BlrwestSiR Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 I'm getting close to finishing the Final Countdown Tomcat. It won't be done in time for the end of the GB but I'm getting there. So since I had Tomcats top of mind and I'd already painted a set of wings I figured why not. To make it easier on myself (I hope) I decided to do it gear up. Less stuff to assemble and paint white... First step is re-scribing the rear fuselage. Then I grabbed a bunch of parts and just started gluing things together. As she'll be in-flight, I need a crew so I've decided to order a pilot and RIO figure from Reed Oak. They have their visors down so no face painting/butchering reeuired. Tomcats forever! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 I just picked up one of the AMK Tomcat kits. I'm less interested in modeling more modern fighters, but have always loved the F-14. Looking forward to seeing this one come along! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 Carl Great idea and looking forward to following your build. These days, I'm starting to get the erg of doing some inflight builds myself. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted June 24, 2023 Share Posted June 24, 2023 I like jets in flight... looks better than on the ground... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted June 25, 2023 Author Share Posted June 25, 2023 Thanks folks! I've only done one in-flight model so far but this might be the start of a trend. I've got the Revell 1/48 B-1B and always wanted to do that in-flight with a load of cruise missiles dropping out of the bomb bay. So that might happen. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottsGT Posted June 25, 2023 Share Posted June 25, 2023 That B1 is going to eat up space! I had the kit and sold it last year. I figured with all my 1/32 B-17’s, Liberator, Lancaster and a couple of B-25’s in the stash I’d never get around to it or have the display space. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 Time to show this Tomcat build some love. I received the crew figures from Reed Oak and the Red Fox IP decals so did some work on the cockpit. I used Tamiya XF-19 to paint the tub and sidewalls. There's not a lot of scraping off of moulded on details since Tamiya didn't really include any. I assembled one of the kit seats to check the fit of the figures. The figures were then removed from their printed cages. I haven't done the final cleanup on them yet but they're really impressive. Here they are plunked on the seat . They fit really well without any mods. I then put the seat in the cockpit tub and checked how the figures fit there. The pilot's left hand even rests on the throttles. Or at least where the throttles should be I'll be definitely considering more of the Reed Oak figures for my builds. Especially since Norbert just announced an F-4 Spook. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 On 6/24/2023 at 11:29 PM, GazzaS said: I like jets in flight... looks better than on the ground... The epitome of this being the F-22 : weird - if not ugly - looking squatting on the ground, but impressively beautiful in flight … Hubert 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landlubber Mike Posted July 11, 2023 Share Posted July 11, 2023 Holy cow, those figures are awesome. 1/32 scale? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 27 minutes ago, Landlubber Mike said: Holy cow, those figures are awesome. 1/32 scale? Yup, 1/32 but there available in other scales too. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 11, 2023 Author Share Posted July 11, 2023 I started on the Red Fox IP. First up, I painted the throttle assembly prior to applying any of the panels. Then I started by working my way around the cockpit. I'm using PVA glue to apply them as it gives me lots of time to get them in place. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 12, 2023 Share Posted July 12, 2023 Carl Holy smokes, the figure look fantastic and the red Fox details look as good as the Quinta sets. Just wish RF would have included seatbelts with their sets. Keep the ball rolling and let's get the Big Cat across the finish line. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 16, 2023 Author Share Posted July 16, 2023 The forward fuselage is together. This time it was much easier without needing to worry about the NLG bay. The pilot is sitting on the Teknics seat I did earlier. His hands are on the throttle and stick with only a slight tweak to the stick angle. The RIO is on the kit seat. He fit better on that than the Teknics one so I'll have to figure out whether to tweak the fit of the Teknics seat or have both of them on the kit ones. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 21, 2023 Share Posted July 21, 2023 Carl The figures look so good in their new home and trying to resolve the seat issue doesn't seem like a lot of fun. It's always something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 21, 2023 Author Share Posted July 21, 2023 36 minutes ago, Peterpools said: Carl The figures look so good in their new home and trying to resolve the seat issue doesn't seem like a lot of fun. It's always something. Peter, it turns out the fix for the rear seat was real quick. The resin seat had a moulded on hose on the back cushion. As soon as I clipped it off, the RIO fit correctly. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GazzaS Posted July 22, 2023 Share Posted July 22, 2023 The figures and cockpit look great! The compressibility of the human buttocks us a great reason to trim them as you see fit so your guys can fit without cutting the seats. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted July 22, 2023 Share Posted July 22, 2023 The RIO looks pretty comfortable in his seat, could be a jacuzzi as well . These figures are absolutely gorgeous and will add a lot of life the the big cat. Cheers Rob 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 22, 2023 Author Share Posted July 22, 2023 13 hours ago, GazzaS said: The figures and cockpit look great! The compressibility of the human buttocks us a great reason to trim them as you see fit so your guys can fit without cutting the seats. Thankfully all I needed was snip off a moulded on wire/cable/hose on the one seat and the RIO ended up fitting. The pilot seat is on the left and you can see where I cut off the offending bit on the right seat. Speaking of the crew, I did some paintwork on them. Mostly just their visors and the backs of their necks. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinM Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Carl is just a really good gloss black thinned down right? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlrwestSiR Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 1 hour ago, KevinM said: Carl is just a really good gloss black thinned down right? I used Tamiya lacquer gloss black with a brush and put it on wet. Out of the bottle, it was thing enough and just flowed into the details. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Tamiya's gloss black LP color is perfect for this and other purposes. I love to work with it and the semi gloss black variant. Cheers Rob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterpools Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Carl Nice start on the figures and I'm right with your and Rob on Tamiya lacquers - one of the best paints out there. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottsGT Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 Yea…thanks for posting those figures. Now I’m going to have to think about this really hard. I just got all my gear doors mounted today. Moving on to the 2-2-2 loadout as per the movie. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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