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1/48 Hasegawa F-14A


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Hi, I'm building a pair of F-14s in-flight after reading up on the various fantastic F-14 builds.

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I'm planning to build two for something like my unfinished pair of 1/144:

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I wanted to build one cockpit OOB and the other one an Aires. Got a question -- I was wondering if you guys can help me -- if I shave off a portion of the figure's back, there's still quite a ways to go for his hand to align with the throttle. How have you made this work? I was thinking I could swing his arm back, but don't know if that would be a natural position? Oh-- and where do the RIO's hands normally go?

Edited by crackerjazz
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Oh-- and where do the RIO's hands normally go?

He is a RIO, Gods gift to the NFO community....so he is checking his large watch for the next time he has to take off his helmet to comb his perfect hair.

Honestly...prop them up on the rails of the canopy is my answer.

Cheers

Collin

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Hi, I'm building a pair of F-14s in-flight after reading up on the various fantastic F-14 builds.

smBd1qo.jpg

I'm planning to build two for something like my unfinished pair of 1/144:

hZO9UGE.jpg

RlqMLlH.jpg

U5fMqOP.jpg

vC5gRnR.jpg

I wanted to build one cockpit OOB and the other one an Aires. Got a question -- I was wondering if you guys can help me -- if I shave off a portion of the figure's back, there's still quite a ways to go for his hand to align with the throttle. How have you made this work? I was thinking I could swing his arm back, but don't know if that would be a natural position? Oh-- and where do the RIO's hands normally go?

Nice idea you got there of building two F-14s in flight. Re pilot arms position, for the front pilot, you might be best doing a combination of sanding back the seat cushion and the pilots back and maybe cut the hand off and sand back the arm slightly. Personally, I haven't used the Hasegawa pilots in F-14s however they fit better in F-4 Phantoms. As for the RIO a common pose is for one hand up on the grab handle on top of the instrument shroud and the other on the canopy rail and looking out to the direction of flight. For instance if you are going to pose this one in a right turn as in your 1/144 scale version he'd be on the grab handle and twisting round in the seat looking out and behind to the right looking for anything in their turn radius. Hope this helps.

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Thanks, guys! Collin, Andrew, thanks for the info -- I'll have to find a way to modify and reposition the arms using some 2 part putty. I hope they don't end up looking like Gumby's as my sculpts usually turn out. Those Steel Beach gearbay plugs are amazing, Darren - very useful invention! :) I'll try my hand at closing the kit gear doors for this Tomcat just for the experience and make sure I pick up a set for the second one! This is my very first Hase F-14 - so incredibly detailed compared to the Revell 1/48 kit I got as a kid. If this had come out at that time I wouldn't have been able to afford one but my eyes would have spun around in spirals as they do now. By the way, I read your F-14 comparisons and is what prompted me to try to build the cockpit OOB.

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Awesome build so far Jazz! :thumbsup:

As for the RIO a common pose is for one hand up on the grab handle on top of the instrument shroud and the other on the canopy rail and looking out to the direction of flight. For instance if you are going to pose this one in a right turn as in your 1/144 scale version he'd be on the grab handle and twisting round in the seat looking out and behind to the right looking for anything in their turn radius. Hope this helps.

Here ya've got some good inspiration as to where the RIO's hands are 'n' whut he's doin' in the back seat. :coolio:

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Hi Andy -- did as advised and got the pilot to align his hand on the throttle in a pretty acceptable position, thanks again! Will have to patch up the cuts with putty. Hi, Uncle Uncool thanks for the link --- I guess Mav decided to ditch the gloves so I sanded them down. Lots of work ahead on the RIO.

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Filled the panel gaps with putty...

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These parts don't seem to be anywhere in the instructions but kind of complicate things a bit. I figured there wouldn't be enough space for them to fit into, looking at the first photo.

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True enough there's not much room. From some reference shots the bottom of the display should touch the hand control unit panel so I cut off the extended part under the display and it now adds to the gap and space issues that need to be sorted out. I think I just painted myself into a corner. No wonder everyone's using AM pits :(

Edited by crackerjazz
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Wow, got some real inspiration too from Phantom's Top Gun build! Hi falcon20driver, there is some hope for the OOB cockpit...

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The main problem is the size of the RIO's IP. This edge should line up with the sill. But it's way lower than the sill on the Hase part.

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This area is often simplified on models, even on AM pits, so I'll go for the simpler method -- to make the edges meet.

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Thinned down the RIO's side panels.

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Filed down and sanded these areas.

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This will be made vertical.

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I've cut the torso so that he can make a more natural turn of the body.

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Edited by crackerjazz
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Thanks falcon20driver!

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I'm so tempted to use the Aires seats, but really wanted to see what the kit seat offers. Pardon the seat padding painting -- needed to mask off a portion of it -- just realized it in the end.

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Edited by crackerjazz
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Hi Aigore, thanks! Ive been reading up on your F14 build. Beautiful Tomcat! It makes me want to build the Aires pit more so i've started dry fitting the parts. I planned to use it just on the other Cat but now Im thinking about getting another one. One thing Ive noticed is that it's harder to fit the crew in as thei legs wouldb't easily slide around the lower portion of the instrument panels. I'll try to look into it further and see how I might be able to make it work.

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Hi Aigore, thanks! Ive been reading up on your F14 build. Beautiful Tomcat! It makes me want to build the Aires pit more so i've started dry fitting the parts. I planned to use it just on the other Cat but now Im thinking about getting another one. One thing Ive noticed is that it's harder to fit the crew in as thei legs wouldb't easily slide around the lower portion of the instrument panels. I'll try to look into it further and see how I might be able to make it work.

There's always the easy way....cut the legs off! They won't show anyways :P Then there's the hard way involving boiling water, simply dip the pilots legs in boiling water for a few seconds and remould them with your fingers to fit..

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I sand down the pilots bums and lower backs, then they fit in the kit cockpit.......However your is looking great!!! Here is how mine turned out. I love the two planes in flight idea!!!!

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Hi crackerjazz ;

If you're still looking of ejection seat decals, it looks like Fightertown decals has included a sheet with the seat decals in with their decal sets. They should be help you (e-mail - fightertowndecals@yahoo.com).

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Hi phantom, your Top Gun tomcats are a real inspiration! Hi John, thanks, I'll surely look into those decal sets! Aigore -- great idea, I just might cut off the legs of the next crew :)

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I might just go ahead with using the Aires cockpit for the other Tomcat. The Aires PE instrument panel is a blessing.

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I shouldn't forget to cut off those tabs.

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Tried Andrus' method for masking the handles before spraying with black. Works beautifully.

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Started painting the Aires ejection seats -- these are so beautifully detailed. I'm thinking about crafting some firing handles instead of using the flat PE parts, but I'm not sure what material to use yet. I may need something smaller than 0.5mm which is the smallest styrene rod available.

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My work on the kit IP doesn't look too good blown up this size :) -- strangely it looks pretty good when viewed at actual size. The Aires looks so much better but the lower part of the instrument panel will have to be painted like the kit IP -- so I'm still unsure how everything will turn out.

Edited by crackerjazz
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