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

[Caledonia]

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

Hi Drew, I was going to put a reference to my TF-104G Starfighter, where I explained how I did it, but it seems to have disappeared from this site.

Anyway I took an X-Acto knife, placed it perpendicular to the seam and carefully scrapped the seam off, I find you have more control if you pull the blade towards you. I then took some Halfords Gr 1500 wet and dry paper, used it dry and buffed up the area. Did the same with Gr 2000. I then took some toothpaste onto a tissue and buffed it up for a minute, and finished off by buffing up with dry toilet tissue. Dunked the canopy in Klear and placed it on some kitchen paper towel to dry under a lid from a small plastic box to keep it dust free. I like to leave it for at least a week before I mask it off for painting. Hope this helps Derek

 

[yak face]

Great looking cockpit derek , I'd be tempted to stick a good few lead shot in the blu tack as well, tomcats can be tail sitters especially with the wings at full sweep, cheers tony

 

[MORIARTY1177]

I doth my cap to you sir! That cockpit is amazing, knocks the spots of my recent effort and yours is 1/72. Cracking work Derek.

Shall watch with interest.

Kind regards

Chris

 

[homechild]

Thanks Derek, will keep this in mind if I find myself with a seam on a canopy.

 

[Ian M]

Here it is Derek

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/under-construction/9697-starfighter-tf-104g-1-48-hasegawa.html

and the finished model is here http://www.scale-models.co.uk/aircraft-pictures/9841-tf-104g-starfighter-1-48-hasegawa-finished.html

Ian M

 

[treyzx10r]

Wow Derek that office is awesome,great job getting rid of that pesky canopy seam too!

 

[Caledonia]

Around about now the Kit instructions tell you to close up both halves of the fuselage, but for me I think it better to fit a few more items before-hand.

Below you can see I have fitted the Glove Vane to one half of the fuselage, also I have cemented the rear end of the air intakes to the body of the fuselage. I left the remainder of the intake loose at this point until the cement dried. I then used plastic weld to fix the remainder of the intake; this way you can cement from the inside of the fuselage to give a clean joint on the outside. Must say this is the best fitting intake I have ever had on a kit; intakes on jets are usually one of the harder areas.

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Once the intakes were cemented I fitted the compressor blade section followed by the intakes variable geometry baffles and the wing stub weapons pylons.

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I them fitted the fuselage halves together and cemented the nose/cockpit section.

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I then fitted the wing gloves; the wings; arrestor hook housing, and dorsal missile rails.

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I am leaving off the tail at the moment to make it easier to do the undercarriage gear. Derek

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[mobear]

does this work on all the model f14`s,the way you put the 2 halves together?if so thnx for the tip

mobear

 

[flyjoe180]

Good progress Derek, it's looking great.

 

[Caledonia]

does this work on all the model f14`s,the way you put the 2 halves together?if so thnx for the tipmobear

Hi Ole, This is the first F-14 I have built so am no expert; like all kits I treat the instructions for guidance only; if I find an easier way to do it I take it. I am sure everyone does this. I assume the main body of your kit is split horizontally like my one, see part copy of my instructions below. You will see that Hasegawa are showing the fuselage halves coming together at Step 7. As I said before by doing it in the sequence I have chosen

a) It is easier to hold the intake/lower body directly while the cement dries.

b) You can cement from the inside which makes the joitn neater when viewed externally.

If you look at the first photo in my last posting; the Glove Vanes are only extended during supersonic flight for stability. Because my model will be shown parked, they are retracted, imagine trying to cement these in position after the fuselage halves are closed. How would you hold them for cementing, and if they fell into the body how would you get them back?

I am leaving the airbrakes closed on my kit, so I have cemented them in position before I join K3 to K4 etc etc.

Think of it as an erection sequence.

Hope this helps, but if you are still not sure, post the pages of your instructions and I will have a look.

Cheers Derek

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[mobear]

cheers derek have taken onboard your comments,yes its split horizontally not sure how i`m displaying it yet though lol

mobear

 

[Caledonia]

cheers derek have taken onboard your comments,yes its split horizontally not sure how i`m displaying it yet though lolmobear

Which Kit do you have Ole? Derek

 

[mobear]

the revell 1/48,which i am looking forward to doing

mobear

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Ole, not sure which Revell you have seems to be a few around, the couple I saw on the internet seems to have the intakes already moulded to the body.

Progress this week has been to pre-paint the afterurner petals internally before fixing to the flame pipe.

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Fitted the undercarriages, have left the doors off for painting separately.

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Man assembly finished have left off the tailerons for painting separately

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Have been mixing paints, I want to achieve the following camo pattern

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

HOME OF M.A.T.S. - The most comprehensive Grumman F-14 Reference Work - by Torsten Anft!

For the 'cream' and 'brown', I have used my stock Lifecolor UA 085 - FS30140 - US Brown mixed with differing quantities of White. For the 'green' have used Lifecolor UA 303 - FS34094 - Camouflage series green mixed with a little White. Will use Tamiya aerosol white primer as I want to try to achieve a sun faded colour rather than the grubby aircraft carrier based aircraft. Derek

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[Caledonia]

A couple of shots of the cockpit before I mask it off, seats will be removed. Derek

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[mobear]

very very nice indeed mate,the tomcat i have is an f14 a i think its a rebox from monogram

mobear

 

[treyzx10r]

Looking great Derek ,ca'nt wait too see some paint go down!

 

[Caledonia]

Not as much progress as I had hoped this week. Added all the pitot tubes and other small bits. Masked off the cockpit tub and canopy. Because I am planning to leave the canopy open, have masked off the inside of the canopy also.

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Gave the windscreen and canopy a light grey primer coat so that this shows through on the inside. Primed the u/c doors and tailerons at the same time.

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Primed the aircraft white. Used Tamiya White and Light Grey aerosols for the primer throughout. Will leave for 24 hrs, and then start the topsides camo.

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Cheers Derek

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[flyjoe180]

Looking sharp Derek, that scheme will be quite striking on the Tomcat.

 

[Caledonia]

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

Hi Drew, have been looking for the link below since your question. Look at posting #20 on thi link for a step by step. Derek

http://www.scale-models.co.uk/planes-helicopters/10483-f16c-block-25-32-falcon-1-48-tamiya-2.html