flybywire Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 (edited) Hi everyone! If I'll be building the IRAIF F-14 (scheme shown below), will the Tamiya F-14A kit #61114 the best kit for it and are the parts make-up complete for this particular scheme? Thanks in advance! Edited July 3, 2019 by flybywire Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 (edited) If you get the Tamiya F-14A version, you have everything you need. The IRIAF has good ol' Block 90 / Block 95 Alphas and that is exactely what the kit will give you so no changes. If you plan to do the old Asia minor desert scheme you can basically build out of the box. I saw the original IRIAF Tomcats in their current blue/grey tactical scheme last November life and up close. I know they tell a lot about upgrades and changes but at least on the outside no changes visible. Nothing done to the hull / airframe and the cockpit is basically still the same except for new MFDs and the one or other gauge I believe. The RIO still has the round TID however seems to have new instruments added to the sides of it but don't pin me on it as I merely had seconds to peek inside and could only take photos through the closed canopy and from a distance after I was politely asked away from the bird. So if you want to go with a depiction of a current bird you might have to do with some scratch work regarding the cockpit. Unless you want to build 160347 / 3-6049, i.e. their AM-upgrade prototype. I haven't seen that particular one live yet but in one of the few videos available of the bird there's a very short sequence were one can get a peek into the cockpit and there have definitely been significant changes on that particular bird. All still have their neat old TF-30 engines and they still fire up nicely. ooooooohhhh that sweet whining whistle just short before they go into AB. Oooooooohhhh, I already miss'em. Edited July 3, 2019 by bushande Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mstor Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 (edited) Just as an aside. It has just been reported that one of Iran's F-14s has crashed yesterday and was completely destroyed. Its a shame. Edit: Not sure if the reporting I saw was confusing the May 19 crash of one of their F-14s or if this is a new one. Take with grain of salt. Edited July 3, 2019 by Mstor Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 New article is about the May 19 crash: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/one-irans-last-f-14a-tomcats-just-crashed-65241 Original article: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/iriaf-f-14a-tomcat-crashes-both-crew-members-ejected-safely/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 (edited) There you go. That would have been a real pity if it was another one. If the May 19 crash was indeed 3-6003 i.e. 160301 it was the no. 3 Tomcat going to Iran in the 70s and hence one of the longest flying F-14 airframes ever. What a shame. However, the claim in the article that there are only about a dozen F-14s operational is something I would rather not bet on. I'm trying to keep track on those Persian cats for quite a few years now (just as well as other aficionados I suppose) and there are way more working. It depends on what you understand as "operational". No one can really tell how many are truly fully mission capable; could be zero, could be as many as 20. There are easily a rich 40 plus airframes flyable. Somewhere in my pile I have a list of all the serials that in some way or another have been spotted airborne since 2009 till 2018, documented by images you can find on the web and in books and recent magazine articles (provided these are not doctored, i.e. serials photoshoped or the like) and by video captures. The last three serials I added where the three serials I saw, touched, photographed and filmed myself, i.e. 160327, 160328 and 160350, all of them flying end of 2018. The most recent image that surfaced depicts 160300 in December 2018 apparently just rolling out of overhaul and the most recent films are short clips of the IRIAFs show of force exercises in the Persian gulf area in Feb. 2019 showing at least 4 flyable F-14 airframes popping flares. My list has something around 43 flyable airframes, add or take a few for statistics and "fake news" sake. Based on whats reportedly capable to get airborne and considering the cirumstance that they apparetly push at least one airframe into overhaul each year I would reckon that a number between 20-30 being "operational" (given my interpretation of anything between "just" flyable and truly fully combat ready) is quite realistic. I wouldn't be surprised if the number was even higher. In one of the few recent clips of the Velayat exercise they conduct apparently on an annual basis you can see as many as 16 F-14 airframes in one row with one machine taxiing and eventually taking off. Since the Velayat exercise is not conducted from their homebase at Esfahan one would assume these machines have not been dragged there by road hihihi. There are a few spotter clips that seem to have been taken at Esfahan airbase during their annual family day end of February 2019 that do show some pretty cool and speedy overhead passes over the crowd. I counted at least three different airframes. The fact that Iran is very secretive about their Tomcats is a sad thing for all of us fanboys but I think we shouldn't make the mistake of making conclusions of the actual status of their fleet just by what little info surfaces. On an additional note: The clip of them claiming that they had