Fujimi F-14

[RKic]

While ARC was down I made good headway on my 1/72 tomcat. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out, but I have a few questions for the experts. First, is the missile body color too dark? Too blue? This is supposed to be a plane from the late 80s. Would the missiles still be white?

 

 

Second, Fujimi indicates the carrier name for the aircraft as USS Independence. Far as I could tell, VF-84 never had a cruise on Independence, So I applied the USS Teddy Roosevelt decals. Was I correct in my assumption?

 

Third, should this aircraft have a light tan colored nose tip?

 

And last, do the insides of F-14 afterburners have the whitish coating like in an F-15?

 

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions/constructive criticisms.

Edited October 11, 2016 by RKic

[TomcatFanatic123]

1. I do believe the missiles were still white in the late 80's. If I remember right, that's about the time the transition over to the Light Ghost Gray began...late, late 80's to early 90's. There were still F-15's lugging white missiles around during Desert Storm. Come to think of it, for that time frame, you may even be able to get away with either color.

2. I don't believe VF-84 ever embarked on the Independence, and for the timeframe you're going for, the Roosevelt markings are correct (VF-84's CVW joined the Roosevelt in 1988).
 

3. If it's an overall gull gray scheme, then no, it shouldn't have the white/tan striped radome.

4. Yes, the TF-30 engines had the white insides, but a lot of times they'd get so scorched up, it was hard to even tell.

Hope this helps :)

Edited October 11, 2016 by TomcatFanatic123

[twong]

This Wikimedia link shows the tan radome and says it is from 1988. The carrier name on the glove vane says USS Theodore Roosevelt.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-14A_VF-84_at_NAS_Fallon_1988.JPEG

 

 

[RKic]

Thank you both.