Nose Gear

Similarly, the nose landing gear is nicely detailed for this scale.

The nose landing gear leg has an integrated launchbar and retraction mechanisms. The approach indexer box is present as is the headlight.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatNoseLandingGearLeg_zpsc65171b8.jpg

The nose landing gear wheel bay depicts some of the prominent frames and cabling in this area. The obvious area for improvement are the sidewalls which lack any detail. There is a prominent gas cylinder in the wheel bay and some cabling on the opposite wall that could be added.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatNoseLandingGearWheelBay_zpsd0bbc824.jpg

As noted previously, the nose gear wheel doors are moulded into the front fuselage. The interior of those doors depict the door arms and some of the vent details on the actual aircraft.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatCockpitSidewalls_zps48817513.jpg

Next up: Kit Walk Around – Part 3.

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Kit Walk Around - Part 3

In the concluding Part 3 of this Kit Walk Around, we look at the cockpit and some minor issues some may feel inclined to correct.

Cockpit Details

Whilst there is some minor flash on the ejection seats of my kit, you can still see the tremendous amount of detail that has been crammed into these 144 scale seats. These are a better effort than some manufacturers have put into their 1/72 scale offerings.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatEjectionSeats_zps73c3659f.jpg

The cockpit tub includes a rudimentary throttle, flight control stick and the RIO's hand control. The RIO's multiple display indicator has been faithfully reproduced on the right vertical console and, appears to have been, copied on to the left vertical console. The latter is technically incorrect.

The step in the pilot's cockpit floor has been accurately depicted, as has the left side console canvas bag and the right side console map storage container.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatCockpitTub_zps24c9c7a7.jpg

The cockpit sidewalls lack any detail but it is unlikely that anything could be seen if the canopy was affixed in the closed position. The pilot and RIO's instrument panels have been moulded into the fuselage sidewalls. Decals for those instrument panels would have been perfect at this scale but they have not been depicted by either Trumpeter or FCM Decals (you can't have everything can you).

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatCockpitSidewalls_zps48817513.jpg

Minor Issues

There are some minor issues that can be addressed if you have the inclination.

The canopy has a seam down the middle of it that needs to be removed. In addition, the static discharge antennas above the pilot and RIO have been moulded on the outside of the canopy rather than the inside where they actually are.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueGP5_zpsdad4b16b.jpg

The internals of the intakes contain some significant ejection pins that need to be filled if you care to have smooth intakes.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatAirIntakeInternals_zpsbb4ace56.jpg

Consistent with its larger scale siblings, the Phoenix pallet fairings look to be a little flat as well.

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatPhoenixPallets_zps882c5e3a.jpg

The other minor issue is that the exhaust tunnels on this kit are far too shallow – they are significantly deeper on the actual aircraft. This could be corrected by mounting the exhaust turbines on to a styrene tube and then gluing the tube into the position where the instructions direct the turbine to be affixed.

If you wanted the perfect 144 scale F-14A I suppose you could also depict the intake turbine faces somehow. No one would ever see them without intentionally looking for them with a penlight.

Anyway, time to get on with building this one.

Next up: Parts Clean Up.

Edited by Air-to-Air
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I love this little kit. It really is the best in scale and detail. There are 2 resin/PE sets hat just came re-released - used to be Goffy. They are meant for the Revell kit but as ie tested, they work well enough for the Trumpeter.

We've done a few small decal sets and I've done more custom decals than are on the site...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Following, go ahead!

Brian, what are you thinking to 1/144, re-print sold out decals and new releases?

Some suggestions : VF-31 Last flight ceremony (separately from the large sheet VF-31/VF-213); VF-14 80th anniversary; VF-103 60 years of Jolly Rogers...

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I have done the VF-14 80th anniversary jet in 1/144. Have a few spare copies I you need one. If you're want to build it, I'll send it to you free. I also have VF-24 stuff printed by Microscale. And a medium gray data sheet to go with the VF-24 markings. ;)

I have the FCM sheet- it's really cool! Wanted to support their effort even if 114 wasn't on the build list.

