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1/48 Tamiya CANADIAN Tomcat, not a what if. Really a Canadian Tomcat.


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I have been looking for the right scheme for my Tamiya F-14A. I have built MANY block 95s as portrayed by the Tamiya kit OOB. Don't need another VF-84 or VF-41 in bright markings. But everything I want to make is either very late in service or a prototype.

 

In 1977 Grumman flew a couple Tomcats to Cold Lake with Canadian flags for evaluation on our replacement for the Voodoo , Starfighter and CF-5. As history shows we went for the Hornet. Which of course we are STILL using 40 years on. 

 

This model will be show-room clean with next to zero weathering.

 

UmnPuSc.jpg

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8 hours ago, phantom said:

My gosh!! This Tamiya IS indeed nicer then the Hasegawa. Mind you I still have 6 of the Has kits in the stash, and these Tamiya kits are very expensive.

 

 

This is exactly the same reaction I had a week ago, building my first Tamiya Cat.

 

Your work on the cockpit looks good!

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Everything slides into place, no muss, no fuss : )   Wait till you fit that forward fuselage to the main fuse - your jaw will probably just drop.   And the canted tailfins and stabilizers fit to exact angles -- how cool is that?  Difficult F-14 builds are a thing of the past with these Tamiya kits.   You only run into trouble when you're trying to build a B  : )

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Dang,  you're zooming through this one! I started mine 11 days ago, and got the forward fuselage halves together last night. There is a small bit of a gap/ledge - d'oah. Stupid me, I forgot to sand the paint off the edge that gets welded together. I'm certain a bit of Mr Surfacer 500 will take care of it. A tiny bit of it was also applied to the beavertail, too.

 

There are so many aspects making this kit a dream to build - one of them being the intake ducts, ingenious planning to hide (or minimize) the seam.

 

I have two more Tamiya D's in my stash, I may add a fourth. I can't see myself building another Hasegawa Cat (unless I get REALLY bored), but 4 or 5 more of these - absolutely.

20210419_201122.jpg

20210419_201232.jpg

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On 4/20/2021 at 11:55 AM, MA Cooke said:

Dang,  you're zooming through this one! I started mine 11 days ago, and got the forward fuselage halves together last night. There is a small bit of a gap/ledge - d'oah. Stupid me, I forgot to sand the paint off the edge that gets welded together. I'm certain a bit of Mr Surfacer 500 will take care of it. A tiny bit of it was also applied to the beavertail, too.

 

There are so many aspects making this kit a dream to build - one of them being the intake ducts, ingenious planning to hide (or minimize) the seam.

 

I have two more Tamiya D's in my stash, I may add a fourth. I can't see myself building another Hasegawa Cat (unless I get REALLY bored), but 4 or 5 more of these - absolutely.

20210419_201122.jpg

20210419_201232.jpg

That's a nice fit !

Tamiya rules 💪

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Question - for Phantom and everyone else...

 

(Phantom, I took a snip of one of your pics for reference - I hope this is OK...)

 

The engine shroud (heat shield?), I'm curious about the sequence for painting. Since I'm building a B (D kit), I plan to paint it gloss black (forgo the decals, I've read about some headaches). Do I get these painted black then gloss before painting the greys, or paint the greys then the black?

I'm having "RT-AMS" (returning to advanced modeler syndrome). Argh!

 

Phantoms Tamiya A-model.JPG

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7 hours ago, MA Cooke said:

Question - for Phantom and everyone else...

 

(Phantom, I took a snip of one of your pics for reference - I hope this is OK...)

 

The engine shroud (heat shield?), I'm curious about the sequence for painting. Since I'm building a B (D kit), I plan to paint it gloss black (forgo the decals, I've read about some headaches). Do I get these painted black then gloss before painting the greys, or paint the greys then the black?

I'm having "RT-AMS" (returning to advanced modeler syndrome). Argh!

 

Phantoms Tamiya A-model.JPG

 

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Gee.....I just worried about the silver lifting off with tape. I don't know. What ever works for you I guess.

 

This time I did the opposite to what I usually do. Normally do the main colours then the engine stuff. This time as its a Tamiya model I used mostly Tamiya paint. The silver stayed on the plane with zero trouble.

 

Then as you can see I did the main body colour of gull grey. As Tamiya does not do 36440 out of the bottle, so I used model master. Going to have to find a new source as I run low on my favorite paint.

Edited by phantom
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On 4/14/2021 at 7:42 AM, crackerjazz said:

....Difficult F-14 builds are a thing of the past with these Tamiya kits.   You only run into trouble when you're trying to build a B  : )

 

Or trying to arrange funding to PURCHASE one.

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12 hours ago, phantom said:

Gee.....I just worried about the silver lifting off with tape. I don't know. What ever works for you I guess.

 

This time I did the opposite to what I usually do. Normally do the main colours then the engine stuff. This time as its a Tamiya model I used mostly Tamiya paint. The silver stayed on the plane with zero trouble.

 

Then as you can see I did the main body colour of gull grey. As Tamiya does not do 36440 out of the bottle, so I used model master. Going to have to find a new source as I run low on my favorite paint.

 

As I basically started from scratch in November (paints, glues, airbrush, etc.) I was really drawn to Tamiya acrylics, but I did have issues decades ago airbrushing them. I then thought of Mr Hobby Aqueus, I really wanted to avoid the noxious solvents of enamels. That, plus the fact that MM enamels are no more....but then I learned the Aqueous line was tricky to source. So I'm using Mr Hobby lacquers.....very forgiving.

My issue last night - I started the Mr Surfacer black - was coverage, and what seemed like the paint was drying out in the airbrush. (Iwata Eclipse HP side feed....one part paint plus two parts MLT, at 15 psi dynamic, 0.5mm.) I had to pull the needle back all the way every 5 or 6 seconds.....I must have cleaned the nozzle, needle, and air cap 4 or 5 times in an hour, and used 5 mL of the Mr Surfacer for a 15 mL overall mix. I barely got the bottom of the rear fuselage and both wings done. Am I spraying too much? I wouldn't spray consistently if I didn't thin it way down.

(Another note - we've been trying to keep mold at bay in the basement, it's almost a constant 35% relative humidity; wondering if it's too dry?)

 

Argh. Frustration......

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