1/32 Tamiya F-14A Tomcat Part 1 of 2
Converted to F-14B Bombcat
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by Douglas K. L. Chan |
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1/32 Tamiya F-14A Tomcat Part 1 of 2 |
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Converted to F-14B Bombcat |
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Ever since I was a kid, I assembled
tens of F-14 and F-15 in 1/144 scale (LS from Japan if I remember correctly).
I
particularly like the Tomcat because of its swept wings, kind of fun to have the
wings rotate forward and backward. Then, as I got older, the scale got larger,
1/72 at 14, and 1/48 at 17. At that time, it was just a dream to have one in 1/32
because it was so expensive to a kid. I could easily recall how happy I was at
17, taking that large Tamiya box from the shelf high up in the model shop.
Opening the box... wooowwwooo....... I said to myself that some day I would have
my hands on this one. And then 10 years passed...........I have the old Tamiya
version, 10 more years passed........ got a better hand, I have the Tamiya 1994
version, Teknics' cockpit and airframe conversions for a D-model. I didn't want
an A but a B or D. Seeing you guys' good work on ARC created a kind of
resistance for me to start the work. Panel line re-inscribe, engine mount
replacement, .......... it sounds so difficult. Then a day I packed with enough
research and courage, I started working on this one, making it a B model in
VF-103 marking.
Here is a list of what I have added on : (1) Black Box F-14A Tomcat cockpit set (CS32013) (2) Teknics F-14D Tomcat/Bombcat Cockpit Superset (TK32012) (3) Teknics F-14D Tomcat/Bombcat Exterior Conversion Set (TK32011) (4) Eduard F-14 seat detail set MK GRU 7A (32502) (5) Eduard F-14 Tomcat - exterior (32049) (6) Eduard Mask F-14A Tomcat (JX030) (7) Zotz VF-103 F-14B Tomcat decal sheet (ZTZ/32014) (8) Crossdelta The Last Days of VF-84 "Jolly Rogers" (1994) decal sheet
It is well known that Tamiya F-14 is
kind of sub-standard. Making one is like having a nightmare. There are many many
wonderful articles in ARC on this model. So I will only talk about some
things I
think are a bit special. Click on images below to see larger images
I opened the inflight refueling bay and scratch built everything with styrene bars and sheets. The result looked good. Click on images below to see larger images
I used the seats supplied with the BlackBox set. They are the old seats with the ejection handles on top. Adding the Eduard set would enlightened the appearence very much. Instrument panels were a mix of kit parts, BlackBox set, Teknics set, Eduard set and scratch built. I am satisfied with the result. Click on images below to see larger images
Seals made of styrene sheets were added on the wing gloves. Center pylons were modified, again with styrene sheets. The anti slip walk way on both side of the intake duct were painted by #500 liquid putty. While the liquid putty was not yet set, sting a relatively hard brush directly onto the putty, lift up and sting again. This created a very rough surface which looked quite similar to the actual anti slip walk way, of course after painting and dry brushing. Click on images below to see larger images
Last thing for this part, the gun bay. It was again all scratch build with reference to photos. Douglas Click on images below to see larger images
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Photos and text © by Douglas K. L. Chan
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