Andreas Tomcatter

Both of them are stunning! The cockpit on the -S is absolutely fantastic! Keep them coming!

Many thanks Bryan! That is what I was always concerned about apart from the required space to work with and display this thing. As you say you have to be in the right frame of mind if you want to correct its many flaws while keeping a constant rate of involvement otherwise you will get into prolonged pauses like the current one. Ben thank you and I appreciate your comments! I've been following your outstanding work and I remember the Tomcat, especially the nose correction. Unfortunately I haven't worked on the big Cat for some time now but I hope to get on to it again, soon. Have a great day! Andreas

Excellent work and craftsmanship!

Neither had I. I knew about the carbon fiber on F-16 P&Ws and by the way thanks for sharing your photo but on GE F110s? Never before. That was why it took me by surprise when it appeared on the Jolly Rogers jet on the first photo. Was this just a very limited Navy experimental thing? Who knows. Andreas

Greetings to all! I recently stumbled across the following photograph of an F-14B Tomcat while looking for some reference for a friend's build https://www.airfighters.com/photo/186998/M/USA-Navy/Grumman-F-14B-Tomcat/163224/?fbclid=IwAR20LLhexd2eLLeqpR2ENlSjSRjZaXV0VGHjVTGV4ht0zll_mK0yH6xFRSU (Photo is by David F. Brown as can be seen on the link) The photo depicts an F-14B with BuNo 163224 in October 1997. On a first glance nothing seems out of the ordinary. However on closer inspection one can see that the F110 nozzles seem a bit different than one would expect. They appear darker than usual: What someone would expect is this: So I was wondering what was going on. I posted my inquiry on the F-14 Tomcat Association Facebook Group and I was lucky enough to receive an answer by a gentleman who was working on VF-101 Tomcats back at the time and who verified that these were indeed different GE nozzles than the usual ones. The turkey feathers were made of carbon fiber and they were mounted in a unique way. He thought that was odd and something that he had not seen (or as I understood did not see again) and must have been something experimental and with limited application. He was kind enough to share the photographs that he had taken back then and with his permission I re-post here (all photos were taken by Justin Macezinskas) I find this has modelling interest as I've never seen any other F-14 or F-16 with that F110 configuration, ever before. Based on the above the F-14B 163224 on October of 1997 had this configuration but unfortunately I do not have the BuNo for the VF-101 jet or the exact period. Some more aircraft that came up include the ones below and if the dates on the posted photographs are correct the engines were being tested during the period 1996-2001 at least. F-14B BuNo 161860 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 12/10/1996 (Photo by Chris Hauser) F-14B BuNo 162922 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 25/04/1997 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14B BuNo 163224 VF-103 Jolly Rogers - 11/1997 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14B BuNo 162920 VF-102 Diamondbacks - 25/05/1998 (Photo by Peter Boschert) F-14D BuNo 163899 VF-213 Black Lions - 11/1999 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14D BuNo 163414 VF-213 Black Lions - 10/2000 (Photo by David F. Brown) F-14D BuNo 164348 VF-213 Black Lions - 12/05/2001 (Photo by David F. Brown) One more photo came up which depicts the last aircraft on the list above but at a different period. The interesting thing is that it is a 213 jet on a cruise and also is fitted with one of each of the GE engines, the usual one and the carbon fiber one. Note also the I♥ NY on the vertical tail which is a nice detail. Photographer or date were not provided however someone could hypothesize that this is around 2001 as well as messages regarding NY started appearing on aircraft and munitions after 9/11. And this is probably verified by the following photograph of the same aircraft on 24/02/2002 after its participation in OEF. It has OEF mission markings while it seems to have been fitted with at least one normal GE engine and the I♥ NY can be seen on the vertical tail. F-14D BuNo 164348 VF-213 Black Lions - 24/02/2002 (Photo by David F. Brown) Anyway these engines seem to have been fitted to very few aircraft while it was not the norm, so it should see extremely limited applicability. Logic dictates that only aircraft that appear on photos like the ones posted before should be considered definite examples of this unique engine's installation at the specific period only. In every other case, the normal F110-GE should be considered as the only and proper choice. If anybody has info or a photo of an F-14 or F-16 with the carbon fiber F110 it would be interesting to share in order to gather more information about this matter. Many thanks for your interest and wish everyone to stay healthy! Andreas

Really nice work in the cockpit Spyros!