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I have done the VF-14 80th anniversary jet in 1/144. Have a few spare copies I you need one. If you're want to build it, I'll send it to you free. I also have VF-24 stuff printed by Microscale. And a medium gray data sheet to go with the VF-24 markings. ;)/>

I have the FCM sheet- it's really cool! Wanted to support their effort even if 114 wasn't on the build list.

Brian, I sent you an email at fightertowndecals@yahoo.com

Thank you.

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Got it! I think I promised you the same a while back. Will include a bunch of 1/144 goodies. :)

I just got the F-14B Trumpeter 1/144 kit and it has 2 changes - the ECM bumps on the boat tail and even better, the ECM forward of the glove vane! Since my projects will be mostly F-14D, I now have 8 of the F-14A kits that I'll be selling. ^_^

brian

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I've been a bit tardy on posting an update on this one but progress is being made. I've got a busy weekend ahead of me but I'll see if I can post an update in the next few days.

I bought the Revell 1/144 F-14A Tomcat last weekend. It cost less than half what I paid for the Trumpeter. If you'll excuse the pun, the Trumpeter trumps the Revell in terms of exterior detail and fine panel lines, I am really impressed with what I have here.

The one area that Revell goes one up on the Trumpeter is the cockpit. There are decals for the instrument panels and side consoles. I have a strong feeling that the Revell kit is going to be raided to make this one that extra little bit special.

There's a new release RES-IM resin cockpit set that replaces Revell's cockpit. There's an image on this vendor's website: Modelimex

I don't think I'll get the cockpit set as I have decided to do this bird in-flight, wheels up, with the cockpit closed. Not much point hyper detailing the office when the main focal points are likely to be the nose, the intakes and the exhausts. That's where I will be concentrating my efforts.

Thanks for showing some interest in this one, I appreciate this scale doesn't get much attention. Many of you blokes do a terrific job on your 1/32 landing gear. This little bird's not that dissimilar, when it's finished it'll be small enough to stuff in a 1/32 wheel bay too.

Joel, special thanks go to you for mentioning Paul Budzik's YouTube channel in one of your posts. That guy solved about half-a-dozen problems I've been having as a modelling novice. Terrific stuff. If anyone else knows of any YouTube modellers that are clearly authoritative (not the usual want-to-be amateurs looking for attention and a quick Google Ad buck), feel free to point them out here.

Edited by Air-to-Air
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Joel, special thanks go to you for mentioning Paul Budzik's YouTube channel in one of your posts. That guy solved about half-a-dozen problems I've been having as a modelling novice. Terrific stuff. If anyone else knows of any YouTube modellers that are clearly authoritative (not the usual want-to-be amateurs looking for attention and a quick Google Ad buck), feel free to point them out here.

I've known Paul and his work since the 70s when I was heavy into IPMS regional and National contests. Even back then his work was cutting edge stuff, and light years ahead of most of us hackers. My only issue with Paul's work is that he stopped building for years like so many of us who just got burnt out from the IPMS contest world. He's back, and he's a major plus to the modeling community. From what I gather now, he's working on those 1/350 scale aircraft carriers, so we're not going to be seeing any of his aircraft modeling here for quite sometime.

Joel

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PARTS CLEAN UP

Canopy Clean Up

The first part to receive some clean up attention was the canopy.

It came out of the box looking like this…

Trumpeter144scaleF-14ATomcatSprueGP5_zpsdad4b16b.jpg

That's a nice seam line down the centre of the canopy and the static discharge rods have been moulded on the outside of the canopy rather than on the inside where they belong.

Here are the tools I used to get this part into shape…

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Tomcat%20Canopy%20clean%20up%20tools_zpsdmvvwky0.jpg

I scraped off the seam line and moulded in static discharge rods with a No.11 blade. I used the 2800 grit to smooth out the canopy contour. I initially started with the 3200 grit but I found it wasn't shaping the plastic (perhaps because I need to replace that sanding stick).

