1/48 Revell/Monogram F-14 Tomcat

Gallery Article by Darren Roberts on Nov 27 2003

  US Thanksgiving Day 2003 

 

     Since it’s Turkey Day in the US, I thought it would be fitting to submit an article of the Navy’s Turkey, aka, the F-14 Tomcat. This particular model is another addition to my black-tailed project, in which I’m planning on building all the different Tomcat squadrons that have painted their tails black at one time or another. It’s in the markings of VF-124 Gunfighters, the west coast RAG squadron before it was disestablished. I thought that this was a particularly attractive paint scheme, especially with the yellow cheat lines along the “skunk stripe” on the upper fuselage. Most of the markings came from the OOP Superscale sheet, while the rest came from the spares box. Seeing that it was an airshow aircraft, I probably weathered it a bit too much, but I just can’t stand to see a clean Tomcat.

 

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     The R/M kit is actually one of my favorites to build. Since I’ve done quite a few, and I have a few more to do, I began looking for ways that help me with the construction. I found three little shortcuts that really make construction go a lot smoother. The first is to remove the fuselage piece from the intake section. Glue the fuselage piece onto the fuselage after the halves are put together, and you’ll find the filling and sanding is much easier than if this piece were attached to the intake. 

     The second little nugget is to remove the wing sweep gear mechanism and open up the hole that the pivot fits into. This allows you to completely construct the fuselage without having the wings interfere. When the entire model is complete, you simply slide the wings in. If you don’t glue them, you can still remove them if you plan on transporting the model. The third and final helpful hint is to cut away part of the area where the initial compressor blades would go. By removing a bit of this area and sanding the inside of the intake, the fit is 100% better and very little filler is needed.

     While the Hasegawa kit is more detailed, building 15 of them is unrealistic both in time and money. I’d never get them done. When it’s completed, the R/M kit more than holds it’s own for looking good.

Darren Roberts

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Photos and text © by Darren Roberts