Drew T.

I started with Gunze Super Metallic 2 Super Titanium 2 and darkened it by overspraying with Gunze GX109 Clear Brown. I then added a slight bluish tint with Aclad Transparent Blue. For both the brown and blue, I tried to vary the effect by varying the amount of brown and blue tint on each exhaust pedal to match reference photos, although it's hard to see the effect in my photos. Hope this helps!

Thanks Andrew D. and Niels!

Thanks Mr. Happy!

Thanks so much everyone!

Thanks Steve! Hi Bob, I’m no Tomcat expert, but I would assume the pylons would be the same color as the underside. At least it looks that way to me from the photos I could find. I never noticed that the tab on the horizontal stabs is different from one side vs the other. I wonder if this is just due to the shape of the molds? In photos of the real thing, it looks like the tab is the same on the top and bottom sides. Thanks BastianD! This one is DONE! Here’s the link to the final result: Drew

Hi everyone, here’s my latest completion, Tamiya’s excellent F-14A. You can read about the build at the link below: Even with all the aftermarket goodies I added, it all went together nicely. I probably spent more time with the weathering than any other modern aircraft I’ve built, but I’m satisfied with the result. On to the pictures, hope you enjoy!

Thanks Mr. Happy and GW! I’m on the home stretch now. I have completed the touch ups, using my reference photos as guidance. The corrosion control touch ups seems to vary from plane to plane and era to era, so I tried to stick to Desert Storm era photos, VF-32 specifically. However, the touch ups looked to stark to me against the highly weathered finish, so I blended them in slightly with additional oil paint weathering. Also, I decided I wasn’t happy with the Reskit exhausts since the closed nozzle was slightly undersized and resulted in a step when attached to t

Thanks Mr. Happy! I’m too lazy to write a whole book on this project. Plus, Kris Sieber did a really nice book on his Tomcat and did much more scratchbuilding than I have. I followed many of the techniques he used in this build. I have the bottom of the model mostly weathered now. Between the layers of dirt streaking with the oil paint, I applied a coat of clear flat to protect the previous layers of weathering. I also went ahead and sprayed some touch up with a roughly 60:40 mix of Mr. Color C308 and C338. I found a couple of photos of this exact plane during Desert Storm,

Thanks Bob! I used Mr. Color paints, with many of the colors custom mixed. They brown on the outer seat cushions is C530. The yellow on the pull handles is C329. For the green on the inner seat cushions as well as the grays on the top section of the head rest, I custom mixed the colors. The gray on the top of the head rest and the seat belts have a tiny bit of green in them to match reference photos. Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact colors I mixed together and I didn't measure the ratios, I just played with the mixture until I got something that looked right to my eye. I tried

Thanks Steve and Rich!

Thanks Rich! Over the past 2-3 weeks, I’ve been busy weathering this thing. This is probably the most involved weathering process I’ve done on a model, but seeing how grubby modern US Naval aircraft get, I wanted to do this one right. The first step was to give everything a coat of Mr Color GX114 super smooth clear to give the oil paint weathering a “sticky” surface to adhere to. I then worked in small sections by dabbing on some Abteilung Starship Filth and working it in with naphtha thinner. Using reference photos as a guide, I went heavier with the oil paint in high wear are

Thanks Ski! Yes, I used a used dryer sheet. I did also try a fresh one. I didn't have problems with residue, but a fresh one gives a more regular pattern that didn't look right to me. A used one gives a more natural pattern. The other bonus to using a dryer sheet is that it more easily confoms to curved surfaces better than more rigid aftermarket products. Thanks Steve! Thanks Andrés!

Thanks Thadeus! It’s been a while, but I now have everything pained. To build an initial patina on the gray camo, I started with a base coat of black Mr. Surfacer 1500 and applied a speckled coat of white by spraying through a dryer sheet. I then sprayed a highly thinned coat of Mr. Color C308 light ghost gray on the underside and C307 dark ghost gray on the top. To add more texture, I sprayed a very highly diluted black as well as white paint in an irregular pattern. Another very light coat of the light and dark ghost gray blended everything in.

Thanks for the nice words everyone! I’ve made a few more areas to detail before moving on to painting. F-14s use a string in front of the windscreen to measure the amount of sideslip when landing. I replicated this with very thin stretched sprue. Note that I roughly tape over the cockpit to keep debris out and eliminate risk of damage during construction. I am using Quickboot’s TCS and wanted to replicate the mirrored appearance in the scope. I first painted the front section behind the lens black. I then used my Anyz chrome decal sheet and punched out a circle a

Thanks Greg! After I found a photo of that exact plane with that loadout, I had to replicate it!