Geddyme

Torben, thank you! Cheers, David

Thank you sir! I did get carried away with the weathering for sure. Thank you Andy, I know less is more, but still went overboard. I may try to lighten it up some at some point, the main color came out a bit dark for my liking as well. I’m gonna put it aside for a week or so, and start my Tomcat I think. Cheers, David

My neighbor came back that night with her iPad and was going to buy me a whole new model. I said no, but she wasn’t having it and we settled on the Aires exhaust for my F-14D build and Revell’s 1/144 SuperCat as well. Anyway, here are a few snaps as she sits today on her revetment. I went a little nuts with the weathering and chipping, some of it was an attempt to mask damage, but I’ve learned a lot and will definitely do another one. More pics when I get motivated to stick the flaps back on it. That was a chore the first time and not relishing it this second. I know they didn’t often sit around with the hatches and bombay open and flaps deployed, but liked that look and will put it back the way it was before it toppled. I’m in the market for the glass piece for the TT as well! More to come... Cheers, David

Haven't updated in a while... never fear CATCplSlade. It survived this encounter in my office & the ride to/from (several times actually). Sadly it didn't get away unscathed from a later encounter. I paint & do other loathsome toxic things, masked, out in my unheated garage or driveway, Ohio weather permitting. Suffice to say a thunderstorm & my newish neighbor's skittish dog (a very friendly 100lb Rottie) charging into my garage caused this plane's perch to topple over & it cracked it open down fuselage seem, broke some parts off including the gear & most all the clear stuff, gun barrels, flap kit & various bits inside. Seams reappeared at cockpit & nose joins. It's repairable to a reasonable state tho... in fact I've almost finished, or at least as far as I'm going to go. Just the flaps to put back on (thankfully tons of extra ribs for those on the sprue). The piece of glass from the TT directly behind the engineers head when he's using it is gone though. I guess it slipped into another dimension when it hit the ground. I will never find it now. I had to get the "H" sprue (starboard gear destroyed) from Ebay but the clear sprue or even pieces... understandably more difficult. Any suggestions are welcomed!! I'll post some photo's of it in its' current state later today... & when I get it to "new normal" complete. I don't know if I'll ever put it in RFI, mostly because I don't think it ever will be... & I'll be ordering another this weekend for spring... might be the E/F model. In the meantime I'm ready to dive into this trumpy F-14D... still wanting to do the "Black Bunny" - VX-9... pics on the way! David

Nice work so far! I can only hope to do half as well on my Super Tomcat when I start it. Which might be tonight now!

That is indeed “Red 9” CAT. I was also saddened to discover 21C went belly up, I hadn’t acquired all the toys I wanted! And I would say it did influence me to get back into this hobby, also. That is an impressive collection you have there! Here is another angle of “Red 9” with the Fort. I love the lines of the radial engine FW’s. It’s a beautiful airplane from any angle, except on your six I suppose. Cheers, David

Thank you Craig, it’s been a while, over the winter I gave it a break mostly because it was ready for primer and paint, and I can only paint in my unheated Ohio garage currently. Speaking of paint, I’ve found when it’s not bathed in the fluorescent lighting at my office, but in more natural light at home that green isn’t quite so jolting and Japanese camo in hue. Still not where I want it, but I’ll get there. I don’t recall CAT, but I will let you know in the morning. If you’d like some other angles of it, I can post them here. Those two fighters and several more elsewhere in my office are actually screw together toys from 21sr Century Toys, that I bought for my dad when he was still living. That is Schilling’s “Hairless Joe” in there as well, I also have Zempke’s P-47, Gentile’s “Shangri La”. I’m sure that Butcher Bird is of some note. I’ll let you know. Thanks again folks, see you tomorrow! David

