Introduction
I had been out of modelling for about 10 years (I used to mainly build armour
and the occasional aircraft), but still enjoyed the odd visit to a model shop.
It was during one of these visits a few years ago that I spotted this kit on
special offer for £5.99 at my local Modelzone shop here in the UK. I have
always had an interest in aviation and especially naval aviation, so I
instinctively bought the kit. It remained stored for about two years
and it wasn't until my family and I moved into a bigger house that I had a
convenient place to make it. I managed to start the kit approximately a year ago
and was originally just going to build it out of the box, but my previous
penchant for aftermarket extras led me to the Hannants website where an Eduard
detailing kit and a decal sheet were purchased.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
The Kit
This kit has been reviewed many times before. It's the Revell of Germany boxing
of the Revell Monogram kit. I would describe the fit as average overall.
The modifications made are (not including the Eduard additions):
1. Horizontal
stabilators cut off and repositioned for that 'relaxed' Tomcat look.
2. Fully re-scribed
with Bare Metal Foil scribing tool and sewing needle in pin vice. This is not a
task to be taken lightly; the Tomcat has a huge surface area. Rivets were
represented with 0.5mm drill. An old part built 1/72 Hasegawa F-14A came
in useful as a reference for adding missing panel lines, or correcting existing
ones.
3. Boarding ladder
moved to correct position. The cut-out provided in the kit fuselage is too far
aft. If I had noticed this before cutting the kit I would have modelled the
aircraft with the ladder stowed. The whole area was remodelled with plasticard.
Suitable pieces of brass wire and plastic rod were used for the 'plumbing' in
the ladder well. The ladder provided in the kit was heavily modified (I
didn't like the one included in the Eduard set), by drilling lightening holes in
the sides and grinding away the moulded top steps. The Eduard steps were
used.
4. TARPS pod and
fuel tanks added from an Italeri F-14B kit.
5. Radome
re-profiled. This is a terrible moulding. Even after reshaping it is still
a bit too pointed for my liking. A blunt sewing needle used in the scribing
process is used as the Pitot tube.
6. Late Tomcat fin
plates added to the vertical stabilators. The kit depicts the early style
fins.
7. Rear engine
fairings re-profiled (squarer) to depict an F110 engined Tomcat. The kit
fairings are only suitable for an F-14A.
8. TCS drilled out
and clear sprue plug inserted for the lens.
9. Nose gear doors
amended. This entailed adding an ECM bump and scribing a grill on the port door.
The starboard door had the antenna removed and the existing grille filled
in.
10. RHAWS antenna
bulge added to each of the forward wing gloves. Done with scraps of sprue and
filler.
11. Wing sweep
mechanism entirely removed, so wings could be painted separately and added
last.
Painting
A standard three-tone TPS was applied using Xtracolour paints and a Badger 200
airbrush. 10-20% white was added for scale effect. A custom mix was prepared for
the mid grey section of the nose cone. Photographs taken of F-14s during
1993/1994 showed this area had a slight bluish tinge.
Decals
The decals are from Yellowhammer sheet 48-002 for BuNo 164601 assigned to VF-2
'Bounty Hunters', part of CVW-2 on board the USS Constellation during late 1993.
VF-2 have just given up their F-14D's and become VFA-2 flying the F/A-18F Super
Hornet. The USS Constellation (CV-64) has recently been decommissioned. I'm not
a big fan of just making colourful CAG/CO aircraft; I don't feel that they are
representative of modern USN carrier aviation.
The Yellowhammer sheet appealed to me because of this. However, there are
problems. The nose modexes looked too big for my liking. Luckily the correct
size 102's could be cobbled together using the kit decals. Also the Yellowhammer
sheet appeared to have the wrong style of wing modexes. Once again the kit
decals could be relied upon to provide the numbers in the proper sloping font.
Weathering
The decals were sealed with Humbrol Mattcote after which heavily thinned black
enamel post shading was applied. The 'spot priming ' was then done with various
shades of Humbrol enamel (not lightened for scale effect) applied with a brush
and an airbrush. Panel lines and rivets were highlighted with a mechanical
pencil and after a bit more post shading (mainly on the underside) and 'spot
priming' a further Mattcote was added.
Some black dry brushing was added on the top of the engine intakes to simulate
crew footprints and scuff marks.
I am of the opinion that there is very little that you can do to mess up a
modern USN scheme. If you make a mistake, simply cover it up with some 'spot
priming'. Many of the touch ups that you see cover slips of the pencil, or
lightly sanded off bits of dust that stuck in the paint. The decisions about
where to do the touch ups were sometimes made for me.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
Conclusions
It is very unlikely that I will never make another Revell Tomcat. I'm more than
happy with the results, but the time and effort taken on the project was
immense. Having said that, it has polished up some of my rusty modelling skills,
so on the whole it has been worth it. This was the first time that I had fully
re-scribed a model. After this, the thought of re-scribing the Revell A-6E,
EA-6B and F-8E doesn't seem so bad.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
|
References Online:
Books:
-Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Jon Lake, Aerospace Publishing, ISBN 1-8740-2341-7
-Tomcat Alley, David F Brown, Schiffer, ISBN 0-7643-0477-1
-Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story, Paul T Gillcrist, Schiffer, ISBN 0-88740-664-5
-Combat Carriers, Tony Holmes, Airlife, ISBN 1-85310-857-X
-Supercarriers, Tony Holmes, Osprey, ISBN 1-84176-026-9
Jeremy
|