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Victory 105 - VF103 F-14B (from AMK F-14D) 1/48


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That's sacrilege, calling our beloved plane a Turkey!  hehe.  Was that nickname used a lot on the deck?  Actually it does resemble one somewhat when landing and the forward Phoenix pallets look like a turkey's wattle : )   Looking great, Red Dog!  Wish I could build as fast as you guys.

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Landing gear and decals are on. 

 

The AMK gear are gorgeous and except braking lines on the braces of the MLG there's hardly something missing. 

The nose gear with the kneeling option was too good to pass and as I said earlier I made sure the stance was respected - I probably went a little over the board but I really wanted to have the kneeling stance very visible.

 

SbS_F14_111_GB_bottom.png

 

SbS_F14_112_GB_Gears.png

 

SbS_F14_110_GB_Gears.png

As you can see, Victory 105 just received brand new tyres 🙂
These are the Tamiya F-14A wheels btw, as D and B models had different wheels. 

 

Decals are gorgeous as well and they went on the model without a glitch. carrier film is almost invisible on the MRP superclear coat. The only part where I had a bit of trouble with sizing issue was the wing formation lights. But the AMK decals are way too yellow to my liking. 

 

SbS_F14_106_GB_Wing.png

 

 

 

SbS_F14_108_GB_Decals.png

 

SbS_F14_109_GB_Decals.png

Stencils are barely visible, but that's exactly how I wanted them

 

Decals have been sealed with an extra coat of MRP Supergloss and I'll now wash some area and weather the wings and stab some more as well as address some required touchups here and there

 

Thanks for looking.

 

 

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Looks excellent!! Love the paint snd weathering. 
 

one note though, why use the early Tamiya A wheels? The kit ‘D’ wheels are actually correct for this jet. The early A tires never made it to the B. There is a lot of bad info out there about the wheel hubs. And they weren’t type specific. 
 

- early A only (because the B/D didn’t exist) 1972-late 70s. Out of the fleet by 1981/1982. Blk 100 fresh from Grumman were the last to have them in 1978/1979. 

-standard A/B/D. Late 70s-early 2000s

- Late A/B/D. Mid 90s-2006. First I’ve seen it was 1994. All models. Was interchangeable with the standard wheel. VF-24 had a jet with standard and late on the same time. One each side. 

Edited by Brian P: Fightertown Decals
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Thank you Brian,

I guess I was convinced it was a type issue indeed.

But you're obviously right and it was right in front of my nose as the picture I have of that particular aircraft has indeed the late wheels.

 

Glad and didn't glue them yet. Switching the AMK wheels will not be an issue thans to your timely guidance 🙂

Much appreciated

 

 

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Happy to help and that it’s an easy change. Your build is so cool and the old A wheels are just funky looking haha. There’s a lot of ‘off’ info about the wheels out there. And all the AM makers label their wheels as A type specific  and doesn’t help out. 

can’t wait to see more. 

Edited by Brian P: Fightertown Decals
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On 3/12/2021 at 7:11 PM, crackerjazz said:

That's sacrilege, calling our beloved plane a Turkey!  hehe.  Was that nickname used a lot on the deck?  Actually it does resemble one somewhat when landing and the forward Phoenix pallets look like a turkey's wattle : )   Looking great, Red Dog!  Wish I could build as fast as you guys.

Yes Crackerjazz, it was her nickname AFAIK 😁. Possibly because of the angle and shape of its stabilizers when landing on the ship? Can someone confirm?

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On 3/15/2021 at 5:28 PM, Brian P: Fightertown Decals said:

Happy to help and that it’s an easy change. Your build is so cool and this old A wheels are just funky looking haha. There’s a lot of ‘off’ I go about the wheels out there. And all the AM makers label their wheels as A type specific donut doesn’t help out. 

can’t wait to see more. 

 

"Donut" has my Avatar coming to life.

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3 hours ago, FASTEAGLE107 said:

Yes Crackerjazz, it was her nickname AFAIK 😁. Possibly because of the angle and shape of its stabilizers when landing on the ship? Can someone confirm?

 

I'd also read that the deck crews (or maybe the white-shirts at the tail)(LSO's?) dubbed her "Turkey" because of the appearance flaps and stabilizers when approaching. (Is the term "stabilator" correct here?)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Had to take a break from the Tomcat for an urgent order to repaint a 1/7 RC Spitfire 🙂

But I am now back on track for the last straight line. 


The cockpit was finalized by gluing the pilot and their GRU resin seats ensuring that the canopy would close correctly.

SbS_F14_113_GB_pilots.png

 

SbS_F14_114_GB_pilots.png

 

SbS_F14_117_GB_cockpit.png

further weathering was done under the cockpit on the fuselage sides and at the rear of the engine bays 

The wheels have been replaced with later models:

SbS_F14_116_GB_wheels.png

 

SbS_F14_115_GB_tails.png

The vertical tails and engine nozzles are glued in place. I chose the closed nozzle for a military power setting. 

 

SbS_F14_118_GB_rear.png

The stabs are asymetrical as the pilot checks the flight controls

 

Next gluing weapons and closing the canopy and this one will be done. 

 

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Thanks guys

 

I can't wait as well to have the catapult 🙂

Unfortunately there is no readily available catapult section in 1/48. So I'll build my own.

I have seen many carrier deck section but I always end up hitting a showstopper detail like a too thick foul line or a misplaced catapult too close to the JBD, or sections that are not accurate for a parked aircraft...

IMHO the best way to have a realistic section is to design the complete carrier deck, and that's what I am doing in scale at his time (or more accurately what i have been doing for the past 12 weeks):

Carrier_deck_WIP1.png

It's WIP and far from being completed.