launched "mass production" of their "Fakour-90" Phoenix derivate also shows a short sequence in which one can see 160347 (recognizable by its prominent splinter scheme) actually launching such a missile or better a missile that definitely looks a lot like a Phoenix missile. The fact that 160347 can clearly be identified by its splinter scheme that it received in 2013 allows the conclusion that the launch sequence cannot be older than that and could very well be quite recent. Either they really did succeed in engineering a proper working Phoenix derivative or if not they managed to keep a number of Phoenix missiles operational, i.e. launchable despite the life cycle limits of the termal batteries. The second option I confess is one I would rather not consider very likely; at least I would be more suprised if they actually managed to enhance the termal battery life of the AIM-54As; rather than actually having managed to engineer an opertional Fakour-90 version. Either way you have to commend them on that. Edited July 3, 2019 by bushande Quote Link to post Share on other sites
flybywire Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 4 hours ago, bushande said: If you get the Tamiya F-14A version, you have everything you need. The IRIAF has good ol' Block 90 / Block 95 Alphas and that is exactely what the kit will give you so no changes. If you plan to do the old Asia minor desert scheme you can basically build out of the box. I saw the original IRIAF Tomcats in their current blue/grey tactical scheme last November life and up close. I know they tell a lot about upgrades and changes but at least on the outside no changes visible. Nothing done to the hull / airframe and the cockpit is basically still the same except for new MFDs and the one or other gauge I believe. The RIO still has the round TID however seems to have new instruments added to the sides of it but don't pin me on it as I merely had seconds to peek inside and could only take photos through the closed canopy and from a distance after I was politely asked away from the bird. So if you want to go with a depiction of a current bird you might have to do with some scratch work regarding the cockpit. Unless you want to build 160347 / 3-6049, i.e. their AM-upgrade prototype. I haven't seen that particular one live yet but in one of the few videos available of the bird there's a very short sequence were one can get a peek into the cockpit and there have definitely been significant changes on that particular bird. All still have their neat old TF-30 engines and they still fire up nicely. ooooooohhhh that sweet whining whistle just short before they go into AB. Oooooooohhhh, I already miss'em. Thank you very much bushande! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Most welcome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
skyhawk174 Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Hey Bushande thanks so much for the update. The IRIAF F-14 is for sure on my list of models to build as I love camo schemes. I had earmarked one of my Hasegawa Tomcats for this but I will use the new Tamiya kit instead. Markings are even in the box but I have other sheets. Also i am sure you have heard it already but I recall reading that they have back engineered the engines so now they can make spare parts for their engines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Skull Leader Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 my last count was around 40 airframes still flying as well. Anyone's guess as to how many are MC. This is the first I've heard about new MFDs in anything other than the F-14AM though. Same stacked screen layout? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
agelos2005 Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 What are the correct colours for the plane in gunze or tamiya? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, Skull Leader said: my last count was around 40 airframes still flying as well. Anyone's guess as to how many are MC. This is the first I've heard about new MFDs in anything other than the F-14AM though. Same stacked screen layout? Far as I can tell of what little I was able to catch from peeping inside, the layout is basically the same, i.e. stacked one above the other in the front seat but the pilots displays are new with more function-buttons and the RIO has some new gauges left / right of the TID. I can't say anything about the side board panels. I have to rummage up all my shots I took last Winter over there. I filled two 32 GB cards with a little over 2.000 shots. However I was not allowed to hold the camera even remotely into the direction of a Tomcat cockpit. All I was able to do was a very quick and dirty cell phone snap shot. Let me see if I can dig it up?! Edited July 4, 2019 by bushande Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sleepy Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 10 hours ago, agelos2005 said: What are the correct colours for the plane in gunze or tamiya? The green is 34079, and the belly grey is 36622. Neither the tan nor the brown is available from Gunze or Tamiya. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 On 7/4/2019 at 11:38 AM, agelos2005 said: What are the correct colours for the plane in gunze or tamiya? Can't help you with Gunze or Tamiya but these Life Color paints seem pretty spot on: FS 36622 UA 021 LIGHT GREY FS 30400 UA 084 YELLOW SAND FS 30140 UA 085 BROWN SPECIAL FS 34079 UA 001 FOREST GREEN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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