Terrific Tomcat Trio

[jimz66]

Okay guys here goes nothing. This is my first enty on ARC. This is for the FineScale Modeler F-14 GB and for the San Diego Reunion. I am building three F-14's and finally finishing the one from the 2006 reunion that I never finished. All that is left for that one is the hoods, seats, bombs racks, landing gear and their doors as well as the canopy. Here is what I have going.

My game plan is to build four sets of landing gears, three bays and have them all painted at the same time along with the intakes and the engines. So for the first three shots I am going to show are the cockpits in various stages. Now with that said. here is what I am doing for the cockpits. First off I am doing some major scratchbuilding. What I did to start with was to sacrifice one full cockpit tub. What I did was chop off the sides from the floor. Then I glued the control panels into their respective positions. From there I went and I made new thin sides for the inside of the cockpits. I simply used the side panels as templets. Then I sanded down all the detail from the cockpit floors. I got rid of everything there was on the cockpit floors except for the bar at the back of the front cockpit for the rear wall in the front cockpit. Then I use the rear wall for the front of the cockpit as a template guide. I raised the top of the wall up. I then made a single wall out of sheet styrene to make the front wall for the rear cockpit. (Sorry guys this is the first time I have done this so bear with me. I do not remember the sizes of the sheet styrene I uses since I had a variety back. The side walls were the thinnest I had and just barely thin enough for the seats to still fit in.)

Okay back to the details. Once that was done, I made a new rear floor out of sheet and strip styrene. (Forgot to get a shot of that sorry.) I actually used the same sheet styrene for the floor piece as I did for the walls. I made one just long enough for the rear center consols. I hope they line up later. I also used c bracket strips to build up the section between the walls and the consol and then filled with putty and then sanded.

I also made a new front section based on measurments from the Black Box cockpits ( I hope this is not illegal. I am not sure.) Then I made a new rear wall, and used the same c bracket strips as I had for the rear cockpit floor to make the bump outs in the rear of the cockpit. Next using Tamiya green putty I filled in the one pit that I have almost finished to this stage. I will repeat this process for the other two. I will then go ahead and add the other details. The one thing I forgot to get images for was the side walls for the inside of the cockpit. I added putty from Testors for the front sections to build up the fabric wall.

I have only one shot of the landing gear hear as I have only one full set ready for sanding before final assembly. But again I have three more to make then sand then finish before I can paint.

And last but not least for now, last night and the night before, I sanded the exhaust cones smooth. Now I have to figure out what i am going to do with this next.

So here is the gameplan. I hope to have the cockpits, engines, landing gear, landing gear bays and intakes ready to be painted by next week. I hope to have the bodies assembled like a week later. Once I have the bays assemled I will go back and forth between sanding the seams and painting the details for the cockpits. Depending on how much of one thing my hands, eyes and mind can handle at once.

Sorry for the confusion on posting this if anyone was watching it is the first time I have posted here on ARC.

Edited July 18, 2007 by jimz66

[pablo189]

( I hope this is not illegal. I am not sure.)

Using their measurements? Doubt it very much, only if you actually cast direct copies and then sell them. Looks good anyway ,

Gary

[jimz66]

Thanks Pablo, I am suprised more of you didn't chime in.

Here is last nights and this morning's progress, as well as previous items from a couple of weeks ago. I have one more shot of the cockpits. I did the bulk of what was left for the putty. I filled it in before turning in for the night. I started to sand one of them this morning. Got it into almost the final shape. But I need to do a little more to that one. As far as the third one, the one that was actually the first one that I started, I have to go back and finish it off.

Here I have the first shots of the body. I have built the inside bays for the rear landing gear bays on all three of the new Cats. I also have the upper panels in place for the jet intake ramps. And as for the top goes all I have installed so far is the bladders.

Next on the agenda I have three items, again I am only showing one set for time and space purposes. I have three sets of tanks assembled and I have three beaver tails assembled (The one here is for an A not a D model, sorry) and I have two sets of Phoenix rails cut and ready for the new sections I will be building, just like Brian P. did for his VF-24 jet.

Finally for today I have three sets of wings and tail fins assembled again only showing one of each for time and space purposes. Will have more tomorrow or Monday.

As far as what my plans are for what I am building. I was going to do two for the San Diego reunion, but I do not think I will have time for that. So I am working on all the little things for the three of them, as well as the one from last year at the same time. Once that is done I will focus soley on the F-14D from VF-213 for the San Diego reunion.

I am building one full A, B and D models and finishing a B. I do not know what the A or new B will be just yet. I have yet to decide on painting. I have plenty to choose from but am not sure which ones I am going to do yet. Cheers.

[Paulo Jose Simas]

3 F-14 ... GREAT!!!

Keep up the good work

[jimz66]

Sorry about no updates yet folks. Had some car troubles and have been unable to update. Will have some pics tomorrow or Monday at the latest.

Here is where I am at. Still working on assembly of the three cockpits and landing gear. Most of the sanding for the gear has been done. Will do the details for the cockpits over the weekend. Hope to have the painting done in the next week or so. Plan to do more sculpting with the Tamiya putty which I worked on a little last night and this morning. I need to wait till I get my money next week to get a couple of nozzles anyway so I can work on more detailing for the cockpits. I have some wire at home which I am going to use for the back walls in the two sections for the cockpits.

