F-14A TomCat VF-84 jolly rogers
Hobbyboss F-14A 1/48 scale build
Intro…(info from Wikipedia)
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a fourth-generation, supersonic, twinjet, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy’s Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program following the collapse of the F-111B project. The F-14 was the first of the American teen-series fighters, which were designed incorporating the experience of air combat against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War.
The F-14 first flew in December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy’s primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor and tactical reconnaissance platform. In the 1990s, it added the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod system and began performing precision ground-attack missions.[1]
The Tomcat was retired from the U.S. Navy’s active fleet on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E and F Super Hornets.[2] As of 2014, the F-14 was in service with only the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, having been exported to Iran in 1976, when the U.S. had friendly diplomatic relations with Iran.
The F-14A was the initial two-seat all-weather interceptor fighter variant for the U.S. Navy. It first flew on 21 December 1970. The first 12 F-14As were prototype versions (sometimes called YF-14As). Modifications late in its service life added precision strike munitions to its armament. The U.S. Navy received 478 F-14A aircraft and 79 were received by Iran. The final 102 F-14As were delivered with improved TF30-P-414A engines. Additionally, an 80th F-14A was manufactured for Iran, but was delivered to the U.S. Navy.
The HobbyBoss kit
The kit is molded in light gray plastic and presented on 24 (clear sprue included) sprue panels plus the separately packaged upper and lower fuselage halves, intake tunnels, and radome. The kit also has one fret of photo-etched parts, and one set of rubber (vinyl) tires.
Similarity with Hasegawa’s kits is out of any question. With some modifications (not in this build) you can have later version of the Tomcat. Mechanic of the this kit is a lot complicated but the final result pays you back
The kit gives markings two Squadrons:
• F-14A, BuNo 159008, VF-32, AB/200, USS John F Kennedy, CAG’s aircraft
• F-14A, BuNo 160379, VF-41, AJ/100, USS Nimitz, CAG’s aircraft
The decals are provided on four smaller decal sheets that also include airframe and weapons stenciling.
In this build though we used an aftermarket decal set for the VF-84 Jolly Rogers Sq.
Build
Picture #1,2,3,4
Initially we have to erase all the rivets that kit incorrectly gives (decision taken after seeing Daco’s reference book). In real life there are no rivets on wings or elevators. We did that using putty and sanding sticks until we had the correct result.
Pics #5,6
Preparing the missiles (aim-9l,aim-7m and aim-54A phoenix) of our model
Pics #7,8,9,10,11
For our cockpit we used Eduard’s zoom set, tamiya acrylics and some dry brushing to liven it up.
Pics #12,13
After painting the front wheelwell with white, we weathered it using Ammo Streaking Grime and Ammo thinners to clean it up.
Pics #14,15,16
We sprayed Ammo’s white and gray primers to the fuselage, wings/elevators and fuel tanks of the model to have a smooth finish.
Pics #17,18
We did preshade to the model both upper and lower surfaces using Tamiya’s flat black (XF-1)
Pic #19
We started the painting procedure by spraying the lower surface with a mix of Gunze H308 and Tamiya’s flat white (XF-2) in a 60/40 ratio.
Pic #20
We continued painting our cammo spraying the first shade of the upper surfaces (sides of nose, cockpit area and at the tail). Our mix is Gunze H307 and Tamiya’s XF-2 in a 65/35 ratio
Pic #21
We finished the basic paint job spraying the last of the 3 cammo scheme colors in the fuselage…That was Gunze H337 with Tamiya’s XF-2 in a 70/30 ratio.
Pics # 22,23
We sprayed a dark color filter such as Tamiya’s XF-85 diluted with lot’s of thinners in a 15/85 ratio (paint to thinners) to darken some area’s up
Pics # 24,25
We did some spots on fuselage (upper/lower surfaces, wings/elevators) spraying Gunze H308 and Tamiya XF-2 in a 55/45 ratio and heavily thinned to liven up the surface color a little bit.
Pic # 26,27,28
We continued spraying the same mix but with more white to create a stronger contrast between the colors…We used Gunze H308 and Tamiya XF-2 in a 40/60 ratio and heavily thinned
Pic #29
Salt technique. We applied water on the surfaces we wanted to create the effect (fuselage and wings for us) and we dropped by hand salt to all those area’s. After one hour we sprayed a brownish color to create some dirt on the cammo and at the end we’ve sprayed th