Many thanks for the information! Panel lines is the thing I am trying to get prepared most for as I will spend quite some time on them. I've used Prime Portal in the past however I do not remember the particular F-14D which has quite a lot of interesting photos. I was thinking to work on the panel lines based on Tamiya's 1:48 scale model as I presume it has higher level of accuracy in comparison to older kits and I do not have access to any good scale drawings of the aircraft but since there are quite a few close ups on Prime Portal they will certainly be of great help! Regarding the exhausts....I bought the Aires set but I have an issue with it although I was aware of it: The rivets on the exhaust feathers. In real life they are there, however they are very subtle while Aires has them quite pronounced. I can't say I like them very much and it messes a bit the image of the exhaust feathers as I prefer them flat. So one choice I had was to sand them down. I began with it, cautiously, but I realized that I will probably irreversibly change the shape of the exhaust during the process or lose more detail than I wanted to, as sanding resin in such a restricted way proved more difficult than I expected, not to mention the fragility of the feathers which can be damaged easily. Even when I used CA glue I had to do multiple passes so I stopped all together. That is why, again I remembered Kai's build where he used the Tamiya F-16 ring and exhausts. As in your case, back then there was no Aires set and I guess that was logical. So I started searching for a set and since then I have acquired one from a fellow modeller in our local club. And this is where I compared both cans (Aires is dark grey while Tamiya is light grey): My initial concern was if and how well the Tamiya exhaust will fit to the Aires ring... I will not comment on the coincidences ...... That is why I want to use Tamiya's exhausts -if i find a second one. I will have the best I guess of both worlds: The fuselage ring and the seamless afterburner section from Aires while I get to enjoy the Tamiya non-riveted feathers. Anyhow if somebody where to get the whole exhaust set from the Tamiya F-16 kit, ordering the separate sprue trees, I guess it would be quite expensive so Aires should be an excellent choice. Andreas

Greetings! Thank you all for your comments, interest in the build and the welcome! I have in mind some corrections that need to take place, like panel lines on the fuselage that are wrong from what I have read. In general as the mold represents a fairly early Tomcat, things that have to do with re-enforcement plates on the vertical stabilizers and the wheels need to be changed. Also some details on the external fuel tanks panels and the shape on their backside. I have seen one of your Tomcat builds a few years ago so I think I will revisit to take a good look for informational purposes as your attention to detail always amazes me! If you could point out anything that comes in mind it would be most welcome of course and thank you for pointing it out. I believe you talk about shape accuracy and I could not agree more. Trumpeter's rendition has been analyzed quite extensively. The intakes take the spotlight and that is quite logical but the nose section feels off as well. With whatever means for the rest of the fuselage. Personally it bothers me more than I can admit to Only if they did that! Fingers crossed! But ....I certainly can't complain though. Their 1/48 kit has been a real joy to anybody that likes this airplane.

Thank you for your welcoming comments gentlemen! I am coming from 1/72 scale (and briefly 1/48) so things feel a bit awkward already. I've been collecting various 1/32 kits for some time now and had this one in my stash far too long to ignore it any more. It was about time I tried something new now that I finally found the appropriate space for larger projects.