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Canopy%20stage%201_zpsqgbfmmzg.jpg

I worked my way through the Micro-Mesh pads up to 12,000. That got me something like this…

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Canopy%20stage%202_zpsg3quvpma.jpg

I then worked my way through the Tamiya polishing compounds: Coarse, Fine and Finish. And what a finish it was…

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Canopy%20stage%203_zpsrhdyyrjf.jpg

I was very happy with how it turned out.

I will call this Part 1 of the canopy clean up as I am going to reduce some of those raised frames, they are just not to scale when compared to the real thing.

Furthermore, I need to restore the static discharge rods to their correct position.

I'll address those issues in a future update.

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Air Intakes Clean Up

As mentioned in the walk around above, each air intake contains three ejection pin sinks and two attachment point sinks for the external fuel tanks.

I wasn't happy to leave things as they were.

I used these tools.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Intake%20clean%20up%20tools_zpsgctt9wu3.jpg

To begin with, I used a glass fibre pencil to clean up the ejection pin sinks as best as possible. This still left three depressions and the two attachment point sinks…

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Intakes%20after%20glass%20fibre%20tool_zpshrv12ujy.jpg

I attempted to fill the depressions and attachment sinks with Thin CA (the only CA I had on hand at the time). Note to self: Thin CA is not a great filler, capillary action draws it away from the area you want it to stay in.

I used the glass fibre pencil to clean up the dried CA which left, you guessed it, three depressions. At least the external fuel tank attachment point sinks were filled. I think capillary action drew most of the Thin CA out of the depressions.

For my second attempt at filling the depressions, I used Tamiya Liquid Surface Primer. I applied two coats.

I didn't want to use the glass fibre pencil again as I was concerned it would simply remove the primer taking me back to square one again.

I reasoned that I needed to reduce the high points of the paint so as to get a flat surface. The problem was, how to sand inside a narrow intake trunk?

To solve that problem I cut a wooden skewer at a 45 degree angle. I would use the cross section of the cut surface as the backing for sand paper.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Intake%20skewer%20tool_zpsnf438xgt.jpg

I cut thin strips of Tamiya 1,200 and 2,000 grade sand paper.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Intake%20sandpaper_zpsx1bpbk8p.jpg

I cut a very small square from a strip and used it to sand the insides of the intake.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Intake%20sanding_zpsebt6djce.jpg

All sanding was done with the assistance of water. The grit in the paper soon fills with primer residue and needs to be replaced after a couple of minutes. The 1,200 grade sand paper was used to cut back the primer and the 2,000 grade was used to clean up the finish at the end.

The end result is not a perfectly contoured intake. There are still minor irregularities when viewed in the right light at about 30 degrees inclination. However, the inside of the intakes will never be viewed under those conditions. Even with a strong backlight, when viewed from head on, the intakes look the part.

Try as I might, I couldn't get a reasonable image to demonstrate what I mean.

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Nicely done with the wooden skewer sander. Not sure I would have used such fine grades of paper to start with. I usually opt for .#320, #600, and finish up with #4,000. As for filling injector marks depending on the depth I use either thinned Green Stuff or discs I make with my UMM punch set followed by some Thin Green stuff so that it's slightly above the surface of the surrounding plastic, rather then slightly below it, and fills any little area that the discs don't cover.

I'm not a big fan of using primer for filling anything but scratches and sealing Green Stuff. Primers main function is as a base for paints to properly adhere to. And they shrink worse then Green Stuff does.

I use a lot of CA glues: thin for PE work, Med or thick for filling, blending, and leveling. A example was a over filing of a mold attachment point on a 300 gal drop tank. When I fitted the two halves together I had a void top to bottom. Once the parts were glued and dried, I filled the area with Thick CA, used Accelerator, then sanded with the above grades. Flush, permanent, and smooth as silk.

