F-14B
VF-101 Grim Reapers
Here
is another 1/32 fighter I recently finished, the Tamiya F-14A kit, converted to
an F-14B of the VF-101 “Grim Reapers” training squadron, Bu No 163222, circa
2004. In order to get it looking as accurate as possible, I used a lot of
aftermarket items as follows:
-
Aires
and Teknics resin and photo-etch cockpit sets (using the best parts of both
for the cockpit and canopy)
-
Eduard
seat detail and placards sets
-
Cross
Delta structural reinforcements set
-
Wolfpack
F-14D airframe conversion set
-
Tamiya
F-16 GE-110 burner cans (X 2)
-
TACTS
pod from a Hasagawa A-4E Aggressor kit
-
CATM-9
missile from an Academy F-18C kit
-
Wolfpack
Late type wheel set
-
Fightertown
decals, Gunfighter 101, circa 2004
-
Phoenix
metal Pitot tube & AOA sensor
...as
well as lots of other stuff I had lying around to do some scratch building of
details for the intake and landing gear areas. All painting was done using
Model Master enamels.
Click on
images below to see larger images
This
kit needs a lot of work to get it looking good, like re-scribing every panel
line, new rivet details, intake modifications, airframe conversion and replacing
the Wolfpack burner cans with custom ones I made from the Tamiya F-16CJ kit.
I also did a lot of “salt weathering” to get the weathered look of a Navy
fighter, just before the newer “show bird” black paint was applied.
Although this build was fairly difficult and it took me 8 months to complete, I
think it’s still the only F-14 model at any scale that truly looks like a real
Tomcat. It will be interesting to see how the new 1/32 Trumpeter F-14D
builds up in the future as a direct comparison.
I
tried to replicate this build as closely as possible to the real deal, so you
won't find any tanks, live bombs and missiles on this Tomcat, since the F-14’s
of VF-101 were used for training and they usually flew "naked". Decal
placement and painting was taken straight from the Fightertown decal
instructions, since pics of this exact bird are almost impossible to find.
Even if there was no live ammo on these birds, you gotta love the sinister
looking "Reaper" on the tail, which I think rivals the skull and cross
bones of VF-84/ VF-103 for looking cool. It was a long journey and I hope
you think it was worth it!
A
shark mouth is always cool too…..
The
dirty and complex effects of salt weathering…..
Thanks
for looking. I took a lot more pics below for your further review.
Chuck Sawyer
Click on
images below to see larger images
|