Greetings all! A lot of progress and a good deal of head scratchin’ since the last update. Waist crew door only needs handles and paint now. Hinges are doctored pieces of the PE sprues. First coat is on {MM Dark Green Enamel 50/50 with Testor’s Airbrush thinner} over thinned flat black enamel preshading (wings only). I’ve never done preshading before and I thought it was pretty dark before the first coat of color, so I freaked out a little and opted for post shading for the fuse. Now I’m concerned I’ll lose the wing preshading after a second coat. I was handed this color when I asked for suggestions for camo B-17’s at my local hobby shop, can’t say I’m pleased with it. It was pretty fuzzy to the touch (that’s on me) after the first coat, so I carefully rubbed the fuzziness away with gloves from work that are mildly and finely abrasive. It did lighten it up. But I’ll do the second coat darker, and weathering and hope for the best. It is a fictitious Fort anyway, I could just take it all off and put Candy Apple Red lacquer on it I guess. J/K Awaiting the weathering of the weighted main wheels. Lots of fussing remains with the demarcation line between grey/green {I do like where that line falls on the forward fuse here and will try to hold that line}, de-icing boots, not to mention rivets and scribing. One big issue remaining are steps and seams in the port wing roots, as of now not glued. The two fighters are actually two of the toys I bought for my dad way back when, but in the same scale. Tonight I’ll get it on its own wheels, see what can be done about the wing root, and deal with a few areas of overspray, and bombay doors (open). The aftermarket flaps await attachment as well, but that is for another (long) day. As always, suggestions are welcome, especially on this crazy green. I know we would be hard pressed to find two ETO combat veteran camo B-17’s with the same shades of green, but I don’t know that I ever seen one anywhere quite like this, and I can no longer ask my father. Thanks again! David

Greetings all, It's been a while since I posted an update, but I was busy with the B-17, mostly seam work using Squadron (green) and Mr Surfacer 500, built up with a small brush. There were a few doozies as seen above, most of my doing. One or two remain and then plenty of re-scribing and rivets. With the warmer weather and being able to paint out in my garage I have primed all wing/engine nacelles seams looking for imperfections and addressing those. Engine and props done save decals, nacelles and cowl flaps (PE) primed. Fixed the chin turret gun slots to reflect the actual aircraft more accurately. Here is the beginning of that effort. The beginning of repairing the biggest misalignment I had. This one was ugly and most likely due to me not doing paying enough attention during test fitting the fuselage halves together. I'll post the the completed repair in my next post, still have a little work with Mr. Surfacer (500) to smooth it out. I actually got away with ceramic paste on most of the wing/nacelle seams. We'll see how it holds up to re-scribing. Next up I hope to get the seams for the nose finished off, those for control surfaces and tail gun compartment addressed, then turtle deck glued down, hope that seam isn't too nasty! until then, R/S David

Thank you Starfighter, I hadn't seen that thread yet, very informative read! I made note of a couple suggestions, and also will re-visit once the build commences! R/S David

Hey Dave, thank you, much appreciate your input on my upcoming build, once again, I’ll save my cash for something else! R/S David

Curious if any Tomcat builders have any thoughts on the discontinued Eduard Big Ed mega PE set for the trumpy F-14D? Found one for less than $100 (US), shipped. The extra’s I currently have already ordered; From BNA Model World - Aires cockpit, gear bays, weighted wheels and correct chin pod for the D. From Scalehobbyist - Aires Exhaust Nozzles. And of course the obligatory Intake Correction from Chris at Zactomodels. Thank you in advance for any input! R/S, David

