1/48 Hasegawa F-14B VF-103

Gallery Article by Sebastian Manfre on Sept 15 2003

 

Well everyone, here is my F-14B done up in markings from VF-103. The markings come from Yellowhammer, which by the way go on great. The kit is a Hasegawa F-14D which I converted to B specs. I also used the brand new Black Box F-14 Bombcat conversion as well as the Black Box F-14A+/B cockpit set and Verlinden GRU-7A ejection seats. I used these because they are a bit more accurate then the BB seats.

Here is a full shot of the new colors worn by the "Showbird" from VF-103. The reason I chose to build this aircraft should be self-evident, just look at those markings!

The model was painted with Model Master enamels. The aircraft was painted in the 3 tone TPS worn by most Tomcats today. Since I see most people on the boards asking questions as to what those colors are, I will settle all everything, they are Medium gray FS35237 for the top side, Dark Ghost Gray FS36320 for the front fuselage and tails, and Light Ghost Gray FS36375 for all lower surfaces. 

Different squadrons may have different slight variations to these markings, but for the most part this is the basic. An example of this variation exists on 103's birds, the dark ghost gray curves just in front of the TCS chin pod, where on other Tomcats the Lt ghost gray reaches all the way to the tip of the a/c's nose.

 

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The model was weathered first with a reverse shading effect.  This is done to give that spot primed appearance seen on NAVY a/c.  just go inside the panels with a lighter shade of paint than the basecoat then when it is dry lightly go over it with the basecoat to blend it in.  I used ground chalk pastels for most panel lines.  Mostly dark gray and black where used.  By the way, please don’t tell me panel lines are not really black on real jets!!  Because I have PROOF that they sure are, just check out  some VF-103 reference pics from hyperscale.com (sorry Steve =)) and there you will see for yourself.  Besides NAVY a/c get really grungy looking.  For the rest of the weathering appearance, I used an ink roller ball pen trick to dirty up some panel lines and also add some streaking to others.

To load out my cat, I used a pair of sidewinders, and in the tunnel a GBU-31 JDAM and a GBU-12.  Well everyone that’s my cat, let me all know what you think.  If you have any questions, just email me to ask.

Sebastian Manfre

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Photos and text © by Sebastian Manfre