Joel

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Sorry I am a little late to your project. I am going to sound like a real "newb" here but, I guess I didn't consider subjects in 1/144 scale to have the amount of detail that this kit does (I guess I really have been away for a long time). Thanks for showing your process with the kit. Very comprehensive and detailed. And, as with so many members here, your work is very clean. I am looking forward to following along.

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Ejector pin holes are not the easiest things to plug with filler; I recommend a disc of thin plastic sheet obtained with a micro-punch (UMM make a very cheap set, not really Waldron standard but fine for this sort of work). Once that is glued into the hole and sanded smooth it is much more likely to disappear under a splash of paint.

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Very nice thread! is good for us newbies to get a glimpse of what you guys use to do some of the works, sometimes is not evident at all what you use to get some of the stuff done! thnx will be following

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Hello Mikkod. I think the Trumpeter kit and the Revell offering are both pretty good. We're spoilt for choice when it comes to 144 scale Tomcats. Our large scale brethren will get jealous.

Joel, thank you for the sharing your experience. In that past I have filled ejection pin sinks in intakes with plastic card and putty, just as you have recommended. I think I was in too much of a rush when I started this build. I should have taken my time and done things properly. No harm done, another lesson learned. I'll also heed your advice concerning primer filler.

Thank you for tagging along Taggor.

ChippyWho, I will follow your advice on my next build.

Kike, glad to be of some assistance. I wouldn't really rate myself as one of the "guys" yet, this will be my first completed WIP and a small scale subject at that. But enjoyable nonetheless.

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When I examined my progress the other day I realised I hadn't been keeping you guys up to date. I know how much you like regular progress reports so I thought I'd better make more of an effort to keep you abreast of what's happening.

Let's start with something controversial: panel lines. I'm filling the panel lines on this bird.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Panel%20Line%20Filling_zpsawpqwdxd.jpg

My desire is to build something beautiful that is a scale representation of the F-14A. The panel lines on the Trumpeter kit are very good, there's nothing wrong with them. However, they betray the small scale nature of the model and that's something I want to avoid. So I am filling in the panel lines. I hope you understand that this is a personal preference thing.

Most of the raised surface detail on the end of the wings, i.e. navigation lights and formation lights, have also been removed.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Wings_zpshakjpyn6.jpg

As this process was well advanced before Joel advised against using primer as filler (because it shrinks) I am somewhat hesitant as to whether I will ultimately achieve the super smooth finish I am aiming for. My concern is that the existing primer filled panel lines will shrink somewhat when I lay down the first primer layer. We shall have to consider this something of a risky experiment. If it fails miserably, it will be back to the drawing board and I will have to become an expert at using CA to fill panel lines.

I drilled out the gun port. I used a needle point to mark the centre of the port and initially drilled it out with a #80 drill. I followed up with something larger, I can't remember which size now.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Gun%20Port_zpsj4onvbdn.jpg

As noted in the kit walk around, the Phoenix Pallets suffer the same problem as their larger scale counterparts – they are too shallow.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Phoenix%20Pallet_zpsymgerszk.jpg

To address this issue I glued strips of 0.25mm (.010") sheet styrene onto the fairing, building up its volume. When I was happy with the height, I outlined the curvature of the apex and then reduced the built up plastic between the apex and the base that mounts to the aircraft. I had to use Milliput Fine to blend parts of the fairing with the body of the pallet. Tamiya Surface Primer was use to fill very fine depressions.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Phoenix%20Pallets_zpscs4hvueo.jpg

The end result is something much closer to the actual aircraft than what I began with. I think it will look a lot better than it does now when there is some primer on it.

Trumpeter%20144%20scale%20F-14A%20Phoenix%20Pallet%20Improved_zpsbwsuxlfr.jpg

To wrap up this update, here's some little guys that are going to operate this thing when it's done.

Oz%20Mods%20144%20Modern%20Pilots%20Generic%20Seated_zpstcyjmpxl.jpg

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