POST ALL JSE F-14 QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION HERE

diegomenendez · Post by **diegomenendez** » Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:55 pm

Mine shipped today from Booming Island, will get here (Atlanta Ga) on the 22nd, not bad considering it's half way across the country...damn all you living in Cali lol

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:23 am

Well I received my special edition F-14 yesterday and must say I was totally amazed with it. First off it’s a massive creature. The box weighed in at 18lbs. I bough this plane from aviatornut and he was even as kind as to throw in a free t-shirt from the show with the deal.

When I first opened the box I immediately noticed the dark grey spots all over it. I sighed and started thinking that re-painting this bird would be one of the hardest projects I have ever done. I got a little leery about it and started thinking of just living with it. The more I looked the plane over the more amazed with it I was. The cockpit on this plane is truly amazing. The detail inside is unlike any other I have seen and the canopy is crystal clear. I did have an issue opening it as the tab at the top makes for an extremely tight fit. Once opened my canopy did stay up albeit only half way. I put the batteries in and turned it on to see the lights. Even though it is just a novelty I can’t say in words just how cool it really is.

As the evening went on I decided to try and see what I could do with one of the missile mounts to remove the spots. I used a little bit of Gojoe pumice hand cleaner, the stuff I use when working on my cars. It worked pretty well since I could swirl it around and feather out the paint with it. Luckily the plane is molded in nearly the exact same color as the lightest grey that it’s painted with. Actually the color underneath is closer to the prototypes original color. When removing the spots you are also removing some of the grey paint but it does it in a way that leaves the panel looking fresh and weathered with out the spots. You can also get right up on decals and as long as you don’t scrub hard on them they will be ok. After testing on the mount I moved on to the right side of the cockpit fuselage. I did the same treatment here and you can see the result compared to the unfinished other side. Both sides had identical spotage! When I’m all done in about 6 years I will re-spray it with a dull coat and add some pastel chalk weathering to the panels. I think it will really turn out nice and in essence it is not going to be a re-paint.

Over all I think this plane is awesome especially since have found a method that works for me to remove the spots. This plane is fantastic looking without the freaking spots!

With spots

Without spots

Without spots no flash

Jericoeagle1 · Post by **Jericoeagle1** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 8:45 am

That stuff really seems to make a difference. Where can you buy the Hand Cleaner at, auto supply stores?

Post by **aferguson** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:04 am

wow, that stuff is a ray of hope! Looks night and day better. Great discovery!

Ta-152 · Post by **Ta-152** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:12 am

Jericoeagle1 wrote:That stuff really seems to make a difference. Where can you buy the Hand Cleaner at, auto supply stores?

Yup. Should be able to get it at Wally World, too.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:13 am

toyktdlgh,

Did your antenna mount break as well? (Mine is broken too- don't know if it broke in shipping or when taking it out of packaging). From your pictures it appears that yours is broken as well.

anyway, nice work so far on the spots.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:30 am

pcoughran wrote:toyktdlgh,

Did your antenna mount break as well? (Mine is broken too- don't know if it broke in shipping or when taking it out of packaging). From your pictures it appears that yours is broken as well.

anyway, nice work so far on the spots.

I think I broke it when I was removing the spots. I should have taken it off fist but I left it on and it must have snagged on something.

I’m going to work on it a bit more tonight. I think it will turn out pretty nice. Just a lot of work to do it.

tkjaer21 · Post by **tkjaer21** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:30 am

Very nice! I am going to have to try the hand wash. Is it actually called GOJOE PUMICE hand cleaner?

Also, did you ever get the ladder to work on yours? I am still trying to figure that out.

BTW, what shirt did you get. I got one with an F/A-18 VF-111 Sundowners called "Miss Molly".

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:37 am

It’s this stuff here. I used the paste like this and I believe I bought it at the dollar store a while back. Basically it’s a very mild way of sanding down the spots. Because it has pumice in it will take the paint off but it also takes the grey as well. Fortunately the model is molded in a light grey that actually is closer in color to the prototype. With the way it removes it and its ability to remove very thin layers it gives a really cool look. You just have to be careful when near the markings and you might have to mask it off a bit if a spot goes right up to it. I would suggest trying it on a missile mount first to see if you like it.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:39 am

By the way, the plane smells great afterwards!

dragon53 · Post by **dragon53** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 9:47 am

Merit's website says JSI is going to follow its optional pilots and deck crews with optional Gojo.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:20 am

That thing looks like a real Tomcat now (even if it doesn't smell like one

).

You've saved a lot of people a lot of trouble.

thatf14guy · Post by **thatf14guy** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:42 am

someone on ebay is selling 10 of the exclusive tomcats for less than 200 bucks.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 10:52 am

Well, I’m going to work it over this week and weekend. Its not as fast as the repaint tko did but for people that just cant stand the spots and really don’t want to re-paint it it’s a good option. Stay tuned and we will see how it turns out. That way if I ruin it its just one plane destroyed. (Anything is better than those spots!)

Jericoeagle1 · Post by **Jericoeagle1** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 11:52 am

I just ran out and got some, it does a pretty remarkable job but it is going to be time consuming.

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 11:58 am

Thats real cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 11:59 am

Jericoeagle1 wrote:I just ran out and got some, it does a pretty remarkable job but it is going to be time consuming.

Yea, it took me about an hour to do the cockpit area.

flyboy_fx · Post by **flyboy_fx** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:03 pm

looks great may have to get one!

BTW dose i smell like a Tammycat now?

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:21 pm

Smells like Orange Glo!

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 12:26 pm

Awwww, Billy Mays has come back to clean up our F-14s.

gouchy · Post by **gouchy** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:01 pm

GoJoe PlumJuice?

Whatever happened to the official YoJoe Cola... copyright infringement?

What a great discovery.. if it truly works really well, you ought to get a medal for this.

Silver Spotted Star Citation: For brave and creative innovation and saving the agony of his band of brothers above and beyond the call of duty

Better yet, JSI should send you a $2800 "customized to your requested squadron non-weathered" Tomcat as a Thankyou gift

Cant wait to see final result of the cat

diegomenendez · Post by **diegomenendez** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:11 pm

Very cool toyktdlgh

Think you could post a quick video showing you removing a few spots?

You may have saved this baby!

Pa Deuce · Post by **Pa Deuce** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:37 pm

Looks like the solvent part of the hand cleaner is depositing some of the, what I assume would be dark grey stained solvent+paint, into the panel lines leaving a sort of nice wash as an after effect of wiping the gojo off - is that what I'm seeing?

Ferrari250GTO · Post by **Ferrari250GTO** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:44 pm

Christmas has come early with this discovery! (Also a great Chanukah gift!)
I am so glad for you guys that there is something that will make your plane look like it should, without breaking the bank (more)
This may have saved JSI, even though they of course made a mistake.
(Not here to argue this point)
Surely they would not survive if half the people who ordered the plane returned it. This may give them a chance to think about what they did wrong, and act on it, rather than think about what they did wrong, after their company went out of business.

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:49 pm

Nobody has mentioned the wings. Do they sweep back and forth well?