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1/48 Tamiya F-14A


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I just picked up my Tomcat today and have been pawing through it... very impressive!!

The main clear canopy has a seam down the middle, but it is so incredibly fine you could get away with leaving it alone.

 

Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but in looking at the instructions they have you remove a few bumps and panel lines as well as trimming the mating surface for the A/B cans on the beaver tail. Looks like more variants are coming, or at least the intention to do so... Tamiya can be fickle that way.

 

Marc B.

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Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but in looking at the instructions they have you remove a few bumps and panel lines as well as trimming the mating surface for the A/B cans on the beaver tail. Looks like more variants are coming, or at least the intention to do so... Tamiya can be fickle that way.

 

I noticed that as well Marc, good eye. Let's hope so.

 

Steve

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Probably doable. I dont have my tomcat alley book with me right now but that is a VF-101 jet hence the AD tail code, that was loaned to VF-33 to paint their new paint scheme on as they were about to transition from the phantom. It has the grill gun vent, no ecm lumps, I just cant tell if it has the L brackets in that photo.

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just found a huge pic... it's a 110-GR right?

 

F-14A%252C+161142%252C+VF-33+and+VF-101%

 

Tamiya could be built OOB with this livery (I can't see any ECM bumps under the wing glove vanes)? thx.

 

thanks for your confirm Steve.

 

 

Edited by Alpagueur
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12 minutes ago, Alpagueur said:

which is the block of this bad guy?

ss72350c.jpg

 

Just found a pic of this jet in the Colors & Markings of the F-14 Tomcat, Vol. 2, by Bert Kinzet. It is 161142 and those markings are from around October of 1981.

 

Steve

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2 hours ago, kurtd123 said:

I just googled "Tower Hobby Coupon Code" and found a $15 off code.  You never know if they will work, but this one did.  Unfortunately it isn't displayed on the invoice, but I think it was this one:  01A39

 

I just tried it and it worked!

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3 hours ago, Modelmkr said:

I just picked up my Tomcat today and have been pawing through it... very impressive!!

The main clear canopy has a seam down the middle, but it is so incredibly fine you could get away with leaving it alone.

 

Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but in looking at the instructions they have you remove a few bumps and panel lines as well as trimming the mating surface for the A/B cans on the beaver tail. Looks like more variants are coming, or at least the intention to do so... Tamiya can be fickle that way.

 

Marc B.

Actually, that's not a seam line. Those are the lightning strips to protect the crew/cockpit from lightning strikes. I just painted my canopy and there was no seam line that I could see. That in itself makes the Tamiya kit the winner of all kits.

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On 8/7/2016 at 9:08 PM, Falconxlvi said:

I soooo wish one of the new school decal companies would make decals for this bird. The aeromaster sheet is impossible to find! Furball and Fightertown, are you guys listening? 😜

Furball is going to be releasing the VF-41 High Viz jet hopefully at the end of the month along with some PE tail stiffners other Navy subjects.

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40 minutes ago, Darren Roberts said:

Actually, that's not a seam line. Those are the lightning strips to protect the crew/cockpit from lightning strikes. I just painted my canopy and there was no seam line that I could see. That in itself makes the Tamiya kit the winner of all kits.

 

Yes, I see those details and am aware of the lightening stripes, but where they end in the middle of each clear Perspex area there is an "oh so faint" seam. I can only make it out with the right light.

 

Marc B.

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1 hour ago, Modelmkr said:

 

Yes, I see those details and am aware of the lightening stripes, but where they end in the middle of each clear Perspex area there is an "oh so faint" seam. I can only make it out with the right light.

 

Marc B.

I still can't see it. That simply means I'm getting old and blind and probably need to invest in an Optivisor!

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Darren, I could barely see it myself under full sunlight at just the right angle in my search to see if a seam existed. Under normal lighting it's all but invisible.

So, yeah, big plus in my books too :thumbsup:

 

Marc B.

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5 hours ago, pookie said:

Am I the only one who doesn't let the wrong BUNO/block keep him from putting whatever decals on an F-14.... any F-14?

 

 

Nope your not alone!

In fact until only a few years ago nobody gave a flying one except for a limited few.

Take a look through the galleries at all the Hasegawa kits done over the years.

in short it's your kit build it how you like and care zero what others think..

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1 hour ago, dehowie said:

 

 

Nope your not alone!

In fact until only a few years ago nobody gave a flying one except for a limited few.

Take a look through the galleries at all the Hasegawa kits done over the years.

in short it's your kit build it how you like and care zero what others think..

I am just about to join you guys on that there island. Getting tired of the yes / no myself. I am all about accuracy when it count's, like in a model contest but as a hobbyist I am beginning to not care. 

