Trumpeter 1/32 F14B Tomcat ‘bomb-cat’

[BarryW]

I received the bomb racks, see picture.

They are nicely molded but you need to do some drastic surgery to the Pheonix rails to fit them. As the rear rails are already glued into place it will be so much more difficult and risky to do that surgery.

I have decided, on balance, not to attempt it and, instead, to settle on the air superiority load-out of four Pheonix, two Sparrows and two Sidewinders and last night I started work on those stores.

 

[boatman]

HI Barry so no bomb cat then an I think a very wise deceion but how much surgery is needed on the Pheonix, rails ? as really I cant see much of a problem lookin at the real photo that Jakko put on it looks to me the bomb rack just fix to the Pheonix, rails ? so to me it looks like all that needs doin is to trim off that thin plastic trim rail an the bomb rails should just glue on the Pheonix, rails then fit bombs ?
chris

 

[Jakko]

It looks like all that’s needed is to remove two protrusions and then scrape the raised area they’re on, flat with the rest of the pylon. Of course, I’ve never built an F-14, let alone one this big, so that may be hard to do with the rails already on the model?

 

[Deleted member 5496]

Interesting Barry.

Better wise than sorry.

Laurie

 

[BarryW]

HI Barry so no bomb cat then an I think a very wise deceion but how much surgery is needed on the Pheonix, rails ? as really I cant see much of a problem lookin at the real photo that Jakko put on it looks to me the bomb rack just fix to the Pheonix, rails ? so to me it looks like all that needs doin is to trim off that thin plastic trim rail an the bomb rails should just glue on the Pheonix, rails then fit bombs ?
chris

No, that is not it. You need to cut away a block of plastic on top of the rails the shape of the resin and slot the resin into the hole. The 'vertical' bit of the racks sinks into the rail with the slope starting flush at the top of the rail. It has to be cut quite precisely or it could be a real mess. As the rear racks are already glued into place the operation would be a lot harder to do, not that it would be a piece of cake, even if they were not already attached.

The chances of screwing up are so high best to go with the air superiority load-out.

 

[boatman]

No, that is not it. You need to cut away a block of plastic on top of the rails the shape of the resin and slot the resin into the hole. The 'vertical' bit of the racks sinks into the rail with the slope starting flush at the top of the rail. It has to be cut quite precisely or it could be a real mess. As the rear racks are already glued into place the operation would be a lot harder to do, not that it would be a piece of cake, even if they were not already attached.

The chances of screwing up are so high best to go with the air superiority load-out.

OK Barry I see what you mean well she'll look nice done up with missles like my tomcat but I put on to heavy a load of 6 pheonix missle on mine as I dint know at the time they cant land back on the cairrer with a full load
chris

 

[Jakko]

No, that is not it. You need to cut away a block of plastic on top of the rails the shape of the resin and slot the resin into the hole. The 'vertical' bit of the racks sinks into the rail with the slope starting flush at the top of the rail.

Ah! So that’s what the grey rectangular bit in the instructions indicates. The illustration gives the impression you just have to take a bit off, but this would indeed be a lot more difficult, even if the part isn’t on the model yet.

Still, can’t you saw the resin part off instead so it will mount flush onto the pylon?

 

[BarryW]

Ah! So that’s what the grey rectangular bit in the instructions indicates. The illustration gives the impression you just have to take a bit off, but this would indeed be a lot more difficult, even if the part isn’t on the model yet.

Still, can’t you saw the resin part off instead so it will mount flush onto the pylon?

In theory but resin is very fragile and there will be no thickness even if you do it with 100% accuracy.

 

[BarryW]

It has been slow going with my limited time at the bench. Now if I get a cough, maybe....

I just grabbed a picture of the bench last night to show where I am at.


I have been spraying the undersides of the wings and nose section and touching up fuselage. I have also been doing a spot of work on the stores.

My intention is to spray the camo scheme and main detailing knowing that I will have at least two more touch up sessions as each sub assembly comes together. These are such large parts I think that it is easier to handle them this way.

 

[Steven000]

Looking good Barry, I can imagine that a model of this size isn't easy to handle on the bench.
Your doing a good job
Steven

 

[BarryW]

Some progress to report.

i have painted the cockpit section and removed the masking. It will receive some localised masking for touch ups etc.



Wings painted including the front anti-corrosion strip.


Tail fin - two grey shades.


stores painted: Phoenix awaiting decals.


sparrows and sidewinders, awaiting touch ups and decals


undercarriage doors, painted and weathered internally.


canopy painted internally awaiting weathering.


