JohnS Posted July 9, 2017 Share Posted July 9, 2017 Getting real close to making that canopy fit perfectly. Whew, I'm starting to perspire just reading about your efforts to make that canopy fit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 (edited) Hey, John, thanks. I just hope my further thinning of the sides doesn't cause it to crack. Took a break from the sanding and made some more of those alarm indicator thingamajigs under the windshield frame. The frames that are glued in place are the initial ones I made which just had indentations for rivets --- the other frame has embossed rivet heads. I really like embossed ones better -- I'll reserve that frame for the plane in the foreground. Masking the inner side of the frame. Blue-tacked to test. Edited July 16, 2017 by crackerjazz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 That's insane for 1/48th scale, great job !!! I tried this for my 1/18th scale Tomcat and failed miserably so they are absent. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 Beauty! Nice job! How's the clearance between the windscreen & the top of the IP? I found it was pretty tight using the Aires cockpit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Thanks, Steve! Hey, John thanks! I didn't test it out until I read your message. I broke out in a cold sweat reading that . Clearance is a bit tight but it does fit above the Aires IP coaming, thankfully. Whew! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kike Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Beautiful job!! really awesome!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Fantastic! Well done! I wanted to add these to my build, but forgot to attach them before I assembled the windscreen to the fuselage. Using tweezers, and a lot of fiddling (with a little cursing thrown in ) I finally got them to fit. I like your approach much better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SBARC Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Truly impressive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Looks awesome !! Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Angels One Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 WOW, great work. I haven't made a model in years. I have this kit and thinking it twice about putting it together after seeing some of the fitment issues Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 Hey kike, John, SBARC, Steve, thanks for the kind words! Hi Angels One, thanks! That's true, unfortunately. It does have a lot of fitment issues (especially the older boxing) that will test your patience. But I guess ever since the Tamiya F-14 came out less and less Hasegawa Tomcats are being built. The Hase builds up to a nice Tomcat, though. Wasn't too happy with the RIO's right arm so I pulled him out again to do a little more correcting and fixed the shape of the apoxie-sculpt hand on the grab handle to make it look a bit more natural. It looks like something straight out of a horror movie hanging from the handle on its own. Smoothened up some rough spots on the arm and resculpted his left hand. The effort doesn't show on the photos but I spent a lot of time making his left thumb :) It's made from whittled-down styrene rod that took several tries to make it look natural. I'm not sure, though, if it looks more natural now but i had to stop at some point. I slave over the most petty details : ( I couldn't really capture the magic of the aircrew of the first Tomcat which had a more natural pose. Oh, forgot to mention -- those white alarm indicator thingamajigs I built last time -- I've painted them up! And lost them : ( Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 Trust me I know about slaving over the petty details but, that's what separates good builds from great ones. I think your beating yourself up too much on the aircrew, I think they look amazing. Just my two cents, I think the display might look a little better if you moved the Tomcat, that is level in flight, out further towards the edge of the display creating a little more space between them. Steve " TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY !' Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 On 7/22/2017 at 10:39 AM, A-10 LOADER said: I think your beating yourself up too much on the aircrew... I know, Steve, but I couldn't help it :( I feel like I'm going crazy every day that I don't add just a few more details. Just a few more steps to cover and I'm just about to close up the cockpits. Worked on the harnesses. And some harness details. I see what you mean, Steve. I think I may be able to do something about that. By the way, John, I tested the canopy with the alarm indicators over the original cockpit`s instrument panel. That coaming is so high, isn`t it. The clearance is too tight for the indicators to fit. Too bad this is the cat that goes on the foreground. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 5 hours ago, crackerjazz said: ...By the way, John, I tested the canopy with the alarm indicators over the original cockpit`s instrument panel. That coaming is so high, isn`t it. The clearance is too tight for the indicators to fit. Too bad this is the cat that goes on the foreground. Not a lot of room there, at all. It's really is too bad as those indicators are a nice addition, even though few people will ever notice them. The build looks fantastic. Can't wait to see everything closed up. On 2017-07-21 at 0:40 AM, crackerjazz said: Oh, forgot to mention -- those white alarm indicator thingamajigs I built last time -- I've painted them up! And lost them : ( I figure when it's time to replace the carpet in my den, we'll find enough lost tiny parts to build a whole other model. