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Pre-Flight Check
Constructive critique of your finished or in-progress photos.
F-14D Tomcat - Speed Build
Tomcat31
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2009 - 09:09 PM UTC
This is going to be my second build for the swing-wing Campaign as I decided to stop work on my 1/48 Tomcat as it wasn't going to be finished in time.

So as I have a couple of days off work (and assume i get no interruptions) I'm going to attempt a homage to Andy B's speed building. I'm hoping two days will be enough but if I finish it sooner all the better.

The Victim is Revell's 1/144 F-14D




But I''l be using the Decals from Dragons latest 1+1. There's nothing wrong with the Revell ones (they're printed by Daco) I just prefer to do a VF-31 machine.




(Notice the addendum decal as the mirrored the tail code )

Update to follow shortly.....

Allen
Tomcat31
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2009 - 11:20 PM UTC
Update.....

She's almost built, just letting the glue set before any filling and sanding that may be needed

First was the cockpit, this was duly painted and assembled but before I sandwiched it in the fuselage I took a comparison photo of this cockpit and the Dragon offering with the aliens from the film The Day The Earth Stood Still (on the right of the picture) which is now showing it's age.



And on it's own with a 10 pence piece to show it's size (no giant penny Abe here )



And this is the build so far





Well I'm off to have a break to rest my eyes as they're not use to working in this small scale and to enjoy some of this wonderful sun we're having at the moment
magnusf
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Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2009 - 11:52 PM UTC
Cool Allen! I am following this with great interest!



Magnus
Tomcat31
#042
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 02:37 AM UTC
The missiles and Undercarriage has been primed and sprayed Gloss White and the Tomcat has been primed and being checked for flaws before the paint is thrown on.



cheese
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Florida, United States
Joined: April 16, 2007
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 07:23 AM UTC
Unbeleivable how some of you guys work in that scale.......the Tomcat looks great so far Allen......I have a 1/48 Hasegawa in the stash but I'm extremely intimidated......I want to super detail about 2 but dont see myself there yet......plus i have a couple of other things on the workbench right now......this build sure is getting me up to the task though......that plane is one of the best looking birds in my opinion

So, you think you are going to make the 48 hour mark?
Tomcat31
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 08:26 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Unbeleivable how some of you guys work in that scale.......the Tomcat looks great so far Allen......I have a 1/48 Hasegawa in the stash but I'm extremely intimidated......I want to super detail about 2 but dont see myself there yet......plus i have a couple of other things on the workbench right now......this build sure is getting me up to the task though......that plane is one of the best looking birds in my opinion

So, you think you are going to make the 48 hour mark?

I admit I do have a soft spot for the Tomcat (hence the Callsign), I have 7 in 1/48, 2 in 1/32, 4 in 1/72 and 3 in 1/144, all by various manufacturers.

I've even surprised myself building in this scale it's the first one in a long time. I should make the dead line the Light gull Grey was sprayed on before I have my tea and the fins and cockpit canopy have been painted gloss black so all should be ready for decalling in the morning.
AirLedge
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Cork, Ireland
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 06:17 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Unbeleivable how some of you guys work in that scale.......the Tomcat looks great so far Allen......I have a 1/48 Hasegawa in the stash but I'm extremely intimidated......I want to super detail about 2 but dont see myself there yet......plus i have a couple of other things on the workbench right now......this build sure is getting me up to the task though......that plane is one of the best looking birds in my opinion

So, you think you are going to make the 48 hour mark?

I admit I do have a soft spot for the Tomcat (hence the Callsign), I have 7 in 1/48, 2 in 1/32, 4 in 1/72 and 3 in 1/144, all by various manufacturers.

I've even surprised myself building in this scale it's the first one in a long time. I should make the dead line the Light gull Grey was sprayed on before I have my tea and the fins and cockpit canopy have been painted gloss black so all should be ready for decalling in the morning.



Who doesn't have a soft spot for the Tomcat. It's definitely my favourite jet!

Looks superb so far. And the Revell kit seems to be nicely detailed for 144. Loads of decals too, should be a cracker when it's done.
Tomcat31
#042
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 03:23 AM UTC
Not much done today as it been a bit of a calamity. I was all set to decal this morning and started with the fins. Then realised that something didn't look right. Then it dawned on me that the plane I was doing is a two tone grey grey scheme. So i masked the fins with some cling film and the rest of the light gull grey with tape and sprayed the topside with Dark Gull Grey. I was relieved when I removed the masking that none of the decals I had applied stayed on

So most of the afternoon was decalling and this is how it is. It will no longer be a two day build but now possibly a three day build instead (fingers crossed)







I'm a little disappointed with the Dragon Decals they nicely included an addendum decal as on one of the red fins the tail code says JA instead of AJ but they didn't notice that for the version i'm doing that Felix on the port fin is facing to the back of the fin when he should be facing to the front

Hopefully i can get the Johnsons Klear on tonight and weathering done tomorrow.
endrju007
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Wojewodztwo Podkarpackie, Poland
Joined: December 05, 2007
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 11:54 PM UTC
Have anyone ever explained you meaning of words “too small” ?
Your work in this scale is incredible. As for a fan of 1/35 armor 1/48 is kind of small for me;1/72 is too small. 1/144 is out of my limits . I think I’d really hate decals in this scale…
Again, great work!

