Ryan

Good points also KEI.

Ahh crystal clear, thanks Dave.

Good points, but isn't the real AC a "one off" itself? There are no 2 seaters' etc.

Perhaps not so sad Kev, considering their track record on some of the kits they produce. Thanks for the link, I was not aware.

It wasn't that bad of a kit, but would take a bunch of work to even be close. The dream kit of course would be from Tamiya.

Ehh, that was the YF-22, not the production model.

Thanks Scott, I don't mind being the guinea pig. So far the Zacto intakes fit very well, he did a great job engineering, i'll supply pics.

Yep when you put it that way it seems the better way, but we are modelers not the smartest bunch!

Any one care to guess who will bring one of these out, just a discussion I have no insider info.

Whelp following this one!

Thanks Maxim, I was not aware of the stiffener, and yes I was going to putty those rivets!

Optional open panels were closed off, i'm opting for a sleek closed up look. They were a bit difficult to close up, some fit better than others. I did have to shim a panel or to here and there and then replace the fastener detail. Closed Panels by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr

Yes thanks Steve, i have been reading up on other builds.

Hey builders I want to start the build thread for my F-14A project. In a sea of weathered, late model paint schemes I wanted to try a high vis jet. VF-51 by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Although I fiddled around with trying to improve the look of the kit intakes, I came to realize the Zactoman product is the way to go, more on that later. First up the inflatable bladders at the rear of the jet. yes Trumpeter has molded these in rubber, gross. I guess to retain the movable feature of the wings this choice was made but man they are hard to work with. The good news is they will glue up with regular model cement, the bad news is that rubber is very difficult to sand and address seams. here is a shot of the part glued and a first pass and filling the seams. Trumpeter foolishness by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr You can see the ridge line of rubber and the over all messiness of the seam. My thought was ok sand a bit more and flood the area with thick primer....this worked out great! Rubber fix? by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Well great until you try to pass the wing of the egg shell think primer and then CRACK...hairline fissure everywhere. The problem is that there is too much flex in the part. After sanding the primer away I pinched and super glued the tallest point on the front of the piece to the fuselage, oh and I guess i'll mention I wanted to sweep the wings back that's why i was going through all this heartache and misery. This worked much better and then allowed me to ******* file this area to allow the wing to sit flat. More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr I also "inflated' the rubber part to allow a better seal against the wings...inflated with some packing plastic that is. More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr still had that nasty seam though, and you can see the pinch and sand work too. More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr The final fix was to tape and then build up the edges with Tamiya putty to create a clean hard edge, this looks great so far, but it still needs a little filling and massaging to look right. Rubber fix by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Rubber fix by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr More soon as the zacto intakes have just arrived!

Received a notification they were now in stock for those interested. Ryan

Thanks gentlemen, I hope to have paint on it very soon. Ryan

White cloth gloves, a duster of sorts.tooth picks, super glue, white glue. Sprue nippers to have fun with purchases in the hotel room!

Man I would stipple the area with a small brush and super thin paint, you will be surprised how well this works. I wouldn't mask it. At least try that first in my opinion.

What about painted rubber?

Bad pic, but all this work allows the wing to sit better. More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr

More rubber talk. To make the wings lay correctly I super glued the outboard tall edge tight to the rear fuselage, you can see the pinch in the shots. Then out came the roughed sanding stick I had and went at it to level the pinched area, luckily none of this will be seen. I also stuffed the hollow rubber part with foam to decrease the flex when I reapply the primer to create a nice edge as shown above. Somebody needs an ass kicking for this. More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr More rubber by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Thanks Ryan

OK I was really angry with this kit and even put it up for sale! But I have too much work involved it it etc. I never could get the rubber to sand smooth, so I had another idea, here is the before. Rubber fix? by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr My though was to lay down thick primer to level out the rough edges. Rubber fix? by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr It worked fantastically. Rubber fix? by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Rubber fix? by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Now here is the bad part, I should have done this after I swept the wings back and fixed them in place as the thick primer will crack like and egg shell if any pressure is applied to it. So focus now is to sweep the wings and do it all over again! Warning to those who want to sweep the wings, back there is a lot of pressure on the front half of the rubber parts. Trumpeter should have went the Tamiya rout and added plastic versions of the bladder for extended and swept wings.

Hi Gene, thanks for the interest, no it still sits in this state. I hope to get it back going at some point.

Yes but it’s glued in and garbage right now.

Here are some shots of the cockpit module. Pretty much done with assembly, left the seat out for seat belt (HGW) installation. ZM Ta-152 Cockpit by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr ZM Ta-152 Cockpit by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Ta-152 by The 3rd Placer, on Flickr Still a have little putty work to do and add the throttle then it will be to the paint shop.