Best F-14 Kit and Aftermarket??

[Aviacom]

Which is the best F-14 kit and Aftermarket goodies out there now?

 

Really fancy one for something different from my normal genre of WW2 Props and 1950’s jets!!

 

cheers.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Aviacom

[Stokey Pete]

Tough question.

The Tamiya kit is really showing it’s age now. The fit is pretty rough to nail well, a mix of raised and recessed details, and unless you’re modelling the A variant, needs a bunch of work to convert. 
The Trumpeter kits have more in the way of resin items to dress up their offering. Obviously there’ll be shape and size issues as standard with the Trumpeter. I’m no Tomcat expert, so if it looks like one, it’s good enough for me. Whether that’s good enough for you, only you’ll know that. 
If I were in the market for and F-14 now, I’d go with a Trumpeter D kit and dress it up with Aires ‘pit, Zactoman goodies, and some Reskit exhausts that are just hitting the cyber shelves. 

[thierry laurent]

There is unfortunately no best Tomcat in 1/32! All kits have MAJOR issues asking for a lot of elbow grease and expensive aftermarket sets to correct them as much as possible. Actually, you have first to chose which drawbacks are more acceptable for you to do a choice in that scale...!

[LSP_K2]

12 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

There is unfortunately no best Tomcat in 1/32! All kits have MAJOR issues asking for a lot of elbow grease and expensive aftermarket sets to correct them as much as possible. Actually, you have first to chose which drawbacks are more acceptable for you to do a choice in that scale...!

 

Exactly why I've been unwilling to commit to a big Tomcat, though I'd really like to do a big A.

[LSP_Mike]

I have the Revell kit. I'll start with that.

[Tony T]

The 1982 vintage Revell is actually quite nice as a canvas to detail-up (especially the cockpit and NLG), but is hard to find. Excellent value kit with slightly short tail fins.

 

I have the Trumpeter F-14D unbuilt in its suitcase, complete with a host of AM including "essential" Zactomodels upgrades (inlets, wing seals and Phoenix pallet fronts) and I think it should build well when I eventually summon the courage to start it. 

 

However, if I wanted a swept wing F-14A I'd probably buy the Tamiya, with the caveat that the moulds have been updated to reflect a later configuration. The Trumpeter A with aforementioned Zactomodels necessaries is arguably better for a glossy era machine, and the only option if you want unswept wings with the flaps down.

 

Whatever you decide, it's an enjoyable journey. Great aircraft with lots of character — and big with lots of airframe to airbrush.

 

Tony 

[Starfighter]

Shape wise, the Tamiya Tomcat remains by far the best; the Trumpeter has major and hard to correct shape issues and the Revell kit is a nice and rather cheap base but has major nose and canopy shape issues (which can be corrected using Tamiya parts and a bit of elbow grease).

 

As others have pointed out, what's more important for you? Good proportions yet low detail (=Tamiya), easy assembly and rather nice details yet totally flawed shape (= Trumpeter), low price yet low detail & flawed nose shape (=Revell). 

 

There are several really comprehensive threads discussing the differences between the kits here on LSP which are definitely worth a look.

[Chris_B-1B]

I thought I saw a post somewhere from Red Fox Studios or Quinta Decals that they were making/are making a cockpit decal set for the Tamiya F-14.  That would help solve one issue with that kit as I've used these decals before and they are rather nice.

 

Chris

 

[cbk57]

For me the best answer is the 1/48 Tamiya kit.  I have yet to build one but have been interested in building a F-14.  But with the issues of the 1/32 choices, I would go 1/48 personally.  The AMK 1/48 B looks pretty nice as well.  However, I want to do an A model more than a B.

[Anders_Isaksson]

Having wrestled a bit with the old Tamiya Tomcat I'm having none of it anymore. Just not worth the work involved to make it shine, but that's of course a personal opinion.

 

The Trumpeter kit is (as said above) rather flawed when it comes to exterior shapes. The Zactoman intakes are (IMHO) essential add-ons. The wing having separate flaps and slats is a no-seller to me as Trumpeter's rendition is still rather inaccurate overall. Tried to accurize the HB 48th scale flaps/slats to make the wings passable but it was a lot of work, and I'm pretty sure the larger Trumpeter kit has every problem the HB kit has... so no thanks.

 

Revell... to me the forward fuselage around the cockpit with the windscreen and canopy all jumps out at me as being just more or less out of shape, with the shallow canopy being the main error for me. But others may think differently.

 

If only Tamiya would scale up their 48th scale Tomcat I guess we all would be rather happy...

[PhilB]

I built the elderly Tamiya when it was the only game in town before the Trumpeter version appeared.

Sure, there were some raised panel lines on the rear deck but some sandpaper and a re-scribe soon fixed that.

AM cockpit and some Aires burner cans as I was doing a "B".

No am intakes unlike the Trumpeter but a bit of card and filler had smooth intakes.

A good guide is on the Narita Family website:

http://www.naritafamily.com/howto/F14D/photo_thumb.htm

 

It is what it is and yes it needs some modelling skills rather than expected perfection OOB.

 

Mine:

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/30336-f-14b-tomcat-vf-103-jolly-rogers/

Edited May 12, 2021 by PhilB

[Hawkwrench]

I've heard the AMK kit is pretty good. I have a limited edition model signed in gold paint marker by the owner of AMK, Sio.

 

Tim

[LSP_Mike]

Well I have a single 1/48 kit, and am not likely to buy another, so my Revell kit will be it, warts and all.

[Hawkwrench]

2 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

 

Sorry, but you heard wrong.  The reason you haven’t heard a peep out of AMK in months is because he lost his shirt on the F-14, and had to retool massive parts of it.  Even the “improved” kit is massively wrong.  Tamiya’s 1/48 kit is as close to perfect as we’re likely to see.  That said, I’m really looking forward to the GWH kit, since their 1/72 F-14 is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Wow, I didn't know that. 

It don't matter to me though as I will never build it. Just become a shelf space taker.

 

Tim

[red Dog]

Quote

Sorry, but you heard wrong.  The reason you haven’t heard a peep out of AMK in months is because he lost his shirt on the F-14, and had to retool massive parts of it.  Even the “improved” kit is massively wrong.  Tamiya’s 1/48 kit is as close to perfect as we’re likely to see. 

Did you build it to criticize it?

Did you build both to compare?

 

He didn't hear it wrong. I have built both alongside and my take is that both kits are really great. So I'm one of the guy writing great conclusions about the AMK (and Tamiya) kit. 

AMK kit is gorgeous and gives a pretty decent tomcat in the end, no more no less than the Tamiya. Sure it's a bit more work but it has dozen more options too.

AMK beats the tomcat for experienced modelers willing to get the most of a kit.
Tamiya beats AMK for modelers who wants something easy hassle free.

 

In the end we're happy because we have options. So bashing one or another is utterly stupid, especially from ppl who haven't built it like that 300 stupid pages on ARC even before they were released. 

Hopefully this place is smarter ... ?

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by red Dog
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