1/48 Tamiya F-14A Jolly Rogers

[Medicman71]

I'm gonna have to get the gear and gear bays for my Tomcat. If you call Brandon at Squadron (the owner), he'll get the stuff for you.

[jkim]

See below? I knew you would.

Great modeling minds think alike!

After primer, the nose wheel wells were painted white. Typically, I use a gloss at this stage but its more difficult to discern details so I used a 50/50 mix of Tamiya gloss and flat white for a satin finish.


I did the main wheel well components as well but I'm going to set these aside and concentrate on the nose well so I can get the fuselage buttoned up again.


Using Danny Coreman's wonderful F-14 book as a painting reference, I started to pick out the details.



After detail painting, I sealed the paint with a gloss coat and gave the nose well a dark brown pastel wash. Because of all of the nested detail and limited access to surfaces, I had to pick and choose where to apply the wash otherwise some areas would be impossible to reach and remove the excess wash. After the wash, a flat coat sealed the wash.



Here is the painted wheel well with the nose gear mounted. The D&W landing gear and the MMC wheel wells are designed to work with the Tamiya parts so they work well with each other. In fact, I don't see a modeler only getting one of these sets... they seem like an essential pairing.

[keavdog]

Awesome work John. Put the rest of the gear together and that could stand alone as a model itself!

[BlackSheep214]

Wow….

[jkim]

Thanks guys! Here's a visual reference to show how big the nose well is...


And before I put the main gear wells aside, here's a look at how well the D&W landing gear matches the MMC wells...

[mostrich]

That packaging should be a lesson to all or at least most of the other producers of after market stuff. Very neat boxing!
Those parts are the next level to an already next level build. On which level are we now I wonder?

[Gary Brantley]

On which level are we now I wonder?

[jkim]

Thanks guys!

There is a panel that needs to inserted on the fuselage bottom.


Typically, this is an invitation for more work (filling, sanding etc) but not if you're working on a newer Tamiya kit. Perfect fit.


A sneak peak at the iconic black and yellow markings of VF-84. These are the ventral strakes and I've chosen to paint the yellow borders and use the Tamiya decal for the VF-84.



I've been trying to get the retraction arm for the nose gear to fit properly but there are some pipes that get in the way. The base end is not exactly where it is supposed to be but I'm going to call it close enough because it causes the arm to bow out if I force it. and I don't want to cut any of the details within the wheel well. The hydraulic tank still needs to be added and it will further hide this area.


With the cockpit tub and wheel well temporarily inserted into the nose halves, I verify nose strut, retraction arm and downlock arm fit as they should.





I like this view... shows the depth of the detail added by the D&W and MMC parts.

[mostrich]

Hell yeah!

[jkim]

Hell yeah!

Hell yeah!

It's a long way until painting but I was eager to at least give some of the black and yellow markings a try!

Taking a deep breath before I dive into the painting of the main wells and landing gear. I've painted the arrestor hook instead of trying to fit a decal around it.




Looking at the two vents above the intakes, I thought it would be easier to replace these parts with brass sheet than to thin the trailing edges.