F-14B Tomcat (What if) in 1/72 by Academy

[Hajo L.]

My current project is a "What-if?", using the new Academy kit of the F-14A. The "what if" will mainly focus on armament, color and markings.

 

 

The cockpit is a really nice germ, with decals that fit perfectly to the knobs and buttons of the plastic parts. Since I´m doing a "B" instead of an "A", I will have to use some alternative parts, that thankfully are provided in the kit.

 

Which gun exhaust vents are necessary for the "B" again? I have three different parts as options...

 

 

HAJO

[Hajo L.]

I´m alone this weekend - so quite some progress is possible!

 

 

The fit is still excellent, but some things are simply not good in my opinion. For example the wing-mechanism:

 

 

ALL other manufacturers have some sort of mechanism that synchronizes both wings, so that they can be swept and stay symmetric. Academy only offers some pins that allocate to these small openings to keep the wings in one of four different positions. And guess what? After gluing the fuselage top and bottom together, I don´t "feel" these wing positions anymore, so my wings sweep free without beeing tied to these "positions". That´s a minus on my list.

 

And here comes another one:

 

This is the front landing gear AFTER I have cut out about 2mm of the hydraulic cylinder:

 

 

The original part would only be realistic on a flying aircraft, but certainly not on a parked one. I wonder how this slipped through the design???

 

 

HAJO

[Hajo L.]

Fins and rudders are mounted:

 

 

The belly is nearly complete:

 

 

And the aircraft rests on its own legs!

 

 

 

HAJO

[jonf45]

Looks fantastic, good work with the undercarriage leg 😃

[Hajo L.]

Ok, I think now it's a bit clearer what kind of "hat if" I'm going to do here...:

 

 

Close-up:

 

 

Anybody wants to take a guess? 😉

 

 

HAJO

[jonf45]

oooh, that does look good!! looking forward to seeing what youre gonna be putting on those!!!

[Hajo L.]

Well, you have guessed it probably: It will be 14x MK-82 Snakeeyes! 😄

 

And another aspect of "what if" will be the camo:

 

 

FERRIS-SCHEME! 😉

 

 

HAJO

 

[Hajo L.]

I added the clear parts and painted some smaller details.

 

Because of reasons I also re-painted the rudder in a blue-ish and darker grey, using Revell 79.

 

 

Now some clear coat to prepare the model for decals.

 

 

HAJO

[Hajo L.]

Decals are one!

 

 

Now a matt clear coat next and then a lot of bombs.

 

 

HAJO

[Hajo L.]

I´m on vacation and therefor can´t do any progress - but there actually is no need anymore, since I was able to get the Tomcat finished on my last evening home!

But I was only able to do some "hush-hush" pictures, I will take some better ones as soon as I return home.

 

 

The 14 MK-82s look awesome one the bird!

 

 

The front part got some sunlight on this picture, it´s usually not that bright in relation to the rest of the aircraft.

 

 

 

HAJO

[Hajo L.]

Even though it´s way too hot outside these days (today we'll reach around 32 °C, tomorrow are 35 °C forecasted... 😞 ) I shot some pictures of the finished Bombcat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the full bomb load in all its glory:

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime the Tomcat has found a safe parking spot in my office among a couple of HobbyBoss Tomcats:

 

 

 

HAJO

[Anders_Isaksson]

Nice work! I really like how the paint scheme turned out. 👍

But are you sure about the nose gear oleo being too long as it comes in the kit?
I think the nose gear of your model looks slightly too low in the photos, making the model's nose sit a bit low.
But that may be because of the angle in the photos.

When modeling an airborne Tomcat I spent a lot of time looking at photos of the real aircraft and its nose landing gear. I came to the conclusion that the oleo was of the same length regardless of being airborne (without load) or on the ground (with load).
(However, I did modify the main gear oleas for the proper extended look.)

 

 

Edited September 25, 2020 by Anders_Isaksson

[Psar77]

On 7/4/2020 at 10:28 PM, Hajo L. said:

The original part would only be realistic on a flying aircraft, but certainly not on a parked one. I wonder how this slipped through the design???

 

I think it's OK. The front gear is lowerd (as in your model) only when the aircraft is attached to the catapult on the aircraft carrier :-)

[Hajo L.]

Well, if I look at my old Fujimi-Kit or other kits that provide the lowered gear ready for a Cat-shot, they look waaaayyy more depressed than mine does. 

 

 

HAJO

[Anders_Isaksson]

Yes, your modified nose gear is certainly not lowered as much as when being attached to the catapult.
But I am still leaning towards leaving the kit part for the nose gear leg alone, I think it looks fine as it is.