I wouldn't say I'm a Tomcat guy, though imho it is the sexiest, meanest looking jet ever, as I know next to nothing about the variants, load-outs and such like, but I've learned quite a bit recently from the above comments, and just poking around on the internet. I've read the wiki, and many of the wikis for weapons, counter measures and other stores referred to on that wiki, then I found this site which I'm scouring as we speak. http://www.anft.net/f-14/index.htm Edit: now a busted link I'll also follow suggestions to resources I read in the Tomcat posts I find here. I have seen the Tamiya 1/48 A model, as a co-worker is building one in Jolly Rogers livery. So I thought I'd go with the 32nd scale, for my build, and I had enough balance left over to snag the 1/144th, just to fiddle with. I already have a Strike Eagle, Falcon, Super Hornet (not built) in that small scale. If I do another Cat it will definitely be one of those you mention, ringleheim. Thanks for the suggestion. On an aside, I think I might have found the specific bird I want to do for the 32nd scale... strongly appealing to me at least, now that I've ordered the kit. https://fullcolorbirds.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/grumman-f-14-tomcat-vandy-one/ Specifically the last black tomcat, from VX9, F-14D Buno 164604, the final F-14 to wear the bunny livery. I need to find more information on this jet, before I decide, but I LOVE this bird. One downside, I won't get to do a lot of exterior weathering though, these birds look fairly clean. Food for thought at least. R/S David

Thanks again Ryan, I will have a look at the Aries cockpit for sure... and I thought your post on those bladders was very clear, and your explanation above as well. I will definitely look at both again, once the kit arrives and I can see them for myself. And I’ll get a WIP going once I get rolling. Have some quite a bit work to do on the Fort to get it ready for paint, combined with the Tomcat, should keep me busy for a while! cheers! Dave

Thank you for the replies everyone, I'm strongly leaning towards the Trumpeter D model/Zacto intake corrections and some other aftermarket bits, main gear, bays cockpits at least. MARU, thanks for your kind offer of purchasing the kit and sending it over the pond. I failed to mention while typing the first message I have a gift card balance from Christmas on Amazon that will cover the Trumpeter kit, and a Revell 1/144 D model just for funzies! While I prefer to give my business to the local brick and mortar store that my dad introduced me to 45+ years ago, this time its going to be Amazon... I'll source my paint/supplies from the local place though. Thank you again MARU! Dave; I've been looking at some of the builds here, including one discussion concerning the pallets, I'll continue to look at others during the wait for the kits to arrive. There are quite a few D Cats here and much to consider with this kit... not the least of which is what actual plane I want to do. Ryan; Thank you for the links... after reading the threads you posted, I decided Zacto was the way to go for me as well. Those wing bladders look like a bear to get right, I'm still quite the amateur... not afraid of a challenge. I probably will order the F-14's later tonight, and shop for those intakes as well. Thanks again for the input folks. R/S David

I would love to have a 1/32 Superfortress, if as has been often alluded to here, it was done right. I did the 1/48 Monogram kit as a teenager and I would certainly get a 1/32nd B-29 and build it (probably as the early Superfort that visited Glatton) and display it, hanging from the ceiling most likely. Yes please! R/S David

Hello everyone, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this topic, but here goes. Admins, please let me know if it is not, and I'll move it. I'm at a point with my current build (HK 1/32 B-17G) where I will soon arrive at a stage I call "waiting for spring to arrive in Ohio so I can paint". In the interim I've been thinking of my next project and have settled on a Tomcat, the D Super Tomcat, or one of the earlier models that was upgraded to a "D". I've seen a few 1/32 kits on the internet... and my local brick and mortar place has a Tamiya "A" model. The Trumpeter "D" model looks very nice too. But before I shell out $120 - $180, I think it prudent to look around here, and also ask for opinions on the different kit options out there. Thank you in advance, now I'm off to scour some builds.... R/S David

