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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

"Alert 1 to Eagle 1, splash the Zeros!"- Tamiya F-14


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Ok, I think most of us are of an age where we'll recognize that quote. Just in case anyone needs a refresher:

The Final Countdown was the film that established my love of the F-14 Tomcat, well before Top Gun. Tamiya and Revell then obliged with 1/32 kits shortly thereafter. I had both and mangled both in my youth. 

So besides being my favourite hairdryer, this is a re-do of my first try at this venerable kit almost 40 years ago. 

A few years ago, I managed to pick up a copy of the original release with a Teknics resin cockpit set for $100 CAD. Then found another one for even less. 

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Some of the AM including the all important HAD decals for the VF-84 Tomcats used in the film. 

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I ended up adding a set of Aires burner cans, wheels and a bit more miscellaneous bits. 

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The Tamiya kit has two issues with it that show its age. The first is the complete lack of side console detail in the cockpit. They're basically flat and Tamiya would have you use decals to represent the side consoles. The resin cockpit takes care of that. The second one is even more of a head scratcher. The fuselage aft of the cockpit has raised panel lines. The forward fuselage and wings are recessed. No idea why they did that. So a re-scribing is in order and that's where I've started. 

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:rofl: 
 

Yes, I laugh because I’m about to wrap up the Seaview build within the next few days and I was going to jump on my Revell build of the same subject and throw it in the wet build just because…. 
Now I do have the Hollywood Zero conversion to go with my second T6 kit…..

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10 hours ago, ScottsGT said:

:rofl: 
 

Yes, I laugh because I’m about to wrap up the Seaview build within the next few days and I was going to jump on my Revell build of the same subject and throw it in the wet build just because…. 
Now I do have the Hollywood Zero conversion to go with my second T6 kit…..

Go for it! You're doing the Revell and I'm building the Tamiya so they're different enough. 

As for Zeros, the Tamiya I have is going to end up as the Akutan one. 

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2 minutes ago, BlrwestSiR said:

As for Zeros, the Tamiya I have is going to end up as the Akutan one. 

But you’ll need a T-6 Texan wing to make it right. 🤪

 

 Actually, I might just hit the pause button on anything with a deadline since our weather is changing and I’m about to ramp up yard work, pressure washing, dock repairs and mods, new decking on the front porch, etc…. before the miserable summer heat kicks in. 

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10 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Nice!  Looking forward to seeing this one come alive.  You probably went a little too light on the aftermarket though 😉

Mike, I'm hoping it's all I need. Oddly enough, there's been a bunch of AM released recently for the kit. Aerocraft does a resin canopy and brass gear and Reskit is doing burner cans.

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2 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Mike, I'm hoping it's all I need. Oddly enough, there's been a bunch of AM released recently for the kit. Aerocraft does a resin canopy and brass gear and Reskit is doing burner cans.

You can never have too much aftermarket...just saying!

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Had to go looking for my scribing templates. Took some time finding them but I did and they helped with some of the shapes. 

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I'm starting to wonder if the reason the kit has the mixed raised and recessed panel lines is that the original project went over budget. The rear of the fuselage is partially engraved and then the main panel lines are raised. 

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Anyways, they're all engraved now. 

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Just have the lower section to do which is the biggest part. 

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Thanks Peter. It went easier than I thought it would. I think having the fuselage split up into  two upper halves helped. The lower section was a bit more challenging with the engine tunnels. 

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The forward fuselage is already engraved but had a pair of large raised sections that needed to be made flush. They remind me of the BDR patches on the Tamiya F-4 kits. 

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I duly sanded both off and restored the panel lines. 

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The NLG bay has some huge ejector pin marks on it. Problem is they go right through the moulded on detail. 

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I chiselled the details flat and glued some styrene rod over top as a quick fix. It's not perfect but I generally don't flip my planes over. 

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I've started work on the cockpits. 

First up is the RIO. After cleaning up the resin tub and making sure it fit, I painted the base coat of XF-19 Sky Grey. I then masked off the panels to paint them black. This didn't take too long thankfully.

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I used Rubber Black for the panels. 

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With the tape removed. 

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There's some detail painting and weathering to be done next. 

 

 

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Very nice work, Carl!  I'm still in awe at panel line rescribing and all.  I can't scribe a straight line to save my life.  Great subject too.  I just have to get going on my next build, to try and keep up with you and the guys.

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Carl

Some mighty nice progress. Your scribing is top notch and the clean up on the F-14 being such an old Tamiya kit looks perfect and no one would ever know - that's how good it looks now. Side consoles are coming out perfect as well.

 

 

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Ok Carl just seen this…………dare I say little hairy rodent thingy with a bushy tail….………also I have never seen that film in my life……..not sure why, but just passed me by………..if it was in the 80’s I was playing a lot of sport…..

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