1/32 Revell F-14A Tomcat |
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Gallery Article by Eric Lowe
on July 28 2003 |
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VF-41 & VF-154 F-14A Tomcat
I've been a fan of
the Tomcat as far back as I can remember. There's just something about the
variable-geometry wings...(B-1, Tornado, Blackjack, etc.). I've assembled
at least a dozen Tomcats since I began building models roughly 15 years ago and
these two are my pride and joy.
Being a college
student, I don't have the funds available for the Tamiya kit that I've read so
much about, but I'm graduating next month, so I believe that I'll pick up the
new Tamiya release as a graduation present for myself;) Anyway, although
the old Revell kit has a well-deserved reputation for being...well, not the best
kit, I believe that you DO, however, get more bang for the buck (although I
have no real basis for comparison). But, I picked up the first kit for $25
on ebay and the second for $15 (all pieces still there), which, together, is
roughly half of what one would have to pay for ONE of its higher-class Tamiya
brother, which is something I can live with.
Since this kit has
been reviewed a few times already, I would just like to hit some of the
highlights (ie-lowpoints). First of all, the fit for most of the larger
pieces made me feel like a one-legged cat trying to burry its droppings on a
frozen pond. Many of the pieces were horribly warped and didn't align well
at all (due to the kit's age/wear?). I often found myself on the edge of
my seat while trying to stabilize the pieces with tremendous weights on them,
hoping they would come out straight in the end (which they did, miraculously).
Moving along, the
cockpit was actually better than I had anticipated. The front instrument
panels were ok (again, not having the funds to get a resin kit, but still having
the insatiable urge to build a 1/32 Tomcat), but the side panels are really
lousy. I did stick in a scratch built throttle control, but that was about
it. The seats were also better than I had expected. I had heard
bad things about those of the original 1/32 Revell Tomcat release (the VF-1).
After a dark wash and a lot of dry-brushing I was satisfied. I
also cut small pieces out of an old T-shirt for the felt material that covers
the Tomcat's counsels (which you can kinda' see it the picture...).
The number one
BIGGEST problem that I ran into with both models was the mounting of the front
section to the fuselage... Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures and I can't
fully recall the nightmare as long as I continue taking these prescription
pills, but it was THAT bad. The second Tomcat actually sat around for
nearly a month because I just didn't want to deal with it, especially during
mid-term exams. I did, however, manage to get it to look pretty good after
using enough putty to patch an entire doorway in addition to a Black &
Decker Dremel tool (a GREAT modeling tool for those lousy-fit kits).
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Moving along to the
best part of the kit, the painting, things went quite well after what it took to
get me there. I weathered them both using a technique that I thought I had
read about on this site, but I can't find it so I can't give proper credit.
I started by spraying over all of the panel lines with flat black, leaving most
of the interior part of the panels untouched. I then sprayed the entire
aircraft with the base color, which was thick enough to cover the plane, yet
thin enough to let the black show through. This was followed up with a
coat of Model Masters Clear Gloss Lacquer.
The decals that came
with this kit were absolutely atrocious, not to mention that they had already
yellowed and started to crack from old age, so I picked up some CAM decals
(again from ebay), which were fantastic to say the least. After the decals
were applied, both aircraft were both sprayed with Model Masters Clear Flat
Lacquer.
Lastly, no Tomcat
would be complete without the awe-inspiring Phoenix missiles. They
were a project in themselves since their fit was probably worse than the
rest of the kit put together, not to mention that Revell gave them bulbous,
rounded tips when they should be needle-sharp. Well, nothing another
bucket of putty and a few square meters of sandpaper couldn't
fix. The final and, what I consider to be the best touch, are the
missiles decals. I was lucky enough to get in touch with Jeff
Brundt, the last person to submit a review of this kit on ARC. He got me
a sheet of decals for the missiles, which I can't thank him enough for.
Thanks Jeff!!!