1/72 Italeri F-14A

'What-If' Commemorative Paint Scheme

by Andrew Desautels (aka "Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy")

--------------------

Special F-14 Tomcat Sunset Update Sept 2006

 

It is the Italeri 1/72 kit with Hasegawa kit seats added, plus Hasegawa gun gas purge vents fitted, along with one closed "Old Tool" Hasegawa afterburner.  Also the lights are transparent, made of cured superglue filed and sanded and painted clear colors.  But, these modifications are very secondary to the paint scheme.
For me, this is the WWII commemorative scheme that never was but should have been, in the tricolor scheme used throughout most of the war by the US Navy. 
I was originally going to do this featuring all Tomcat squadrons that could trace their roots/emblems back to WW2 or before. When the logistics of those markings got out of my reach, I settled back to my own true love, the Jolly Rogers. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

This is not timeframe specific. It was inspired by the 1930's style retro scheme Darren Roberts put on one of his Hornets, now in the ARC gallery.  As you can see, it features WW2 insignia, along with the WW2 style Jolly Rogers emblem, and some markings from Cdr Blackburn's "Big Hog" in tribute. 
Originally I was thinking of doing it as a tribute to all the squadrons going back to WW2...Felix et al...maybe something like all the emblems arranged in a circle on the tail. But as this quickly became not-too-feasible, I defaulted to my true love.

Notice if you will the Hamilton Standard Propeller emblem on the intake instead of the usual warning chevrons....these and the Jolly Roger flag came from the old Revell 1/32 Corsair kit, with eternal thanks to ARC member Otis252! I owe you BIG!!!
Also, the glove pylons are Intermediate Blue on the outside. The reason is simple; the Tricolor camouflage was to be effective against subs and aircraft while the aircraft was on the ship; dark above, haze-sky-blue on the sides. This is why Corsairs had the outer wing panels' undersides done in this color, due to its wingfolded configuration. Yet strangely they left gear doors and the like in white, even though they were clearly "vertical" surfaces when parked. Go figure. So I followed the same spirit of this rule.

Andrew 

Photos and text © by Andrew Desautels