I have also done a little more sanding of other areas as well. Cheers.

PS I need to get some SG so I can glue the wires in place.

Edited July 26, 2007 by jimz66

[Aggressor Supporter]

So far, looking good.

[jimz66]

Thanks Raptor Supporter. Guys, heres where I am at, I need to get more CA glue before I can continue as well as some more of that Tamiya putty. Boy that stuff stinks, but it sculps really well. Take care. I also have to get some sandpaper so I can get to work on spraying the landing gear.

[jimz66]

Sorry for the lack of images gusy. One obstacel after another. Got some painting done this morning. Airbrushed one set of engines. Then ran out of paint. DOH. Hope to have the cockpits painted (at least airbrushed this weekend. I did paint the interior wheel wells for the D model for the San Diego reunion so at least I can get one body done this week. I hope to enclose that one by next Sunday at the latest then start the painting for that one. Take care.

Took some photos this morning and than had trouble with my aging and somewhat disabled computer. Hope to fix the problem by tomorrow. Cheers.

[jimz66]

Okay guys here is the progress so far on the three new Cats and the one that is waiting to be done.

First image, sorry is so lousy is the progress on the cockptis. I have assembled two of the front gear wells except for the front piece to give me a chance to fit the cockpits inside with all the sanding I have had to do. And trust me I have sanded for hours. While that putty from Tamiya is nice, it takes a lot to sand.

Next images are the inside painting I did yesterday until I flately ran out of paint. Inclueded are two sets of GE Engines (although only one is shown, note I did not even have enough paint to do the engine buckets between the feathers and the engine tubes.), also one set of intakes and one set of main landing gear bays. Then again I just ran out of paint.

The next ten images or so are the progress on the F-14B that I attempted to finish for the Oceana reunion from last year. The pics again aren't great, but there here. Thanks for looking. I would like some feadback please.

Edited July 31, 2007 by jimz66

[jimz66]

The next step is more sanding and more wire work inside the cockpit. All's almost well in Kitty Land.

Trust me guys that Cat is not as good as it looks. I had some major bubus on the paint job. You cannot see them but TRUST ME

they're there.

I have six full sets of GE engines in that state shown above. Ready for this and one future project.

Edited July 31, 2007 by jimz66

[Daniel_B]

Looks good so far! Just keep pluggin' away at 'em--takes awhile, but the final result is worth it.

If you want some feedback on the Red Ripper, I'd suggest finding some way to highlight the panel lines a little bit. My personal choice is a wash of Tamiya Smoke, which I think gives a really nice look...

Daniel

[Tomcat Tweeker]

That is a sweet scheme on the "Ripper" Bird!! Keep the updates coming!

[jimz66]

Boy I was really hoping for more responses guys. You're letting me down. Come on now. Ok here it goes. I did not get two far on my model over the weekend. I really didn't do much at all yesterday. Saturday I did some more airbrushing. I airbrushed the front wheel wells for the two D models I am going to do and the other D model rear landing gear bay. I had only two jars of Guzne Sanygo paint so I am going to paint all the components for the A model with the GS paint and everything for the two D's and the B I have to finish in Tamiya paint. So on Saturday I airbrushed everything for the A model except the front gear bay, the bay doors and the gear themselves. So the first few pictures are for the A engines. The two D's got painted in Tamiya White like I said, so yesterday I weathered all three sets of engines. I used a Tamiya Flat Black in a very watered down state from the top of the bottle for the base of the weathering then I used the same technique for the light brown I had made for something else. They did not come out too badly. I like the way they look. It is supposed to rain here today, so I will seal them with future tomorrow and then do a heavy oil paint wash as well. Then I can go ahead and assemble them. I am going to do the same treatment in all three sets of gear bays and for the gear themselves. Anyhoo here are some images of painted engines too date.

Here are the images for the A engines

The brown does not show up here unfortunately, but their they are.

Edited August 6, 2007 by jimz66

[jimz66]

Here are the couple of images of the GE engines.

My general technique for these engines was to airbrush gloss white for the base coat. Then after the paint dried, I applied a "Wash" with unstirred paint from Tamiya. It looks better in person then it does on the screen. I will do more to them but I think I am off to a good start.

Cheers and happy modeling.

Take care.

Oh Brian P, I really like your idea for the cockpits with the tubes in the backseat. I am going to try that along with using the wire so. Tonight I am going back to working on the cockpits and hope to finish them tomorrow so I can start to paint them. But I doubt they will be ready that fast. I'll be in touch.

[jimz66]

My progress is still moving along. I still have a way to go to figure out the final touches on the cockpits before I can paint them. Today I futured the landing gear bays in the rear and the engines so I can go ahead and work on the oil washes as I figure out the rest of the cockpit stuff. Yesterday I added putty to

five of the six hoods for the cockpit. I can't seam to locate the last one. So I hope to find it tonight so I can continue. I hope to have the oil wash done in the next couple of days. Once I have that done I can go ahead and work on assembly of the body and all the other parts necessary to get going. So I am making some mediocre progress. At least I am not at a dead standstill.