Greetings everyone! I have been around the site for quite some time following posts and WIPs so I thought it was about time for my first large project. The following WIP will be my first in the 32nd scale and the first one in Large Scale Planes! As the title shows I will be trying my luck on an F-14B, based on the Tamiya 1:32 kit. Initially I was thinking of representing aircraft 105 from VF-41 with full low visibility colors however I changed my mind during the summer after seeing some wonderful shots of an F-14B 1:32 scale with the VF-102 Diamondbacks decals form Fightertown Decals. The decal set was particularly difficult to track, as it is out of print, however I managed to find a copy in a Japanese online store and in perfect condition no less. The aircraft that will be represented, flew with Diamondbacks during the OEF campaign in Afganistan in 2002. I will be using the 2003 version of the Tamiya kit which includes some updates in comparison to the 1994 and the 1980 versions. Also the following after market sets will be used accordingly: -Teknics ΤΚ32012 F-14B Tomcat/Bombcat Cockpit Superset -Teknics TK32013 F-14B Airframe conversion set -GRU-7(A) ejection seats from Avionix cockpit set BLC32039 -Aires 2099 F-14B/D Tomcat exhaust nozzles -If it is possible to get my hands on the exhaust nozzles form the 1:32 Tamiya F-16 they will be used instead -Hadmodels 432003 F-14B/D Upgrade photoetched part set -Crossdelta CD32002 F-14 Step area & Stiffeners -Master Model AM-32-031 F-14 Alfa Probe & Angle Of Attack probe -True Details TDP32202 1/32 F-14D Tomcat Resin Wheel Set (Late) -Eduard 32144 F-14A Tomcat exterior photoetched part set -Fightertown Decals 32009 VF-102 F-14B "Diamondbacks" OEF -Armament from the kit or Tamiya's F-16 The construction began with some modifications to the airframe around the cockpit area and the nose. Tamiya's mold in general includes not only raised lines but some panels as well. Initially I thought it was a mistake however it seems that very early Tomcats did have those. I could not find photos form both sides however at least on the right it seems that the panel was raised for some reason. In later photos these areas are not raised, so they were sanded down. One thing that is weird is how Tamiya chose to represent the refueling panel. In the kit it is neither closed nor open so since I would not doing it open it was covered with epoxy putty and sanded down while afterwards the panel lines were rescribed. Next, a characteristic electronics panel behind the cockpit was rescribed adding a bit of detail. An area on the Tamiya kit that can be improved are the NACA vents. The kit provides the correct gun vents for a late Tomcat however they are provided as one piece with the airframe. Using a rotary tool the plastic behind each vent was removed, the thickness of the leading edges was reduced and Evergreen plasticard was used to restore them. Eduard's PE was used for the gun muzzle blast fairing. HAD models PE set provides a replacement for the grills beneath the aircraft's ladder so the kit's detail was removed using a rotary tool. After the PE was in place, the area was rescribed and epoxy putty was used to restore the raised detail. The gun gas exhausts are provided in a slightly wrong position by Tamiya and because HAD models provided PE parts for the re-enforcement plates around them I decided to change their position. The old exhausts were filled with CA and sanded down while on the new positions the kit's plastic was thinned from the inside and new ones were opened accordingly. Initially the PE parts for the re-enforcements were used however I could not get them to glue properly in place so off they went! Two new pieces were created by using Evergreen plasticard and glued in place. Also HAD provides two pieces for the grills that are found inside them which were used. Eduard's set provides some nice details for the ladder in order to be represented in open position so it was the next area I started working on. Unfortunately Eduard provides a simple improvement to the kit's piece so a few additions were deemed necessary to be included. I worked based on photos of the real aircraft while Kai Wolter's exceptional F-14 build has been of great assistance and inspiration as well. Eduard's guide was not followed. Instead the two main ladder parts (1 and 2 ) were used to sandwich a piece of Evergreen in order to increase the thickness of the ladder while the PE steps (parts 73) were not used. Evergreen was used to create the two steps and to add the various small details. Parts 12 and 13 were used to create the handle mechanism. So ... that's about it for this time. Thanks for your interest! Andreas