Anybody who's familiar with the Hasegawa F-14D in 1/48

[TomcatFanatic123]

Hey all...I've started about 3 of these suckers before and have never finished a single one because somewhere, somehow I FUBARed something and disgusted myself to the point of saying "fudge it." I've looked up a few online builds and found some step-skipping, workarounds, shortcuts, etc., to cut down on seam-filling, make fits better, etc., but is there anybody here that has cranked out enough of these things to list all the little idiosyncrasies of the kit, or the "do this step before you do this step" parts. I distinctly remember being told to attach the upper boattail and lower boattail sections to their corresponding fuselage halves before mating them together, and if memory serves, there was something about the little plate that attaches below where the front and rear fuselage sections meet, but I can't remember exactly what that was. Anyway, any help would be appreciated. Thanks :-)

Oh, and by the way, it's the Vandy 1 boxing that I have. It's molded in black. I understand the reasoning behind it, but really, Hasegawa? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Edited January 25, 2016 by TomcatFanatic123

[Darren Roberts]

If you were doing the Revell/Monogram kit, I could help you. The only help I can give with the Hasegawa kit is use intake covers. The intakes are very frustrating.

[TomcatFanatic123]

If you were doing the Revell/Monogram kit, I could help you. The only help I can give with the Hasegawa kit is use intake covers. The intakes are very frustrating. :bandhead2:/>

Oh yeah, I've already got a set of your intake covers laid out for it, D.Rob. I'm not even bothering detailing the cockpit here, I'm going to throw one of those canvas covers on the canopy, put some RBF tags on it and put it in a maintenance hangar. I have all these little 1:48 hangar accessory pieces (tables, chairs, toolboxes, trash bins, etc.) and I want to do a hangar scene big enough to have a Tomcat and Hornet side by side under one roof.

[viper730]

Check this one out over at modelingmadness.com maybe you can get some tips ... http://www.modelingmadness.com/review/mod/us/usn/leef14.htm

Edited January 24, 2016 by viper730

[jonbryon]

I've built two, back in 2002. You can see them here and here. My skills have improved a lot since then, so the Hasegawa F-14B I intend to build soon will look much better. My biggest tip is this: ignore the instructions when it comes to the intakes. Attach the outer intakes (the large parts that form part of the fuselage itself) to the lower fuselage *without* the inner trunking. You should be able to get a really good fit. Once this is done and sorted out, then add the inner trunking and fair it in. Obviously all this has to be done before the upper and lower fuselages are joined.

I like the Hasegawa Tomcats a lot. A lot of fuss is made about the need to get better replacements on the market, but I personally don't see what's wrong with the Hasegawa examples.

Cheers

Jon

[Darren Roberts]

Another thing you can get is the Steel Beach gear bay jig. You simply glue all the small gear bay pieces inside the resin jig, let them dry, push the completed assembly and and install it in the model.

[phantom]

THe Hasegawa takes practice. If you have only built 10 models in total do not take on a Hasegawa Tomcat.

My first 3 Has Tomcats have long since been tossed in the trash. The next 20 are anywhere from acceptable to pretty darn good.

The next fun part is a short cut that worked on one kit tends to not work on the next one. eg. Main landing gear works fine one time and is a bugger for fit the next.

As for intakes, yes, covers are indeed the best option.

[Aigore]

Hiya, I dealt with the "dreaded" Gawa F-14 here and did step by step descriptions of my progress.

To tell the truth I didn't think there were any issues really as long as you took it slow, the fit is remarkably good actually except around the gun hatches.

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=252276&st=0

[phantom]

I really think its luck of the draw on the Hasegawa kit. Taking it slow does help.

However on a challenge I once built one in a day. It was one of the best fitting I ever did. Perhaps the mold has been used so many times some of the kits just don't fit right. It IS a pretty complicated model in terms of shapes and parts.

Kind of makes me want to build another Tomcat.

[ESzczesniak]

I haven't built enough...only 1 successfully (mostly...it's getting paint now). But, having been defeated a couple times, my advice is: 1) careful test fitting, 2) scrutinizing the instructions and deviating from the order based on test fitting, and 3) judicious use of plastic shims and added "locator tabs" to help line things up.

[Red14]

Back in the day I picked up this book to help me..

never got around to it, but one of these days I'll pick up the 1/48 version.. and they make 1/32 as well.

[Skull Leader]

The biggest and most important things to remember when working on the hasegawa tomcat are:

1. Sand

2. Dry fit

3. Sand again

4. Dry fit

5. Wash/rinse/repeat until you get the fit you want

And patience.... lots and lots of patience. The hasegawa tomcat isn't a kit you can just throw together, and the plastic is very unforgiving. If two parts aren't mated up correctly, there's a whole host of other things that might not fit either (as opposed to the Revell kit... the plastic has more "give" to it, and you can still muscle it together if something isn't quite right )

Mating the Beaver tail halves to their respective fuselage pieces is good advice... and Mating the completed forward fuselage to the top piece of the rear fuselage is also a good idea. It's much easier to fix the turtle deck seam when you can flex the rear fuselage piece a tiny bit as you bind it together.

The kit really isn't as difficult as people make it out to be. I remember after my first one thinking it wasn't that bad... but until you're familiar with the kit, you really have to pay attention.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Skull Leader