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On 10/12/2016 at 7:38 PM, Jay Chladek said:

 

666 as it appeared in 1987 may not quite work, but it was part of VF-111 earlier than that. There are a few excellent VF-111 candidates that could be done in the gull gray scheme from the kit. They stood up in 1978 and had jets without the L brackets at least early on. They are block 100 jets, which should be more or less identical to the Tamiya kit configuration. Some possible candidates from Dave Brown's book include (according to the dates they were photographed):

 

160670 #202 (June 1980) No L brackets

160672 #203 No L brackets (crashed in 1979 before it could get them)

160664 #213 (10 May 1982)

160665 (not sure about the nose #) delivered June 1978

160666 (not sure about the nose #) delivered June 1978

160676 #205 (March 1979) no L brackets

160680 #207 no L brackets

160684 #211 (March 1979) no L brackets

160686 #212

160688 #213 (March 1979) no L brackets

160690 #202 (April 17, 1982) might have brackets

 

Jay

 

 Thanks for the info you supplied. I an having trouble staying up with all the posts and threads on this kit. Not to mention trying to figure out what mods a particular jet had done to it and when. I will be doing the VF-111 NL200 160666 jet. The decals are for the 1983 USS Kitty Hawk deployment. I am guessing by then all the earlier jets had the L braces installed by then. All the pics I have found on line do not give me a clear view of the vertical stabilizers so I can verify. So I will get some or make some L braces for my second kit when it arrives late next week. This 1st kit will get VF-84 markings due to my son being a fan of anything with skulls and crossbones on it. He does't care about aircraft or modeling ( Don't hate on him for that ). Forgot to mention that this will not be Miss Molly. I think the one I am doing is before they got to the USS Carl Vinson.

Edited by tosouthern66
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All of the small details can be very confusing. I agree completely with build it how you want to. It's all about passion. I'm passionate about the F-14, so I notice little differences. The Kittyhawk Banshee came out and there were posts listing what was wrong with it. I couldn't see any of them! Here's what I would say are the details on the Tomcat listed from least important to most important for the overall look.

 

1. tail brackets - These are barely visible, so if you're not sure, just go with what's in the kit.

2. ECM blisters - These are a little more visible, but there was a mix a jets that had/didn't have them even into the 90's. I've been known to put markings that should have had them on a kit that didn't have them, and it doesn't really make a difference.

3. wheels - Now we're getting into pretty recognizable differences. The wheels that were on the early Tomcats are decidedly different from later Tomcats. Still, if you're doing an early/mid 80's jet, it can go either way and most won't know the difference.

4. TCS chin sensor - By the mid 80's, there was a mix of jets that had/didn't have them. If doing a gull gray over white jet, you would go with the small ALQ-100 sensor that comes in the Tamiya kit. As a general rule, anything from the 90's on you would use a TCS pod.

5. gun vents - The general rule for gun vents: Early to mid 70's had the 7 grill vent, late 70's through the 80's had the standard vent, and 90's on had the NACA vent.

 

Again, build it for the enjoyment of the hobby. Hopefully the list above will help if you wanted to try be a bit more accurate.

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15 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but in looking at the instructions they have you remove a few bumps and panel lines as well as trimming the mating surface for the A/B cans on the beaver tail. Looks like more variants are coming, or at least the intention to do so... Tamiya can be fickle that way.

 

I noticed that as well Marc, good eye. Let's hope so.

 

Steve

 

 

From what I have seen Tamiya seem to always do the required research and make provisions for more versions when tooling up the original parts.  :thumbsup:

But if and when other versions actually appear is another story... it can happen next spring or in ten years.

 

I just hope they continue with more Tomcat versions.

After all their choice to release this somewhat limited version IMHO certainly points to later versions coming sooner rather than later. 

But logic is one thing and... well. :rolleyes:

 

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1 hour ago, Anders_Isaksson said:

 

 

From what I have seen Tamiya seem to always do the required research and make provisions for more versions when tooling up the original parts.  :thumbsup:

But if and when other versions actually appear is another story... it can happen next spring or in ten years.

 

I just hope they continue with more Tomcat versions.

After all their choice to release this somewhat limited version IMHO certainly points to later versions coming sooner rather than later. 

But logic is one thing and... well. :rolleyes:

 

They did pretty well with their F-16C kit. They covered just about every F-16C variant there is. If they do the same with their Tomcat kit, I'd say the next release will be the Block 125 update. The lens for the TCS is already on the clear sprue. They may even go further and do the late life A, which is almost identical to a B, which probably means they'll do a B as well. I would hazard a guess that they will skip the D altogether, seeing that AMK is releasing one, and seeing that they still haven't released an F-16D even though the kit is set up for it. Unless they plan on providing a new fuselage, the early A is not going to happen.

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