Hello all, it’s been awhile since I updated this thread. I’ve been out of town for work nearly two months, then the holidays...blah blah blah. I’ve continued to make progress over the past couple months, albeit at a slower pace, but progress nevertheless. First I assembled the control surfaces and addressed any seam issues with those, then finally mated the fuselage halves together, and then to the nose and tail sections to the fuselage. Two areas here have seam issues that are more significant, which are simply my issue, not the kits. One is just ahead of the ball turret, and the other at the join for fuselage and nose compartment which the nose has a significant issue that you will see in the photographs. I will persevere, but any and all suggestions are welcomed and appreciated! Here are the control surfaces, during assembly and some edge seam work I feel is good enough for primer. I am currently aiming to do as much of the exterior primer at the same time as I can, once spring arrives and I can do so in my detached garage. Before the joining; I actually forgot to photograph this step when most of the tape and some additional clamps were in place, as it took me an entire NFL football game of test fitting, sanding and such before I felt comfortable in starting with the glue. I was so relieved once glued, I put the fuselage, aside and went to bed. The two problem seams of my own making. The first is the nose to fuselage join, you can see the fuselage is actually “raised” a bit, the lightning exaggerates it somewhat, but it definitely catches a fingernail. It extends just shy of an inch along the radius of the join... and there is also the gap between the pilots. The second is a pretty wide gap in the fuselage join ahead of the ball. Both are due to misaligned bulkheads within the fuselage, despite 3 hrs of fitting and what I thought was proper test fitting as I assembled the compartments along the way. I plan on using Milliput for that wide gap... There’s a bit more minor seam work and a bit of glue cleanup as well, so I have a good amount of work to do filling, sanding and rescribing. I will be watching plenty of tutorials! : ) I will post progress photos of the seam work as it progresses and will likely have some questions. There’s also much work to do elsewhere on the plane which I will be posting as well... so thank you for reading through, I’m off to look at some of the builds I’m following here first though! R/S David

Greetings All, I'm finally back home from work travel and had some more time on the plane. The first thing I decided to alter on this build, waaaay back when, the inaccurate ammunition situation for the ball turret. Long ago I removed the offending plastic on the bulkhead and patched it with plasticard and strips. Now it was time to pay the fiddler. Making the replacement cans. I found a build that used the Eduard's PE for this area (Inclusive Model Design's YT channel) and decided to fashion my own. After finding an episode that gave a good look at the Eduard parts, I made a simple CAD drawing of the cans, lids and got the shape and proportions where I wanted them, then scaled them up 1.1X, four times, printed out 2 copies, letter size. I coated them, both sides of the paper, with clear Aero Gloss (outside of course, that stuff is nasty!) Two coats each applied over two days. In between coats I worked on the tail gunners area, all kit parts here. This gave them some rigidity and sill allowed easy folding. The first go around was way too big, so I chose a smaller set, assembled, fashioned mounting hardware akin to the Eduards PE Still a bit of detail to add to the ball's ammuntion belts (cut to shape .05 clear plastic sheet painted with MM acrylic Steel and enamel Brass) before closing the fuselage up. I thought the starboard side waist looked a bit neglected, other than the door I will have open, so I added a footrest board (for both gunners) and something I found in my bits and pieces that matched the curve of the fuselage almost perfectly and I thought might pass for a rack of walkaround oxygen bottles. I thinks it actually is from a 1/35 Sherman tank I built as a kid, but in reality... I don't know for sure. Footrest brackets need to be angled to match the fuselage curve properly, once I found the proper angle, I held it all in place with masking tape while the glue dried overnight. I also completed the main gear struts, sans the wheels for now. My PE set came with metal struts for the mains (gear down only) and resin for wheel/tire for the main and tail wheels. I didn't like the metal gear, quite a rough casting with lots of flash so I used the kit parts, despite the increaed weight of the plane with the PE and other bits I've added. I'll will use the resin tires however, much nicer than the kit pieces. I was intending to adapt my gear to simulate a fully loaded/fueled B-17, but for some reason I forgot that, while I was working on the gear. So I may revisit that metal gear... or tear these apart. I do like the look of a B-17 squating under load, looks meaner in my mind. Hmm.... holdng off on the weatheirng until I decide. I'll go over the interior tonight to make sure I did not forget to put anything in before my next task, mating the fuselage halves. Thanks, and that is it for this update! R/S David

This is simply amazing Fozzy, glad I found it. Will be following along from here on out! R/S David

Quick update, Finished the Ball Turret last night, and the Top Turret lacks only the clear parts. Both lack the aftermarket barrels. I just stuck the kit versions in for alignment purposes during assembly. Below is the aforementioned shave job I had to perform on the top turret (both sides) to get it in per the directions. I did this in many steps so as not to remove more than necessary. The filed bit is invisible on the completed model so I will repaint the wounds and call it done. The ball with a first light coat MM Neutral Gray Acrylic and weathering... I will give it another light pass during final paint. I think i might move it to this position though. Until next time... R/S David

