But I have to ask you… how did you do that weathering? Was that a black line undercoat then spray normal paint over… was it a spot airbrush job… or was it just 10/90 paint/washes? That thing looks incredible.
I must not be gloss coating enough, or allowing it to dry enough, because my washes always leave small drops where I dab my brush. Do you need to seal it up really tight with Future before you do your washes to make sure it doesn’t get effected?
Well… just spill the beans on how you got those perfect panel lines like that … with the nice dirty effect also. I have the Revell 1/32 Tomcat sitting waiting for me to final assemble and paint it up, want to make sure I do it right,
Nice selection of VF-111 Sundowners for the paint scheme of your Tomcat. Was that kit from Hasewaga or Academy? Im currently working on 6 models of F-14A and F-14D Tomcats, all from Revell/Monogram. I do have an Academy 1/48 kit of F-14A Tomcat that’s waiting… Sort of me doing my learning process on the Revell/Monogram kits before moving onto Academy. I also have a Fujimi 1/48 Tomcat and another Revell 14D Tomcat coming… So far, the planned schemes for those Revells would be: VF-31 Tomcatters, VF-41 Black Aces (White Fins), VF-84 Jolly Rogers, VF-142 Ghostriders (White fins), VF-143 Pukin’ Dogs (CAG), VF-124 Gunfighter (CAG), VF-213 Black Lions, and VF-14 Tophatters (Black fins).
The kit I built is the 1/48 version from hasagawa. I recon it’s the best in that scale because it is so well detailed. However there is a price to pay, you won’t find any weapons in the box and there are fit problems with the intakes and the forward fuselage. These can be overcome and the finished product is well worth it!
I tried the revell-monagram kit and did’nt get on with it. The one I had gave me so many fit problems that I lost patience and gave up[:(!] I’ve done two Italieri kits and I was impressed with them as they go together nicely and come with decent weapons for a very good price. Add a detail set and some extra decals and you’ll have a great model.
As for Acadamey and Fujimi kits, I’ve not played with those yet so I’d be intrested to hear how you get on with them. I hope you have a better experience with your Rev/Monagram kits than I did.
By the way I’m impressed with your choice of markings there’re some of my favourites. A good site for reference material is www.anft.net/f-14/
It’s called “Home of M.A.T.S.” and contains all you will ever need to know the tomcat[:D] If you’ve not found it before, it might be useful.
Good luck with all those kits-happy modelling![:D]
I bought a peice of MDF from a hardware store and my mate brian did the edges with a power router.
To make it look like a half-decent carrier base I maked the runway and chain downs in pencil and then I airbrushed the white runway on.
Once that was dry I masked off the runway and I drilled shallow holes for the chain down circles. After I airbrushed the deck with gunmetal metalcote. When that had dried I removed all the masking tape and put small amounts of filler in the holes that I drilled. I then painted the circles a lighter colour to give them definition.
I then applied a wood varnish to the edge of the base and to finish I airbrushed the whole thing in satin varnish. There you go-cheap and cheerful!
I had some more idea’s for carrier deck bases-If they work out I’ll post them here![:p]
Love the carrier deck. I will soon be building my F-14A VF-84 (Hasegawa) in 1/48th after I finish 10 other projects. I’d love to place it on a carrier deck- any chance we can get a scan of yours to use as a template?
On this Tomcat talk, does anyone have a 1/32 Revell Monogram Tomcat for sale or donation to me?
I dont need all the parts, just some if you dont have a full kit, let me know what parts you are missing. Im having severe warping problems, and no tires,
1/48 Hasewaga is an excellent choice… from what I heard, they’re GOD when it comes to F-14 Models… Along with the accessories you can get to make the next real thing…minus the electronic system and an actual turbine jet engine. From what I know, NO Model kits are perfect… No matter what, all model kits are from HELL when it comes to something… For example, those Revell/Monograms… theres a molding line right down the middle of the fuselage that is supposed not to be there. When you compare the fuselage from Academy to Revell/Monogram, there is NO line down the middle in Academy fuselage. So far on one fuselage, I’ve used one WHOLE bottle of Testor putty, did plenty of rescribing, etc etc, and am no where near perfect, thanks to those raised panel lines.
As for the Academy kit, They come with all those weapon system, including 6 Phoenixs, 2 Sidewinders, and 2 Sparrows. From what I have heard, Academy Kit is similiar to both Revell/Monogram and Hasewaga… sort of in the middle with both characteristics. I will be sure to post pictures of all those Revell/Monogram F-14’s once Im done puttying/sanding/fixing/painting/gluing!
Hell yeah!!! F-14’s are far my FAVORITE plane anywhere with NOTHING coming close to it! Yep I have M.A.T.S website stored in my favorite place. I visit that website at least 5 times a day!
As to your carrier surface thing, I made an inquiry and found two places where you can get supplies to paint a realistic asphalt-looking carrier surface:
Nice work, Darren… I am off to my local hobby guy to get that Hasegawa 'Cat. Excellent advice on the weathering. I put it to use on a 1/48 Intruder and it is the easiest and most convincing I have seen. Thanks for helping me out!
Really glad to hear this technique has worked for you Larry. It’s great to know that something I’ve done is helping my brother kit-heads. Are you going to post your A-6 in Ron USMC’s gallery? I hope so-I have the monogram kit and I’ve never seen a 1/48 intruder “on the deck” before. Be nice to get a peek at the finished product!
It’s hard to quit gushing… most of the weathering that I had tried on previous kits did not work well. The Intruder looks pretty naked just sitting on my desk so I am prob going to experiment with some different ideas for “decks”. I just bought a dig camera and I hope to get the pics on soon.
Regards,
Jon
While I am here… anyone got an idea on how to start a ‘deck’? It will be my first foray into it and all comments will be a great help. Also, has Revell/Monogram re-issed the 1/48 F-15E with all the correct ordinance yet? That kinda bugged me when I opened the box- so I put it aside. I think Hasegawa has one I can buy but I am not sure.
