Tamiya F-14A I.I.A.F.

[Grunticus]

I was going to tackle the ICM Cobra next, but my eye caught the box of this one and made me daydream of the times I used to go to the local hobby shop which had one on a shelf behind the counter. I would often ask if I could look inside the box to gaze at it's size and beauty. They always let me, and I wonder why they put up with me for all this time as they knew I could never afford the kit. It was the most expensive one in the shop. I thought I would never own one back then when I was 12 or 13. The Tomcat is my all time favorite aircraft.

 

Enough has been written about the kit, so I digress. I did get some extra's but I will not rescribe it or go fancy on it. I will finish it in the striking and beautiful I.I.A.F. desert-scheme, depicting the time period just after delivery.

 

 

The box has seen quite some travel and sunlight judging by how it has faded and the condition it's in. I bought it off Ebay. Avionix cockpit, Eduard cockpit set, wheels, and D&S F-14 Tomcat book complete this build for me.

 

 

The afterburner assembly. It's a start :o)

 

 

 

[aircommando130]

Back in the mid 70's when we were friends with Iran I hauled Tomcat parts for the IIAF.

A Grumman guy gave me a Iranian Tomcat sticker that I still have. The Tomcat looked 

good in that desert paint. Hauled a bunch of F-5E/F's and Cobra gunships and slick Huey's

to Iran before the embassy fell in 79 in the old "A" model C-5. This will be fun to watch.....

 

Cheers...Ron

[Cheetah11]

Hi Grunticus

I am slowly gathering info for a similar build. From what I could find on forums I think the wheels in the kit are the only ones with the correct pattern for F-14 aircraft before 1980.

I do not think there are any AM parts for these wheels. Maybe some of the members with more F-14 knowledge can give more info on this.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Grunticus]

1 hour ago, Cheetah11 said:

Hi Grunticus

I am slowly gathering info for a similar build. From what I could find on forums I think the wheels in the kit are the only ones with the correct pattern for F-14 aircraft before 1980.

I do not think there are any AM parts for these wheels. Maybe some of the members with more F-14 knowledge can give more info on this.

Cheers

Nick

 

Thanks for this Nick. I did compare the kit rims and tyres with the AM ones I got, and I really think the kit ones look better in terms of sharpness and definition. I am just not sure how the old rubber tires will hold up to the weight of the model over time. In the box, they still look and feel okay after all these years (I suspect the box I have is over 40 years old).

[chrish]

This will be a good one for me to watch

 Chair pulled up and sitting comfortably…you may begin

[Flight Line Media]

Nice project! I look forward to seeing this build completed.

[Grunticus]

I was just glancing at the seam on the canopy. I would love to hear how you guys would tackle this. I understand it involves sanding and polishing

 

What is a good method to smooth it out after sanding?

[Kagemusha]

15 hours ago, Grunticus said:

Thanks for this Nick. I did compare the kit rims and tyres with the AM ones I got, and I really think the kit ones look better in terms of sharpness and definition. I am just not sure how the old rubber tires will hold up to the weight of the model over time. In the box, they still look and feel okay after all these years (I suspect the box I have is over 40 years old).

 

Wolfpack make a set of early wheels, as do Halberd.

 

 

[Kagemusha]

1 hour ago, Grunticus said:

I was just glancing at the seam on the canopy. I would love to hear how you guys would tackle this. I understand it involves sanding and polishing

 

What is a good method to smooth it out after sanding?

 

Quite a few threads in tips...

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/30048-removing-canopy-seams/&tab=comments#comment-265437

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/28013-supershiny-canopies/&tab=comments#comment-247870

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/81171-polishing-canopies-what-do-you-use/&tab=comments#comment-1142444

 

https://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?/topic/78863-canopy-polishing/

 

 

 

[Confusionreigns178]

Whatever you do, use, don't use the kit's rubber tyres. After a couple of years, the rubber will start to react with the plastic rims and will start to "melt". Resin tyres are definitely the way to go. All kit-supplied rubber tyres are bad news. 

 

Chris.  

[Confusionreigns178]

5 hours ago, MARU5137 said:

(who doesn't love Tomcats....    )

Their opponents in dogfights....?

 

Chris. 

[Grunticus]

After eye-balling many photos I made a choice for the main colors. Personally, I am a follower of scale effect and after comparing my paint stash to the photos this will be it. Apparently MRP's L-29 Delfin line is an exact match, but I don't think so at all.

 

 

I have started sorting the seam on the canopy. The age of the kit shows as the canopy is thick and distorted in places, plus it was already scuffed from living in a box for decades. This is after a first pass with a sanding stick, various grades of sandpaper, and a last run with sanding pads from 3200 to 12000, using toothpaste on the last run and buffing it out. When I am reasonably okay with the result it will get a bath of future.

 

The Eduard set contains some nice looking canopy upgrades btw. We'll see if I can do them justice...

 

 

Cheers!

Edited October 17, 2021 by Grunticus
Eduard remark.

[mattcour]

A nice project to watch. The canopy looks already good.

[Grunticus]

The OOB nozzles look quite nice. I did not clean up the inner seams.

 

 

The aft fuselage fit is not exactly a natural fit. Neither were Bianca and I, still were together firmly after two kids and 20+ years  It will take some elbow grease to get it to fit though. I will attack one mating surface at a time. I knew this was coming. I had a friend in the 80s whose father was wrestling this kit at the time, and I can still hear him curse...

 

 

After a lot of wrestling I'll leave it to dry now:

 

 

In the mean time I've been studying the...uhhm..."instructions" that came with the Avionix cockpit. I think I will look up some builds that used this set (if I find any) before I start to cut anything.

[Grunticus]

I have started to prepare the resin cockpit parts. I usually screw these things up somehow so taking it slow (not slow enough for the aft cockpit floor though  )

 

Just a few photos of what the set gives you, compared to some of the kit-parts.

 

Cockpit tubs:

 

 

Aft cockpit decking:

 

 

IP's:

 

 

Front coaming:

 

 

Seats. Nice touch to have different belt arrangements on the two seats.

 

 

Dry fit after first cleanup:

 

 

Other bits:

 

 

Side consoles. I will remove the canopy locking mechanism from these castings to they will disappear under the cockpit tub rim. The Eduard PE bits that cover that area look nice than the resin ones.

 

 

I'll post some more shots of the mid-cockpit coaming tomorrow. The refueling probe set and Reskit wheels arrived today as well, photos of those to follow too.