Don Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Curious, why the two Japanese kills on the same airframe? Didn't two different Vf-84 Tomcat's "splash" the two Zeros in the movie (one with a gun the other a missile)? Or did both movie star Tomcat's get zapped with two Japanese flag markings? Still makes for a neat subject. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Curious, why the two Japanese kills on the same airframe? Didn't two different Vf-84 Tomcat's "splash" the two Zeros in the movie (one with a gun the other a missile)? Or did both movie star Tomcat's get zapped with two Japanese flag markings? Still makes for a neat subject. :cheers:/> I'm thinking it might have been a reference to a live fire exercise that was filmed in connection with "The Final Countdown" rather than the fictional fight scenes themselves. I also have a feeling those markings were only on a jet for squadron workups rather than an actual cruise, but we may never entirely know. It is a pretty "unique" marking I must say. For the F-14 and Zero dogfight scenes, for the most part they were filmed with the Tallmantz B-25 camera ship over an area near NAS Key West. Those images were shot by professional cameramen in the bomber. But for the M-61 gun fire sequence (and Final Countdown to date is the ONLY movie to correctly represent that gun firing in sound) and the Sidewinder launch, the F-14s went to a USN gunnery/bombing range, I believe near Vieques island. The B-25 couldn't go there since these were live firings. So the RIO in at least one of the F-14s was trained to run a film camera to capture footage of the shots as the other one fired. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 This kit has the hexagonal plates. See here, http://www.hyperscale.com/2016/reviews/kits/tamiya61114reviewbg_1.htm Outstanding! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dsahling Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Dis en Just need '79 JR markings, 203 Modex and the Buno. GREAT PHOTO!, such a beautiful plane, still one of the best camo schemes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 (edited) So I'm thinking of pre-ordering a couple of these. I have the old Aeromaster sheet with the Nimitz cruise and Fightertown Wolfpack decals I think will work and I'm also thinking about picking up the furball F-14a all star sheet as well. Forgive me for not knowing much about tomcats....how do I know if an early tomcat will work or not with these sheets? Is there an online reference somewhere? Edited August 9, 2016 by fulcrum1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Parabat Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Looks like you could do the VF-24, VF-84 and VF-142 birds (Top, 2nd and 2nd last). The last one, VF-124 has the really early 7 vent gun gas vent and the others have the triangular reinforcing plate on the tail plane, replacing the hexagonal plates. You could probably make some triangular reinforcement plates and scrape the hexagonal ones off, allowing you to make the later planes as well. This is a great sheet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Thanks! I'm going to try and build the VF-142 bird and just figure out what I need to replace along the way.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 That Vf-41 scheme with the large ace of spades looks killer too . Dangit I will have to order a few more of these little jewels by the looks of things...my poor pocketbook :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Looks like you could do the VF-24, VF-84 and VF-142 birds (Top, 2nd and 2nd last). The last one, VF-124 has the really early 7 vent gun gas vent and the others have the triangular reinforcing plate on the tail plane, replacing the hexagonal plates. You could probably make some triangular reinforcement plates and scrape the hexagonal ones off, allowing you to make the later planes as well. This is a great sheet. Steel Beach will have some updates that will include everything you need. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Parabat Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Steel Beach will have some updates that will include everything you need. Good deal! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TomcatFanatic123 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 1981 VF-84 Jolly Rogers (yeah, yeah, I know...) would work for this kit OOB, correct? I know all the nuances and differences of the different iterations of the Tomcat if I see them, it's just difficult for me to put it all together...LOL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 There is some conjecture on when exactly the hexagonal stiffener plates were replaced with the L shaped ones... during 1981 it is entirely possible that some jets could still have had the hexagonal brackets featured on this kit, so while not definitive, the answer is likely "yes", you could build a 1981 jet with the proper decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cag_200 Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Great picture Sabre Freak ! I would love to see some more Modex and BuNo options for VF-84, VF-41, VF-2, etc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 There is some conjecture on when exactly the hexagonal stiffener plates were replaced with the L shaped ones... during 1981 it is entirely possible that some jets could still have had the hexagonal brackets featured on this kit, so while not definitive, the answer is likely "yes", you could build a 1981 jet with the proper decals. Yes, the 1981 Gulf of Sidra jets from the VF-41 Black Aces for instance had a mix of hex and L brackets on their jets in 1981. So while the work was being done to add the "L" brackets, it hadn't happened to all the aircraft yet at the depot level. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Yes, the 1981 Gulf of Sidra jets from the VF-41 Black Aces for instance had a mix of hex and L brackets on their jets in 1981. So while the work was being done to add the "L" brackets, it hadn't happened to all the aircraft yet at the depot level. Jay is correct. Fast Eagle 102 had the hex stiffeners while 107 had the inverted L stiffeners. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Viper_944FW Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) A Tomcat from the VF213 Indian Ocean cruise from 1981 that I was on. The birds were painted overall gloss gull grey but of interest were the multicolored Aim-9s/7s that were hung on their pylons (last pic). Edited August 11, 2016 by Viper_944FW Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 What awesome pictures! I bet there are hundreds of pictures like that sitting in chests in attics all over the country. Thanks for sharing Viper_994! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cag_200 Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) The 2 Final Countdown Tomcats (202 -203) were painted overall gull grey on top and the IKE's VF-142 and VF-143 - overall. Edited August 11, 2016 by cag_200 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Negative Ghostrider, the decal pattern is full. ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Swordsman422 Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Actually, Tomcats from CVW-7's first cruise on Ike would make an interesting subject. It's unfortunate that there aren't any. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 Actually, Tomcats from CVW-7's first cruise on Ike would make an interesting subject. It's unfortunate that there aren't any. You could get kind of close using either the Furball and/or the Superscale sheets. It wouldn't be exact, but it would look the part. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Swordsman422 Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) Actually, Darren, I was thinking of something like this. Not the earliest on the Ike, I know, but still in the general area. Edited August 11, 2016 by Swordsman422 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) Those multicolor missiles are interesting. I know there were still all-white missiles in inventory well into the 1990s. A buddy of mine that served on the independence and later the kitty hawk said that as late as 1999 or 2000, VF-154 still had some all white phoenix missiles on hand. Edited August 11, 2016 by Skull Leader Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neeko Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 (edited) Those multicolor missiles are interesting. I know there were still all-white missiles in inventory well into the 1990s. A buddy of mine that served on the independence and later the kitty hawk said that as late as 1999 or 2000, VF-154 still had some all white phoenix missiles on hand. The 80s and even the 90s saw missiles with gray and white areas, because they were assembled from the sections that were available at the time in the magazines. For example the 'winder in the photo above has a white warhead section, while the other parts were gray at the time of buildup. While multi-colored missile sections may upset the AMS modeler who strives for symmetry and uniformity, I have it on good authority that the weapons themselves worked just fine. Any chance you could see pics of those all white Phoenixes to make out if they were some of the last remaining AIM-54As? All of ours were gray in the late 90s, but we only carried and shot the C version from the F-14D... It makes for interesting modeling for sure! Edited August 11, 2016 by Neeko Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neeko Posted August 11, 2016 Share Posted August 11, 2016 A Tomcat from the VF213 Indian Ocean cruise from 1981 that I was on. The birds were painted overall gloss gull grey but of interest were the multicolored Aim-9s/7s that were hung on their pylons (last pic). AWESOME pics!! I was a Blacklion from 2005-2009. Blacklion markings from the 70s and 80s are sorely lacking out there... there are a few if you can find them, but not a whole heck of a lot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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