Andrzej
cheese
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Florida, United States
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Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 08:59 AM UTC
Looking great Allen.....Uhhhh, dont see how you even masked off the thing for the 2 tone.....wow

Andrzej, I completely agree.....unfortunately though, a 1/32 is just too big for me......so its 1/35 armor and 1/48 aircraft......wanted to see about doing the new c-17a but i dont think i will really appreciate working at anything smaller then 1/48.....kinda really limits what i can build....either way, the main reason is so that when completed, i wont be having a bunch of different size aircraft all over the place and different sized armor as well

cheers and your almost there Allen.....I really think Im gonna give my V-22 a break and pick up the Hasegawa F-14 I have......
Mike
Tomcat31
#042
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2009 - 10:22 AM UTC
Thanks guys, I do have to point out this is a vast change for me as I normally work in 1/48 or sometimes 1/32 as well. I am amazing myself at times with building this small aircraft and can't wait to get back to my usual scale.

Michael - to be honest the Revell C-17 is quite big for it's size as it works out to about the size of a 1/72 Tomcat. I can see the problem of having a bunch of different size aircraft all over the place but the smaller one can be used to fill the small gaps on the shelf

Not much done today as I had a few DIY repair jobs around the house today but I did get some panel lining done with Pro-Modellers wash.
Tomcat31
#042
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2009 - 08:45 AM UTC
Well it's finished This took me three days work in total (with a break in between) and here's the finished aircraft.













Technically the scheme I chose no long carried the Phoenix missile as it had been decommissioned but I just couldn't resist the classic load out for the Tomcat.



As always comments are welcomed
PanzerMike
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Hamilton, New Zealand
Joined: May 09, 2007
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Posted: Sunday, May 10, 2009 - 11:29 PM UTC
Amazing detail for such a tiny kit , you have done a super job on this cat
LongKnife
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Jönköping, Sweden
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Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - 12:43 AM UTC
That's an impressive little cat Allen. How have you don the panel lines? Is it pencil? They do look sharp and neat.

Tony
Tomcat31
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - 01:42 AM UTC
Thanks for the comments guys.

Tony - The panel lines are Pro modellers dark wash this was my first proper try with them, I think I still prefer my oil wash technique. But I'll keep at it and see if it'll change my mind.

Cheers

AlxUSMC
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Armed Forces Europe, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - 02:49 AM UTC
ive never seen anything like this, pretty sweet man
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 03:23 PM UTC
Nicely done. I have several 1/144 scale models myself but they are all bombers and will most likely end up the same size if not a little bit bigger then a 1/48 scale fighter. Recently I've thought about a 1/144 fighter myself but I'm not so sure I can do it.
ShawnM
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Missouri, United States
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Posted: Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 01:35 AM UTC
nice work, my wife wished I'd go to this scale from 1/32
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Thursday, January 07, 2010 - 03:40 PM UTC
Thanks to you Allen, I went out and decided to give this 1/144 scale thing a try. I believe I will be starting with the Tomcat myself.

Tomcat31
#042
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England - North East, United Kingdom
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Posted: Friday, January 08, 2010 - 01:54 AM UTC
Glad you like my attempt at this scale (I normally work in 1/48)

Dirk - Good luck with your builds a word of warning take your time with the Dragon F-14 they can be difficult to build as they are a really old mould.
Dirkpitt289
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New Jersey, United States
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Posted: Friday, January 08, 2010 - 04:47 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Glad you like my attempt at this scale (I normally work in 1/48)

Dirk - Good luck with your builds a word of warning take your time with the Dragon F-14 they can be difficult to build as they are a really old mould.



Lets not forget the directions are absolutely deplorable
Red4
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California, United States
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Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 - 04:02 AM UTC
Nice work Allen. Dirk, another warning only about the EA-6 kit this time. I "had" this same kit and dumped it. The wings in mine had so much dihedral that the plane looked like a pigeon when they are gliding. It was horrible. Not sure if it was a one time deal, but just thought you would like to know. I love the decal choice in that boxing. Very eye catching. Good luck... "Q"
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