I need your opinions please! I got into a huge debate over on the ARC forums over the paint scheme of VF-31 Tomcatters F-14D CAG Cat’s NK100 paint scheme. I’m pretty sure sure and have seen photo’s of the two tone Ghost Gray scheme on this Tomcat. I know the Navy pretty much stopped using Gull Gray on most Cat’s in the late 80’s.
So here is my question…
What is the proper gray paint scheme of VF-31 NK100 F-14D CAG Tomcat?
(Plane has black painted over canopy and tail/rudder)
From all the Tomcat’s I’ve seen before they went to the way of the DoDo, they where Ghost Gray like their little sister the F/A-18’s, the last Gull Gray Tom I’ve seen was back in the early 90’s
The glove strakes were only on the “A” model. They came out at supersonic speeds, I think, its been awhile since I have read about them!
f you look at the picture, you can tell by the afterburner cans that the F-14 has the TF-30 engines, which only came in the “A” If it were a “D”, it would have the GE 110 engines which have the same afterburner cans as the F-16.
I’m assuming you are AA over on ARC. Yes, that discussion did get kind of long in the tooth. There were several different ideas going several different directions. I hope I can be of help in clearing this up.
Bandwagon 100 was painted in an overall Light Gull Gray scheme around the 1997 timeframe. This was a different airframe (BuNo) from the Bandwagon 100 that was painted in the TPS scheme. So, both schemes existed on a VF-31 CAG jet. There was a picture with a 200 sidenumber. This was taken prior to the Roving Sands exercise where the Light Gull Gray scheme first made its appearance. There was an airwing shift before the exercise that sent VF-11, who had the 100 series sidenumbers, from CVW-14 over to CVW-7 at Oceana. This was when all the airwings were being trimmed from 2 down to 1 F-14 squadron. With the departure of VF-11, the Tomcatters received the 100 series sidenumbers. I don’t think the Gull Gray scheme lasted very long before they changed aircraft and painted a new CAG jet, which would be the tactical scheme. The telltale differences are the airwing code on the inside of the tail. The Gull Gray scheme has the NK stacked on top of each other, while the TPS scheme has the NK intersecting. Also, on the Gull Gray scheme, USS Abraham Lincoln is in script on the wing glove, while it is in yellow block lettering on the tail for the TPS scheme. There was one picture in the thread that was taken on the carrier that someone said was Gull Gray. That is actually the TPS scheme. The photos taken on the taxiway (this was the Roving Sands exercise) are of the Gull Gray scheme. You are correct about Gull Gray not being used on Delta Tomcats, with the exception of two (at least before all the retro schemes started popping up!) The first was from VF-2, who painted one of their Deltas in a Gull Gray over white scheme to commemerate 25 years of Tomcats. It was based on their markings from when they were on the Ranger. It’s quite a nice looking aircraft. The second one was the VF-31 jet. I agree with you about not depending on pictures necessarily for color schemes. My brother builds Adversary aircraft and goes off of pictures. We’ve been around and around about how lighting, film, and a variety of other things can change the hue of a color and lead you to believe that it was painted in a different color than it should have been. Like I posted on ARC, I actually stood next to and touched the -31 jet when it was painted up in the overall Gull Gray scheme. When I modeled it, though, I used the Superscale decals, which were more accurate for the TPS scheme. I actually liked the TPS scheme better. I thought it set off the CAG colors more. Hopefully that will give you some insight into the two different schemes.
I just browsed Torsten’s site. If you look at the pictures for VF-31, there are two pictures next to each other of the CAG jet. The one on the left flying over the mountains is the Gull Gray scheme. The one next to it flying with the B-52 is the tactical scheme with the 200 sidenumber. A couple of rows down you will see them painting a TPS scheme in the CAG jet. There’s another shot on the deck with the 100 sidenumber. Of interest is the lack of skunk stripe around the canopy and the NK in yellow outline at the base of the rudder. This is yet a third variation on the CAG scheme! It’s hard to keep track of all the different schemes that have been applied. Whew!
Thanks for the reply. Yes this is dead horse topic now. Yes, I do agree that the aircraft in question did use gull gray but, the point I was making was it also used the TPS scheme with the colorful CAG markings that had the canopy and horizontal stabs painted black.
The problem was the poster I was debating this about seemed like he was insisting that it never had the TPS scheme painted on it. Again, I pointed out on my last post on ARC that I was not looking for an argument I was only tying to help a fellow modeler suggesting he use the TPS scheme cause is if I was to build the VF-31 CAG F-14D that’s what I would go with. To me it just looked better than plain gull gray.
I think there was a disconnect between the two of you. You were on the same page, but not at the same place on the page! That can be the problem with communicating on the internet. It’s easy to misunderstand what is posted on threads. I’ll be honest and say that when I reread all the posts, it kind of sounded like you were saying the Gull Gray scheme never existed. You knew in your mind what you were trying to say, but it didn’t come out the way you wanted it to. In the end, it’s really no big deal. As you stated, you were just helping out a fellow modeler, and that’s what it’s all about! I agree that the TPS scheme looks much better. That’s why I painted mine that way instead of the overall Gull Gray. Besides, I like the dirty, faded TPS scheme. It helps me get better on my weathering!
That can be the problem with communicating on the internet. It’s easy to misunderstand what is posted on threads. I’ll be honest and say that when I reread all the posts, it kind of sounded like you were saying the Gull Gray scheme never existed. You knew in your mind what you were trying to say, but it didn’t come out the way you wanted it to. In the end, it’s really no big deal. As you stated, you were just helping out a fellow modeler, and that’s what it’s all about! I agree that the TPS scheme looks much better. That’s why I painted mine that way instead of the overall Gull Gray. Besides, I like the dirty, faded TPS scheme. It helps me get better on my weathering!