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 Sweet as Bro..... OK that's NZ lingo, not Aussie, but I couldn't think of anything suitable in Oz lingo. Really nice work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 (edited) Hi, John, Thommo, thanks! The canvas boots are solid slabs on the Hase and I wanted to cover them up and paint them with the right color, so here goes a couple more pics of the cockpit before I finally close it up. I've since painted up the front boot but I'm not too happy. I tried replicating what I did for the RIO but couldn't remember what color mix I used. And different photos show different colors and I'm trying to figure out the right one. The rear and front boots on the photos below show some dark color (is it greenish?) Or do they just look dark because of filters on the film? They do look darker than the coaming itself. Other (non-movie) photos I see show a different color/hue. Edited August 30, 2017 by crackerjazz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brian P: Fightertown Decals Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Every update is so cool to see! The amount of work you're putting into this is stunning. Can't wait for more. Your windscreen interior frames are amazing. A quick note on references - are you trying to match the coamings to the real thing or the movie prop? Those cockpit shots are on a studio built set and not an actual cockpit. They didn't use real coamings or even materials in building the cockpit set piece. (and if you watch closely, when Goose gets his closeup shots, he's actually sitting in the pilot seat. You can see the RIO cockpit behind him) haha keep up the great work! brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 The DACO Publications 03 - Uncovering The Grumman F-14 A-B-D Tomcat has good descriptions of the canvas covers (in the real cockpits ). In a nutshell, the covers start out black/flat black. The original Grumman covers fade to a brownish leather color due to sunlight over time. The RIO's two piece right & left covers fade differently. The right cover is not replaced as frequently as the left, & fades to a brownish leather color. The left replacement covers will fade to a purplish-red color caused by sunlight & hydraulic & other fluid stains. Here's a pic of my F-14B cockpit where I tried to simulate the colors described in the Daco book; Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 2 hours ago, JohnS said: The DACO Publications 03 - Uncovering The Grumman F-14 A-B-D Tomcat has good descriptions of the canvas covers (in the real cockpits ). In a nutshell, the covers start out black/flat black. The original Grumman covers fade to a brownish leather color due to sunlight over time. The RIO's two piece right & left covers fade differently. The right cover is not replaced as frequently as the left, & fades to a brownish leather color. The left replacement covers will fade to a purplish-red color caused by sunlight & hydraulic & other fluid stains. Here's a pic of my F-14B cockpit where I tried to simulate the colors described in the Daco book; Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted September 1, 2017 Author Share Posted September 1, 2017 Hi John, great info, thanks!!! 7 hours ago, Brian P: Fightertown Decals said: ...A quick note on references - are you trying to match the coamings to the real thing or the movie prop? Those cockpit shots are on a studio built set and not an actual cockpit. They didn't use real coamings or even materials in building the cockpit set piece... Hey, Brian, thanks! Yeah, I was trying to replicate those movie scenes. Hmmm.. so that's the reason those canvas shrouds look so new and dark in color. So... After several tries mixing various paints this is the best I could come up with. And in order to end my suffering I decided i had to glue the windscreen on to prevent myself from changing my mind. I didn't find any HUD projector in the kit so I just made one and quickly painted it dark green. Then glued the windscreen on with some extra thin cement. I'll be gluing the canopy on as well. After which I'll be able to forget about the aircrew and work on the fuselage in earnest. It's not very visible in the photos but my canopies suffered from some discoloration -- I'm not sure if it's the Tamiya tape lifting some of the Future or if it's the tape's adhesive marring the surface of the canopy. I couldn't seem to scrape it off with my fingernail. It's less visible against the dark interior but it's there when you hold it up to the light. Also it's not very noticeable in the photos either but there's some misalignment (shape-wise) between the canopy and the windscreen -- not too much but enough to bother me. And there's a visible "ledge" where the windscreen doesn't fully cover the flat area where it sits. And it's worse on one of the Tomcats. Strange, huh? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 The Tamiya builds on here are whetting my appetite to build mine but I need to get these Hasegawa cats out of the way. I was still having some problems with the canopies not sitting perfectly that I decided to glue them on and use putty where necessary. It will also free myself from being tempted to detail the cockpits any further. The other side needed a little more attention. Had to apply some extra glue for sanding later. The canopies are now permanently affixed and dust can't get inside : ) Neither can I, though, and I haven't painted the helmets! : ( Me and my planning skills. Making this area a bit more presentable..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wolfgun33 Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 I'm really liking your Tomcat builds and the diorama idea. Can't wait to see more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
my favs are F`s Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 +1! Awesome pics! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnS Posted December 9, 2017 Share Posted December 9, 2017 Nice to see you back at these Tomcats. Looking great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) Wolfgun33, MFAF, John, thanks, guys! It's always on the last leg of assembly that I always seem to go in slow motion : ) I'm getting the tailfins ready and I'll make sure to use a guide like John did to get the angles right. First though, I have to make sure I've filled and rescribed a few more areas as the tailfins will make that harder to do. Filled the wing glove dimples and a few other places. Incidentally I searched up YT for filler recommendations -- one mentioned Elmers wood filler. I gave it a try -- it feathers and scribes really nicely. I couldn't find the tube kind -- that would have been better at keeping the stuff from being exposed. But it's water-based and so easy to use. I just used a flexible razor to apply it. This has to be my favorite putty now. Edited December 25, 2017 by crackerjazz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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