[Aggressor Supporter]

Looking good so far.

[jimz66]

I didn't have a chance to post images today. But I did some more work on the engines and landing gear bays. Last night I used an oil wash for the engines. Today I used the oil wash in the gear bays. Today I need to keep working on the pits. I have a long way to go on those. I hope to have them resolved enough this week so I can paint them next week.

[jimz66]

Ok guys here we go. Finally got some photos for ya! Here is where I am at. I applied an oil wash to the engines, and to the landing gear rear landing gear bays. Then I went ahead and applied a flat coat over them. I started to assemble the engines this morning. I will have another progress report on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I am runnning out of time to get this D model to Brian P. from Fightertown. I have just about six weeks left and I am really trying to get this one done. Here are the photos.

These first three images are of the rear landing gear bays sorry the photos aren't that great but they look a lot nicer in person.

The next few photos are of the finished and party assembled engines.

I am going to take my time in assembling the GE engines as they are a bit tricky as you all

probably already know. So with that said have a great weekend.

I ran out of time this morning while I was assmbling the engines. So I will finish them today and tomorrow. I still have to paint the backplates and fan blade assemlbies.

I respectfully wish more of you would chime in on this one I see over 1100 views and so few responses. Thanks

Edited August 16, 2007 by jimz66

[IronRaven]

im noob at this glorious hobby so i cant contribute much :blink: i mostly watch and read to learn from you guys , but so far looks good to me . im a big fan of f14s so im waiting patiently =] how the F14B goes ? any chance any of yr f14s go under the sundowners tail paint ^^ . ?

[jimz66]

Okay guys it truely has been a long time Since I have been able to post on this thread. I had some major issues to work out and did not see fit to post until they have been settled. But now here we go. I had some problems with the cockpits I was working on and have since started a couple more and had even more problems resulting in a final one for all F-14D cockpit for the SD reunion. What I was trying to accomplish was to scratchbuild some of the details to make it look more like and AF cockpit. I ran into a myraid of problems that I don't have time to list now due to the library closing in a half an hour. Anyway, I tried to put putty in the inside of the cavities underneath the cockpit to give it the recomended nose weight. With the putty I used it turned those two cockpits into mush so I had to give it one more go. I had already installed the BB PTID screen in the rear to use the better stuff they offered compared to the Hasegawa offering and when I tried to remove it using debonder it fell apart and I lost the whole thing. So on this last one I used what little I had left from my Tamiya green two part putty and that resolved that issue. Once that was resolved I built a new set of walls for the cockpit and I used square tube stryene to built up the sections on the floor in the cockpit. Then I used Squadon white putty to build up the walls to give it more strength and realsim. The tube says it is supposed to dry in 30 minutes but for me it didn't. Lucky for me yesterday was very hot and I was finally able to get this crucial step done. So now all I have left to do is to make the center wall partition and to put in the switches in the back and the joysticks and pedals in the front and rear and then do some minor sanding and I will be done with this stage. The first three photos are of the cockpit. All the parts are from BB sets and are going to be combined with the extensive stracthbuilding I have done and the putty work. Next time I will simply now that it needs much more time to dry. The hoods, seats and side panels, and front panels are all BB as well as the center consol in the back like I said.

The last few shots are of the cockpit sides and the trunks which I painted with a combination of Tamiya and Gunze paints. Then they were given an oil wash. Last night I started to assemble the back of the body and tonight I will continue on that path as well as to sand, sand and more sand.

Here are the pit photos:

Here are the trunk and body photos:

I also started another set of engines because I had some oil paint get on the feathers and I cannot get enough of if off so I have another set of engines ready for dulcott and assembly.

[jimz66]

Okay guys, sorry this is so overdue. I finally have some needed progress to report. I have been very busy trying to finish this off for the San Diego Reunion. It is looking better everyday. I hope to finish it next week. Two things are going to help are that I am painting with acylics and that I have a one color paint scheme. So that will help speed things up very quckly.

The cockpit is done and installed. I just have a few final painting details to finish so I can install the rear hood and the seats. Then the pit is all done except for the canopy. So here are the few shots I have for that. The last shot is the body in the state that it's in now. I assembled it to this far this morning. The Cockpit and the forward wheel well is in. Now I have to install the bottom plate and all the other details then I can go ahead and sand and sand and sand then wash and finally paint.

The cockpit as I said before is a combination of stratchbuilt, Black Box and Hasegawa components. It didn't come out as well as I had hoped but it is better than the two that didn't make the final cut. The cockpit is what severly hampered my efforts.

Cheers. I will have a better sense of where I am by this Wednesday. If all goes well I will have it painted and finished by next weekend.

Edited September 22, 2007 by jimz66

[Daniel_B]

Can't wait to see it w/ paint & decals!

Daniel

[stealthy1]

Woot, nice job so far. Always nice to see Tomcats being in assembly (esp since their destruction)...

I want my Jolly Rogers kit NOW!!!