Marcel, excellent work on these beautiful jets! Just saw 6 F-16's from somewhere in Michael's path go over about ten minutes ago. They were leaving nearby WPAFB to return from whence they came. I came to WIP when I got back to my office to see if any F-16's were in here and found your build... will be following! Nice work! R/S David

My favorite jet ever, yours looks spectacular, sir! Definitely want to do one of these now, only it will never look this snappy. Well done!

This update; Ball and Top turrets mostly complete My aftermarket PE came with masks for these two, but other than gun barrels, nothing else. So I added some switches and handles here and there even knowing, that in the ball at least, very little of this can be seen. Beginning to mask. Damn some of these are small, but fit well. After masking, priming turret, then attaching gun bodies (which hold the outer turret pivot in place and are inaccessible once turret is assembled) I then used the kit barrels to line up the gun bodies with the penetrations in the turret body before assembly of the turret itself, which I will do tonight, then paint MM Neutral Grey. I will leave kit barrels in place until gluing the aftermarket barrels in at completion of build. The top turret was a bit more of a chore. I primed the parts and painted the inside pieces MM Steel for contrast inside the Interior Green cockpit. I painted the dials and switches as well. Similar to the above piece for the Ball turret. Now comes the rub... the top turret will NOT install through the turtle deck per the instructions without alteration. It's a bit like trying to get a square peg through an equal sized round hole. But first I double & triple checked the instructions to see if I had assembled it correctly which I had... unless the instructions are wrong. So I also searched a couple other builds and noticed where visible, top turrets appeared filed away in the very same area I was about to... so on I went.. and viola! It fits! Below you will see the area I had to file away, on both verticals to get the turret in, I believe in the end I went about 3mm lower than indicated here. Again the kit barrels installed to ensure the guns line up with the holes in the turret. I also sprayed it with MM "Dark Green" instead of MM "Olive Drab", got my mix bottles, um, mixed up. It's a thin coat and I will correct during final painting. For the curious, this turret will spin 360 degrees, but the gun elevation is fixed. The ball will spin about 180 unless you grind off the stops, topside, on the plate fastening turret to the bomber floor. It's guns should also deflect, but somehow mine don't, at least not easily. I must have been a bit messy with the glue, but I'm good, they are in an acceptable position for me. That's it for now. My next update will be everything (including these two turrets) that I've completed thus far. I 've been jumping around a lot and that should help me remember where I am, and where I need to go yet! R/S David

Been awhile since posing, the usual work and life interventions are to blame. But I have been working on the plane. Finished the flaps, well as far as I am willing to go until the wings are fitted, and ready for paint... quite delicate work and despite being careful I’ve knocked more of those ribs off than I care to remember, and lost one in the process. Got to finish the engines... my PE set only included plug wires here. Here is a photo of them before I touched up the bolts and glued the cowlings on. Still have a bit of weathering to do. I want at least one of them to appear as fresh(er). Next, more flaps! Yay! Cowl flaps in this case. In the end not as difficult as I feared, there will be some touch up however. I will save that until this monster is ready for paint. Finally buttoned up the cockpit as well, added the aftermarket PE seat belts for the pilots. Milliput cushions, with homemade decals, and a photograph of the pilots wife... (my mother). Testors decal system used here, my first ever. A good bit of the time between my last post and this one was spent with Photoshop making the decal sheet, with enough decals to be worth one of those expensive pieces of paper. t And finally for this this update the wings glued together and ready for seam work which should be fairly minor, mostly around the flap area where the PE joins the plastic, some filing too due to some fitting issues. There are some other pieces here and there in these photos, I’ll get to those in a future updates. Many of those were started long ago, before my most recent burst of motivation. Until next time, R/S David