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1/48 Hasegawa F-14A Tomcat "Victory 202"


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Hi all!

Well, I am back again with my 12th completed build, the 1/48 Hasegawa F-14A Tomcat. This project was started as part of a buddy build with TomcatTweeker from here on this forum. He has built many Hasegawa Tomcats, so he lent me his extensive knowledge of the subject to help me shake my fears of starting this beast and to offer construction hints and tips. Thanks David, your help has been invaluable!

I am not gonna lie, before this project began I was pretty much petrified of the Hasegawa F-14. I had heard way too many horror stories about trashing the kit or putting it on the shelf of doom for years of dust collecting. But, as I have gone along, I have learned that it is not the monster I made it out to be in my own mind. Don't get me wrong, this is a very challenging kit, by FAR the most challenging of the 12 I have undertaken so far. But there are tips and tricks out there to counter every trouble spot on the kit, and with patience they can be overcome. I did not get everything perfect (and still have a ways to go), but I am pretty happy how I managed the many challenges on my first try. I will get better on the next one, to be sure!

This build held a host of "firsts" for me. First time building the Has Tom. First time using aftermarket upgrades other than decals. And first time using a new pre-shading technique, black-basing. I am very pleased how that technique turned out, so I think that will be my new go-to, especially for Navy birds.

The markings I used are from the SBDecals "Feisty Felines, Part 1" sheet. This is a really cool sheet, it covers one particular BuNo (160390) F-14 throughout it's life in three different squadrons. In fact, it's life in VF-84 was rather short lived and pretty uneventful. In the other two squadrons, it actually was involved in 2 very famous incidents. As part of VF-41 Black Aces, it was "Fast Eagle 107" with Cdr. Hank Kleeman and RIO Lt. Dave Venlet and was involved in the Gulf of Sidra Incident as one of the two that shot down a Libyan Su-22 Fitter. Then, after the stint in VF-84, this aircraft was transferred to VF-213 Black Lions. In another famous (but tragic) incident, this plane earned the headlines again on Oct. 25, 1994 when, piloted by Lt. Kara “Revlon” Hultgreen, U.S. Navy’s first female F-14 pilot, crashed into the sea while landing aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, off San Diego. While her RIO, Lt. Matthew P. Klemish, ejected safely she didn’t survive the ejection.

My build thread for this can be found here, although it was started quite late in the build:

My Hasegawa Tomcat Build Thread

Overall this has been the most rewarding and most challenging project for me so far. I feel like my building skills really improved tackling this challenge, and the resulting model really surprised me in! In fact, I even had to step up my picture taking skills for this one! LOL

Well, on to the pics! I hope you enjoy...

Kit: 1/48 Hasegawa F-14A Tomcat (P18)

Decals: SB Decals "Feisty Felines, Part 1", Afterburner "Victory Cats" (for lt. gray stencils), Furball Aero-Design "Bombcat Weapons Set" (for the missile markings)

Aftermarket: AIM-54 Phoenix missiles from Hasegawa Weapons Set B, and AIM-7 Sparrows and AIM-9 Sidewinders from Hasegawa Weapons Set C, Quickboost Ejection Seats, Eduard F-14A PE Set (full), MasterModel Pitot and AOA probe, and Eduard Canopy Mask.

Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (primer base), Tamiya White Liquid Primer (for pre-shade stippling), Gunze Aqueous H307 FS36320 Dark Compass Ghost Gray (overall basecoat), H308 FS36375 Light Compass Ghost Gray (for corrosion control spot painting), and Black, Tamiya smoke, and Alclad II Gloss Black Primer, Aluminum, and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. MIG US Navy weathering set for panel washes.

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OUTSTANDING !!

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY!"

Thanks Steve! Now that this is done, I will get my Tomcat fix from you, jazz, and Dave Roof's Tomcat projects. :banana:

Great job! Fantastic weathering.

Thanks so much Whitey! I really took a big step up in my weathering abilities with this build. I learned to not be afraid to try something new or experiment with this project. Almost anything that you do that you don't like can be fixed.

NOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks Darren! I hope I did your decals justice!

Great work! You nailed the paint scheme with the paint touched up and all the weathering. A great model!

Well done,

Tom

Thanks Tom! I think I will enter this into the Cleveland Model Show in November. Will you be there? Kinda nervous to do that though, never entered a judged event like that before.

Masterpiece!!!

Ah man, thanks jazz! That is a big compliment that I really appreciate. I look forward to your Display Case thread with your twin Tom build baby! :cheers:

that first shot just gave me a wood....wub.gif

Hahahahaha that's awesome! When I saw that pic after I took it I was like, "Oh snap, thiis will be my lead pic!" lol

Thats one Awesom Cat!!

Thanks shan, I appreciate the kind words!!!

Nice and quick build!

Fantastic!

Thanks AK, I look forward to seeing more of your Tomcats here! ;)

Fabulous! :D/>

Thanks Aigore, I appreciate you taking the time to leave me the nice comment!

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8I9UY.gif

the-rock-clapping.gif

Thanks Jackman!

Just put some puddles of 5606 under the ventral fins and you could pass it off for a miniaturized F-14!! Very Very nice!

That sounds like a good diorama idea! LOL

Thanks Boom!

Very nicely done. I like the painting and weathering a lot.

Thanks Janissary, I appreciate the kind words. I am a big fan of your work, so that means a lot!

Excellent job, that really shows off the hard work and effort you put in, a resounding success!

Thanks Parabat! I definitely put more time and effort into this one that any other so far. I had to step up my game to do this one justice.

Fantastic build! First class finish all the way.

Thanks r0t0r! I appreciate that. I have put a lot of time here studying the great builds and the finishes of the masters, and I am glad my attempt came off successfully!

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Yep, it definitely paid off! I can only dream of pulling off a finish like that! :)/>/>

Thanks again!

I am sure you can do it, it actually was really easy. Here is what I did, just in case any of this might work for ya. I made sure I got a really nice glossy surface by brushing future on. Then, a day after applying the decals I applied a wash of MIG Dark Gray Wash liberally. Just kinda painted over every panel line. Waited 10 minutes, then took a lint free rag ("Borrowed" some from work LOL) and just made one or two pass "swipes" from front to back to remove it. What was left was realistic looking streaks and dark dirtyish areas. The MIG wash definitely has a brown cast to the gray.

Then I took Tamiya smoke (first time using this and REALLY love the effects you can create with it!) and just kinda darkened some panels and lines randomly. Then I took the smoke and made some ovals in random spots and on the oval and circular panels, going outside the panel lines for these. Then I took light ghost gray (basecoat is dark ghost gray) and went over some panel lines and filled some panels randomly. Where I had done the circles and ovals, I just filled in most of the center of the area, leaving the darker smoked area around the edge of the light ghost gray "spot corrosion control" simulated areas.

Anyway, that is just my method I came up with. Hope maybe this helps someone get an idea of how to do those things and what to use.

Edited by Fighting Eighty-Four
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