F-14B TOMCAT 'VF-103' Jolly Rogers Christmas Special - 1:72 Hasegawa

[Caledonia]

It's seasonal, but it won't be finished this Christmas, and besides not sure I would like the scull and crossbows wearing a Santa Hat, looks spooky but will decide later, how about voting??

Anyway, have had this one in my stash for a couple of years now, so have decided to bite the bullet. Reason for the delay?, well although it's a 1:72 scale there are 211 pieces in the box, should be interesting.

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Kit comes in three plastic bags.

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One bag contains 5 plastic sprues, and another bag contains 6 plastic sprues + one photo etch part.

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The last plastic bag contains the clear parts; decals and decal/paint instructions. There is also a 16 page instruction book.

View attachment 54658 There must have been one small piece of the kit which fell off at the factory, and was spotted by their Q.A. dept, as they have included it in its own bag which you can see at the left of this last photo.

Two decal options are provided for the Aircraft Carriers 'George Washington', and the 'Dwight D Eisenhower', I will be doing the latter, as I remember this great man when he was President visiting Aberdeen in 1959 on his way to visit our Queen at Balmoral Castle, I was at school, and remember us all lining the road to seen him pass.

Cheers Derek

p.s. how's this for a photo of pure raw power.

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[mobear]

this has to be my favourite jet of all time,just that head on look of it and the sleekness of the thing,a little bird told me i`m getting one for xmas,can`t wait lol,happy building mate

mobear

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Ole, we might just manage our own mini group build? Cheers Derek

 

[mobear]

uuhhmmmmmm theres an idea lol

mobear

 

[homechild]

I'm sure this could come under a Special GB. I'd be up for that one too!

As for the kit, looks nice, I was thinking about getting this kit and doing the Santa tail art (maybe I'll put it on the list for the second half of 2013).

 

[treyzx10r]

Looking forward to seeing this build out Derek! I like the Santa hat on the S&B myself

 

[Caledonia]

O.K. guys, Santa hat it is. Cheers Derek

 

[colin m]

Looks an interesting build Derek. That last photo, I wonder if it's something to do with a steam catapult ? I don't even know if the americans use them !

 

[Caledonia]

Looks an interesting build Derek. That last photo, I wonder if it's something to do with a steam catapult ? I don't even know if the americans use them !

Hi Colin, Yes it is the steam catupult generating the steam, makes for a very dramatic picture don't you think. Cheers Derek

 

[bluriusz]

Hasegawa makes absolutely amazing models. would love to see them taking care of some WW2 tanks. I have a f14 myself. Some parts didn't even required glue. Unfortunately I painted it and spilled thinner over it while cleaning the airbrush. Tomcat awaits stripping at the moment. Actually its been two years already. Need to dp that, but I will need to disassemble couple of parts and I cant start it somehow.

anyways, will be watching this thread! good luck!

 

[Ian M]

Looks like a good little kit Derek. Look forward to seeing it come together.

As for the mini GB or and SIG, I have just to remind you that although a bit late for a Group build, per say. One of you just has to make a thread in the SIG chat and suggest or propose a SIG and drum up some interest from at least nine others. Ten names on the list and I will open a forum for it.

I think there are plenty of special paint scheme tomcats that that alone would be a nifty idea, if only to see how many different tomcats we could get covered.

Sorry Derek, I will get off your thread and let you get on with it.

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

Looks like a good little kit Derek. Look forward to seeing it come together.As for the mini GB or and SIG, I have just to remind you that although a bit late for a Group build, per say. One of you just has to make a thread in the SIG chat and suggest or propose a SIG and drum up some interest from at least nine others. Ten names on the list and I will open a forum for it.

I think there are plenty of special paint scheme tomcats that that alone would be a nifty idea, if only to see how many different tomcats we could get covered.

Sorry Derek, I will get off your thread and let you get on with it.

Ian M

Hi Ian, was only joking about the group build. Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Have been having a break from modeling over the festive season which gave me a chance to think (a rare event). Anyway, looking at my shelves with a lot of 'gray' aircraft led me to wondering what, if any, other colour schemes the F-14's were painted; so trawling through the airliners. net website I came across this beauty.

Photos: Grumman F-14A Tomcat Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Hunted the web for decals, and found they were readily available in all scales, so purchased some as well as the Eduard ZOOM set.

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Hope to make a start next week. Derek

(p.s. sorry about the santa hat)

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[Ian M]

Oh an NSAWC adversary. Good Choice. I rather like the blue splinter camou one myself.

Ian M

 

[colin m]

That choice looks like a nice alternative Derek, well done on the research i thought all tomcats were 'navalised' !

 

[Caledonia]

That choice looks like a nice alternative Derek, well done on the research i thought all tomcats were 'navalised' !

Hi Colin, You get the choice of two 'Blue', two 'Desert' and two 'Gray' paint schemes with the decal set I mentioned. See details below. They are available in 1:72; 1:48 and 1:32. Left me in a bit of a quandary for my 1:32 Trumpeter Tomcat. Derek

Buy Fightertown FT72002 1:72 scale from Hannants. We sell Aircraft decals (military), models, decals, paints & books.

 

[Caledonia]

Finally made a start on this kit. First a couple of shots of the kit parts for the cockpit, and a close-up of the seats.

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Filed off the moulded safety harness, and a few other items; re-scribed the back rest, and fitted the Eduard Zoom set. I am using this site as a guide for the seats - HOME OF M.A.T.S. - The most comprehensive Grumman F-14 Reference Work - by Torsten Anft!

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A few shots of the cockpit Tub, again using the Eduard Zoom set. To be fair the kit provides the option of unpainted embossed photo etch or decals.

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Have a feeling this model could be a real tail sitter, so have packed the space between the tub and bulkhead with some blue tack, as well as the nose cone.

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Cheers Derek

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[mobear]

what a good start to this really nice paint job on the detailing

mobear

 

[Caledonia]

The cockpit areas has two panels at the Cannon location which are poor fits, don't know why they are provided as separate panels as there is no cannon provided. Masked off surrounding area to protect the very shallow panel line and rivet detail before filling.

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Been cutting the various sub-assemblies off the sprues and cleaning them up. The kit provides for open or closed exhaust nozzel petal options, internet photos suggest the F-14 is parked with the peals open, so will adopt this option.

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You have a choice with the wings of either closing or deploying the wings leading edge slats and flaps, I will be closing them as I am going for the swept back wing configuration, which is the norm for parked aircraft of this type I believe. For this chosen config. you have to cut off the leading edge slat support runners and the hinged brackets.

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The cockpit canopy comes with a longitudinal seam, this has been removed, and the canopy treated with Klear.

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Cheers Derek

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[homechild]

Okay Mr Smarty-pants, how did you get rid of the seam on the canopy?