1/72 Academy F-14A Tomcat

Gallery Article by Michael "Chewie" Choo on Dec 11 2013

 

 

F-14A Tomcat VF-84 Jolly Rogers

Phew! I finally finished this project. It didn't take that long, but with the amount of effort that I had put into this building this kit, it felt like a very long time. I built this kit strictly OOB.

If you're interested, the build thread can be found here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=267564

I have always wanted to build a Jolly Rogers bird, especially a Tomcat. But being a somewhat lazy and stingy modeler, I waited until Academy released their special edition Jolly Rogers boxing a few years ago, with the fantastic Cartograf decals. Although all the reviews I've read of the kit all said it was pretty bad, I still bought it anyway because of the price. Was it worth it? I think so. Sure it's got lots of issues, but they can be overcome with a bit of patience (and tons of putty and elbow grease!!!). I'm quite happy with the end result.

Will I build another Academy F-14? Depends. Yes for in-flight, but No for wheels down.

I initially wanted to build this wheels down, but since Academy completely stuffed up the wheel bay (there was probably literally a dozen ejection pin marks - see my WIP thread), I decided to build this bird in-flight. But, I can't be bothered with putting pilot figures in the cockpit.

I made a few "boo boos", but hey... it's a constant learning process, isn't it? ;)

 

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  • Overall coat: Gunze Aqueous H315 (FS16440) - this paint is very glossy, and quite a bit more translucent than Gunze's semi-gloss greys

  • Pre-shading: Tamiya XF-54 Dark Sea Grey

  • Wing bladder seal: Gunze Aqueous FS36118

  • Tamiya X-18 Semi-Gloss Black

  • Missiles' body: Gunze Aqueous Gloss White

  • Burner cans: 3 different metallics from Mr Metal Color range. Dark Iron, Iron, and mixture of Dark Iron + Aluminium (which ended up the same colour as Stainless!!)

  • Leading edge of the vertical stabs: Gunze Aqueous H311 FS36622

  • Gloss coat: Gunze Aqueous gloss clear

  • Weathering: oil wash and a bit of Tamiya Smoke

  • Finishing coat: Tamiya Semi Gloss Clear

BTW, the stand is Academy's Display Stand.

Hope you like it!

Michael "Chewie" Choo

Click on images below to see larger images

      

Photos and text © by Michael "Chewie" Choo