 

The idea behind that is to be able to print different section of any chosen size and in any chosen scale to accommodate different diorama which could be placed one alongside the other to make a larger diorama, ultimately ending in a full carrier deck. 🙂

I'm not going to push as far as having a full carrier deck diorama (that's just short of 7m in 1/48), but I may end up with a fairly large section of say the two main catapults and aircraft waiting to be launched behind the JBDs... or a lowered elevator with aircraft parked on the deck above, or a landing section with aircraft parked outside the foul lines or even a section with a weapon elevator opened... The possibilities are endless once you have the geometry of your deck right. 

 

The good thing once design is complete is that I can do section in all scales (from 1/32) and chose any area I want on the deck according to the aircraft situation I modelled.

In this case, i'm going for catapult 2, the area identified below in 1/48 scale is about 60 by 38cm. The JBD will be raised obviously

Carrier_deck_WIP2.png

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Been a while I haven't posted progress. It's mainly because I am working mostly on the diorama and I suffered a drawback with decals.

 

When I built my Tamiya Tomcat before this one, I tested for the first time green translucid decals from Fighter town to give the front windscreen the usual tint.

Usually I airbrush thinned paint on the inside of the transparent part, but seeing the bits on the FighterTown decal I decided to test that.

Being a test I was careful and checked the end result from both sides before gluing the windscreen on the Tamiya fuselage.

SbS_F14_132_Canopy_Tamiya.png

 

All was well so the test was positive.
I thus decided to apply the same to the AMK windscreen, but this time I was careless and applied the decal on the inside of the masked canopy and glued it in place.

Having seen the result on the Tamiya I never anticipated what happened when I removed the canopy masks from the AMK model:

SbS_F14_145_AMK_windscreen.png

 

It's opaque. 

😞

 

There are many such decals on the FighterTown sheet and I confess I applied one of them without really thinking some might be different (I saw nothing suggesting they are on the instructions) 
But apparently some are transparent, some not and I got bitten.

I probably need to remove the windscreen and find a way to get rid of that decal then ...

 

In the meantime, I'm making good progress on the diorama:

The deck is finished and I need to create the innards of the catapult and the JBD:

Carrier_deck_020.png

More on that diorama building soon on my own blog

 

 

Edited by Red Dog
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Unfortunately Cartograf printed the 48087 windshields opaque and not clear. We didn’t find out until a. Few months after the sheet and instructions were printed and approximately 300 sheets were sold. We did an insert and sent them out to everyone that bought the sheet and the distributors to replace the main sheet ones. As well as the distributors sent us a list of customers and we sent them out too. It really sucked that it happened. It we did everything possible to fix it. So all the decals on the sheet are solid. All the insert decals are clear. If you don’t have the insert sheet, I can send one to you. FYI, the earlier Hasegawa data sheet 48082 had the correct clear windshield decals. 
brian 

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Thanks for clearing that out Brian,

I could have figured it out before using it. By the looks of it, I used the smaller insert on the Tamiya but wasn't as smart with the AMK and took the decals from the main sheet🙂

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  • 3 months later...

I dragged for a long time deciding if I was going to fix the windscreen decal issue. In the end, I am glad I did as I was super easy to do.

The windscreen was popped out with an x-acto (glad I used white glue) and I brushed the decal on the internal side of the windscreen with Micro SET.
It came out very easily and after a quick wash to avoid glue residues, I applied the relevant decal from the insert of the FighterTown sheet. 

 

It is a huge difference:

SbS_F14_148_AMK_windscreen.png

 

With that "small" step done, the F-14 was completed by loading the F-14 with AMK supplied stores: 2 GBU-12, 2 AIM-9, 1 Lantirn and 1 Phoenix.
The AMK weapons are gorgeous with hardly any assembly required. Some pin marks are present but most of the time smartly placed where barely visible.
The only omission is the lack of thermal coating on the bombs. I coated the 2 GBU-12 with MIG anti-slip paste

SbS_F14_063_AGcoating.png

 

The completed model waited patiently in my display cabinet as I was building it's diorama: 

Carrier_deck_053.png

 

Which took way more time than anticipated (particularly the Jet Blast Deflector internal) - that's the reason I didn't show any thing more over the last few weeks. It was boring work and not quite interesting to show in this topic. 

 

But it is now done:

Carrier_deck_055.png

 

More pictures of the final result very soon. 

Thanks for looking

 

Edited by Red Dog
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Your bird is looking so realistic.  With the carrier deck it's a really eyecatcher.

Also the weathering effects on the upper fuselage is stunning, how dit you do that?

I agree your fix on the front windshield, this part of the AMK kit is a bit "stange" in shape.

Congratulations.

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Thanks guys.

 

On 9/1/2021 at 9:58 PM, crackerjazz said:

 I'm keen on seeing the jet blast deflector : )

 

SbS_F14_154_AMK_final.png

 

The Diorama WIP is on my blog for those interested.
The short story is 2 60x40cm pieces of MFD wood glued together, textured with MIG asphalt combed with a zimmerit tool, JS line tie down points placed according to the usual pattern, JBD & catapult scratch built. 4 figures from the old Hasegawa taken from an old diorama and repainted. 

 

SbS_F14_155_AMK_final.png

 

SbS_F14_156_AMK_final.png
I'm happy with the kneeling stance as this was the main idea behind this diorama

 

SbS_F14_157_AMK_final.png

Full side view.

The two troubleshooters have finished their inspections and signal the yellow shirt the jet is ready to go.
The catapult guy runs away after his checks

the pilots makes a last round of flight control checks and the yellow shirt waits the green guy is out of the way to make his final checks and send the Tomcat flying

 

SbS_F14_152_AMK_final.png

 

Too bad I could not find decals for these guys...

 

I'll post pictures in the finished and competition section
Thank you all for having followed this one to the end. 

 

 

 

 

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