1/18TH JSI F-14B Tomcat conversion

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings everyone,

Minor update for tonight.

Weathering on and flat coated. I still need to do the BFD,  wing release mechanism (the the tail fin assembly) and, add arming wire.

 

 

I think with the limited ability with my hands / arms, this may have to suffice for the BFD, (small brass pin), I just need to paint it silver. I'm still working on something that I'll be happy with for the tail fin assembly.

 

 

Thanks to all who still stay interested in my work. I'm hoping that my replacement decals show up soon, I really want to keep this project moving along.

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

[A-10LOADER]

Adding the details to the GBU-16's. This is about as good as I could do with my hands. All this took me about 5 hours, until I was satisfied with it. It's probably too big scale wise but, I couldn't do anything smaller.

 

 

A small piece of brass rod will serve as the BFD.

 

 

The wing assembly release latch was made from some evergreen plastic strip and some brass rod. A "trench" was carved into the plastic stock and a small hole drilled, at an angel, will accept the brass rod. The plastic stock was left long so I can handle it while painting. After the paint is dry I'll install the brass rod and cut it to it's final length and glue the whole assembly to the tail wing assembly. Then I can finish off the bombs with some arming wire.
Again, I truly appreciate all of those who are still following along.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

[Yordy]

I wish i had the skills and patience to pull this off on my 1/18 F-14.

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks very much MARU, much appreciated.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

 

P.S. You need to try and track down some finished pics of Marek's Kitty.

[Gerhard]

Just brilliant Steve. Will you please explain how and why you used  the White Out?

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks Gerhard for the kind words.

To answer your question WHY I used the Wite Out was because I wanted to eliminate the seams running thru the bomb bodies and I had to relocate the mounting holes to accommodate the bomb racks. Once the sanding was done, I needed to replace the thermal coating on the bomb bodies. I had tried this earlier on my MK-83's for the Tomcat and it seemed to work very well.

As for the HOW, this is what I did,

Sanded the bomb bodies with 320 grit.

Wiped them down with rubbing alcohol.

Applied the Wite Out and "stippled it" as it dried. I used the Quick Dry stuff and worked small areas at a time. I allowed this to dry overnight.

Applied the yellow color for the paint bands, allowed this to dry overnight.

Using Tamiya tape, I cut 2mm strips of tape and masked off the color bands, then sprayed the bomb bodies FS 36375,Light Ghost Gray. I gave the paint about 3-4 minutes to dry then removed the tape exposing the yellow color bands.

I hope this is the explanation you were looking for.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

 

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings everyone,
Today's update, The GBU’s are complete !! Subtle changes but, they’re more accurate and look better IMO. Now I can change the loadout from time to time on my Big Cat.

 

 

BFD added to the CCG and it’s arming cable. I even added the Pulse Decoder setting dials ( 3 small black dots) to the CCG.

 

 

Scratch-built Wing Release Mechanism and latch with arming cable. Both of these arming cables SHOULD be wrapped around the two rear sway braces (one on each side) of the bomb rack but, then I couldn't change the loadout. Close enough to give the illusion.

 

 

Now I just need my 3 replacement decals to show up and I can press on with this build. Without them, I'm at a standstill. Hopefully they show up sooner than later.
Thanks for checking in.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

[Marcel111]

Those GBU-16's look great!

[A-10LOADER]

7 hours ago, Marcel111 said:

Those GBU-16's look great!

 

Thanks very much Marcel, I do appreciate your kind words.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

 

[A-10LOADER]

Greetings all,
Minor update for tonight but, a major part of the puzzle completed. My replacement decals arrived in the mail this afternoon and I just finished them up. Next up, a semi-gloss coat to seal them in then the weathering can begin. Thanks to all who still follow along.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

 

 

[dodgem37]

Very effective.  Great show.  Love the close-ups.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Yordy]

Wow, that is looking really good, may i ask what color you used for the navigation lights.

[A-10LOADER]

Thanks for looking and for the kind words guys.

Yordy, the navigation lights were decals supplied with my sheet.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

[Yordy]

Ok, well then i have to try and mix something.

[A-10LOADER]

Greeting's everyone,

I've been practicing on my paint mule and trying different things to figure out how to weather/"corrosion control" my Tomcat. My problem is all the "bolt on" parts, fuel tanks, phoenix pallets, pylons, etc. were just painted, gloss coated, decaled, flat coated, wash applied with some pastels and, flat coated again. They've had no "corrosion control" done to them. I'm now trying to do this to the airframe and, I'm terrified of screwing this up and I'm also concerned about things not blending together. I don't want all the parts to look out of place when they are installed onto the jet but, I know how dirty/grimy NAVY jets can get.

I really wanted to prime the jet in black and do the various marbled coats of colors then spray the 3 main colors over top of the marbling but, since the parts weren't done that way I figured I would just do everything the same. Now I'm at the crossroad and don't know what to do !!?? After all this time and effort I really don't want to ruin this. So, I guess I'll throw this out there to the Naval Aviation weathering experts and get your thoughts as to what to do next ?? What would you do at this stage of the game ?? I look forward to your input and appreciate any and all help, thanks.

 

Steve

"TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!"

 

Here's my attempt so far. I didn't want to go too far so I can go back and fix this with some top color. I used some Dark Ghost Gray for the "corrosion control".