Fuel tanks awaiting decals


the airframe, painted awaiting touching up around the exhausts.




the nose dry fitted to the airframe and the wings placed in position swept, only like this the size really be appreciated. Fit is good but the seam behind the pit may need some work. I placed a pen to give some idea of size, yes that is a full sized pen....


wings forward....

it’s difficult to fit on the bench, it is a sizeable bench custom built for me and to give a lot of room for 1/32 builds. Well normal builds anyway...

Here it is with my 1/32 Tamiya Mossie next to it. The Mossie is a big model, not quite the biggest I have built but not far off yet the F14 dwarfs it.


tomorrow I will be touching up then fitting the two main airframe structures...

 

[boatman]

HI Barry lookin good an yes the tomcat is a biggun but it also is in reallife I had a shock when I see one at a airshow I think it was mildenhall it dwarfed most of the other fighter aircraft there
but was by far the most awesome it looked deadly just standin there but I just wish id took some photos of her as it would have been most helpful on my build when I get round to it as I want to light up mine an I had the chance to have a good look at it for the lights but at the time I had SWMBO an MOTHER IN LAW IN TOW an they kept tryin to get me to walk throght the galaxy so I got pulled away DAMM
chris ps just lookin at your tomcat makes me want to get started on my super tomcat as i opened the kits up an the super hornet to have a look through both kits an boy oh boy it was a real job to pack them away again but i resitsied the temptaion to start on them they are there for my twi light years after tiger is built

 

[Jakko]

The Mossie is a big model, not quite the biggest I have built but not far off yet the F14 dwarfs it.

People often underestimate just how big those kinds of jet fighters are, if you ask me. That Mosquito next to it puts it into context quite well, I think — or to illustrate it another way: an F-14 is 19.13 m long, an Avro Lancaster is 21.13 m. Even in wingspan, with the wings swept forward a Tomcat still has about 2/3 the span of a Lancaster, and it’s three tonnes heavier empty and about nine tonnes at maximum take-off weight. These are definitely big planes.

 

[boatman]

People often underestimate just how big those kinds of jet fighters are, if you ask me. That Mosquito next to it puts it into context quite well, I think — or to illustrate it another way: an F-14 is 19.13 m long, an Avro Lancaster is 21.13 m. Even in wingspan, with the wings swept forward a Tomcat still has about 2/3 the span of a Lancaster, and it’s three tonnes heavier empty and about nine tonnes at maximum take-off weight. These are definitely big planes.

HI Jakko yes they are really big PLANE an then when you think about it that's why you need a super carrier like the USS NIMITZ to fit on a tomcat sqr or two as ive seen an bein around the JONH F KENNDY an boy was she a size but not as big as NIMITZ an her clan but I think I can say the tomcat is one of my fav aircraft an when I do my kit ive been buyin the LED's to light mine up an also very mini hinges so I can go to town on it by makin some of the hatches like on the Vulcan gun all open an close if possible an I have just bought the canopy maskin set for my tomcat but I cannot get a canopy maskin set for my superhornet both in 1/32 as I would have thought they would do one I cant find one ive asked at hanntants an no go
chris

 

[scottie3158]

Hi Barry,
All coming together very nicely.

 

[Steven000]

Very nice progress Barry, interesting to see both planes together
Steven

 

[BarryW]

a bit more benchtime today so I did the touch ups and glued the main two structural sections together.

I used medium superglue initially along the rear join and at the intake end. This enabled me to hold the two sections together while the set solid. I then ran around in various places with Mr Cement S. I found that I needed to clamp as in the picture below the make sure these sections join correctly.


I will then fit the panel in the bottom. A test fit suggests a bit of a challenge here so a spot of sanding may be needed. Then I will glue the front Phoenix rails into place. These will add some rigidity to the structure.


here is a pic of the top. As you can see there is not a lot of touching up to do though the seams will need a spot of work.

 

[BarryW]

I struggled to fit the panel to the underside. It just did not fit at all and I spent a lot of time sanding and testing before I got it to fit and I am left with a fair bit of filling and sanding to do. It was agrevated by it also 'pushing in' so getting it level and even was a real challenge. Not the best engineering. This is the only real fit problem I have encountered.

This is how it looks....

 

[BarryW]

I have done some sanding and fitting and am now ready to touch up where needed.





as you can see am doing some work on the spine. When that lot is done it will be the turn of the wings....

slow progress but we are getting there.

 

[Steve Brodie]

coming along very nicely