Happy about the box of plastic that greeted me by the front door this evening. Anyone build this kit? I heard wonderful things about it. Any of you guys have any pointers before I dive into this thing?
Oh you lucky dog!
I built the 1/48th Tamiya F-14A, which is largely the same as the D. Its an excellent kit that is the typical well-engineered Tamiya model. The main issues I had with mine were the canopy and windscreen. The canopy was slightly warped inward on the sides, so I had to use a temp-controlled heat gun and creative use of double-sided mounting tape to slowly work it back into shape so it fit correctly all the way across the fuselage. The windscreen assembly was probably engineered with tolerances that were a little too tight. I couldn’t get it to mount flush because I had already painted everything and tried to put it on at the end. Definitely check the fit on that before painting anything. You may opt to attach it first, and then mask and paint.
You can kinda see that step just behind the top of the radome in this photo…right where the black starts.
Lucky!
NICE! I’m so tempted, but I have a 1/48 hasegawa F-14A 20% done and the Tamiya 1/48 F-14A in the stash… and a 1/144 F-14A - how many tomcats can one guy have???
Congrats - I’ve looked through my kit a half dozen times and it looks fantastic.
Nice,you will enjoy,here is my A version did last year
Tojo
I hope mine comes out that nice.
Keavdog
when the time comes post something about how the Tamiya and Hasegawa kits compare.
Eagle
Thanks for the heads up
Confucious say: “There is no limit to number of Tomcat kits in stash.”
There will be a ledge at the meeting point between parts B4 and B17. Don’t waste your time sanding/filling; it’s supposed to be there.
I agree with the comment on the tight fit. Test fit everything beforehand.
I’be built four, 3 A’s and a D and they’re the best kits I’ve ever built. Got one more A temporarily stalled in the build line and three more A’s and a D in the stash.
Enjoy!