Ryan Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) 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! Edited August 14, 2018 by Ryan A-10LOADER and LSP_Kevin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-10LOADER Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Great start on a not so great kit. There will be many more bumps along the way according to others who have built this kit. Best of luck and following. Steve "TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 1 hour ago, A-10LOADER said: Great start on a not so great kit. There will be many more bumps along the way according to others who have built this kit. Best of luck and following. Steve "TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!" Yes thanks Steve, i have been reading up on other builds. A-10LOADER 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 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 johncrow and LSP_Kevin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maxim Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 While you are there you may want to fill all the rivets with Mr Surfacer and sand them smooth as the F-14 wasn't riddled with rivets along the side of the fuselage. VF-51 aircraft in the era would not have had the stiffener panel around the rear footstep. Great work so far on a difficult kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Thanks Maxim, I was not aware of the stiffener, and yes I was going to putty those rivets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-10LOADER Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 1 hour ago, Ryan said: Thanks Maxim, I was not aware of the stiffener, and yes I was going to putty those rivets! There's one of the "bumps in the road" I talked about earlier. You'll find more "panel fastener" details on the wings and hor stabs, that should not be there as well. Steve "TOMCATS FOREVER, BABY...!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_t Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Following this closely Ryan ! I have had the same kit lined up to start .....Zacto intakes, Aires wheel bays, Aires cockpit but have not pulled the trigger on it quite yet. Looking good ! Scott Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maxim Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) I admire the determination of you guys building the Trumpy kit. Personally I think it's easier to rescribe the Tamiya kit and add ducting to the intakes. Look forward to your updates. I hope Tamiya release an upscale of their 48 scale kit. Then we would have an accurate F-14 in 32 scale. Edited August 15, 2018 by Maxim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 11 hours ago, Maxim said: I admire the determination of you guys building the Trumpy kit. Personally I think it's easier to rescribe the Tamiya kit and add ducting to the intakes. Look forward to your updates. I hope Tamiya release an upscale of their 48 scale kit. Then we would have an accurate F-14 in 32 scale. Yep when you put it that way it seems the better way, but we are modelers not the smartest bunch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 12 hours ago, scott_t said: Following this closely Ryan ! I have had the same kit lined up to start .....Zacto intakes, Aires wheel bays, Aires cockpit but have not pulled the trigger on it quite yet. Looking good ! Scott 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now