Bowcat's Tamiya F-14D Tomcat 1/48

[Mr Bowcat]

Morning Guys.

Long time, no post. I have been working on it, honest.

I started the decals the weekend before last. They mostly went down very nicely, they are a bit thick but otherwise no major issues. The only exceptions to that were the four carbon fibre panels at the back of the jet housings. There were 2 parts per side encompassing the (mostly) circular shape, but they puckered along both edges and were a sod to get to lay flat. In the end they had Micro Sol, X20A and even TET on them and have mostly laid down, other than a few small wrinkles. If I ever build this again I will paint these panels.

The ordnance also took a while, the AIM-54's in particular had 24 seperate decals each!

She's now been varnished so I can finally get on with the weathering.

 

[papa 695]

Looking very nice Bob

 

[rtfoe]

Very nicely done Bob. The second angled picture really shows the thickness of the decals...can't help it if Tammy keeps producing thick decals.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers guys.

Richard, would definitely go for after market decals if I was building this again.

 

[boatman]

HI Bob cor you have done an fantastic build I like very much an the sharks mouth is spot on by lookin very aggressive an the missles look very real too I know there was a lot of decal's but for me that's what makes the modelling enjoyable an your wheathering is out of this world very well done so far
chris

 

[Si Benson]

Now that’s how to do It! Wish I hadn’t messed mine up as yours looks really good Bob

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers guys.

 

[Fernando N]

Superb paintjob Bob, love that patchy base paint and neat decalwork too .

As for a load-out, have read somewhere that it was possible to launch a Cat with six Aim-54s but they had to use at least two because of the landing weight.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Fernando.

 

[Jakko]

As for a load-out, have read somewhere that it was possible to launch a Cat with six Aim-54s but they had to use at least two because of the landing weight.

This page has a photo caption to that extent:

 

[spanner570]

Neat build Bob. A credit to you.

Ron

 

[Jim R]

Hi Bob
Lovely paint job and the decals look fine. Love that mouth.
Jim

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents.

I really need to get on with the weathering. I got sidetracked with another build (Ferrari F50).

 

[flyjoe180]

Looks amazing Bob, very nice paint work. Jakko's photo is great reference

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Joe.

Yes it is a good picture, that's exactly the load out shown in the instructions for the Fleet Interception load.

I've been doing some reading on AIM-54's, according to Wiki only 3 were actually ever fired in combat. 2 had motor failures, and the third missed!

 

[Jakko]

By the Americans, right? The Iranians probably fired rather more, and the Iraqis were apparently very wary of anything that appeared to be an F-14 on their long-range radars.

Ah, yes, also according to Wikipedia:

The AIM-54 is credited with 78 air-to-air kills, all scored by Iran

I’ve been wanting to build an F-14 in Iranian colours for some time now, though it’d be in 1:72 as 1:48 is just too big for the space I have

 

[colin m]

Looking great Bob. The basic grey scheme could have been a bit boring, but you've livened it up really well.

 

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Colin.

Got the clay wash done today, she's starting to look like a dirty bird. Still got some more oil weathering to do, but it's almost done.

 

[Fernando N]

Neat weathering Bob, that’s one busy bird looking at all that fouling.

 

[papa 695]

Very nice