Small Scale Military Headquarters

Due to the growing number of F-14 threads and the intense debate over if the F-14 is amazing or not... I'm starting two end all threads.

These will be heavily moderated, so be warned: STAY ON TOPIC.

This is the PRO thread. Discuss the best things about the F-14. This can also be about how excited you are to have the Tomcat, photos of the Tomcat with various other aircraft, tips on constructing the Tomcat, etc.

The Good,

Very impressive size, loads of features and great load out of weapons. As far as everything else goes aside from the paint a good first effort for JSI on this subject.

No more twist ties/wire.

1. Package is very cool! Wish all the planes came like this!

2. Cool plane overall.

3. Always wanted a 1:18 Tomcat

Ditto, great packaging from the standpoint the plane could take a fair beating in shipping and still arrive intact. On the special edition the lights are a nice touch, regardless if a few are incorrect. Yes the fact it's a Tomcat is definitely a positive.

Rubber wheels is the win, and it's now shipping!

Jolly Roger wrote:Rubber wheels is the win, and it's now shipping!

i agree first plane ever in my collection with rubber wheels... very nice

Fabulous. The finest 1/18 aiplane ever produced (once I airbrushed out the spots). Extremely impressive manufacturing achievement

There actually needs to be A LOT more good posts than bad on this plane. I, for one, am very gratious to have this plane as it is a "Holy Grail" piece of my collection and have been wanting it from day one back in 2001 for me.

Amen to tkjaer! It is a showstopper. Totally jazzed that JSI made this beautiful beast
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It has gotten a lot of negative press (Spots) ad nasuem (It is what it is). I really like the plane. Overall it is a beautiful plane and a fair representation of the Tomcat. I have always been a Tomcat Fan. I am happy that one is made in this scale. I had no idea as a child that the sky striker was so out of scale. But this plane has some great features on it and once you get it out of the box (carefully) and put it together it is quite impressive. I hope they eventually come out with the F-14 D. Hopefully there will be some spare parts made for it. Once the Pilots and deck crew are out it will make an impressive display.

P47, yours looks great! Can barely see any spots!

One thing though (for accuracy) the wings, in flight (which I pressume is what you're going for) would not be swept back 100%. The configuration you have the wings in is for when the aircraft is cold/dark, and parked

Thanks, I'll open them up a bit. 45 minutes with an airbrush and a tin of tamiya sky grey diluted 50/50 fixed those spots right up.

I've been thinking of getting an airbrush just for this job.

TKO's work was impressive, but I'm not looking for a 100% clean bird.

Any way you could film/take photos of a little tutorial on how you did it?

I'm new to airbrushing, so any info helps (I understand the 50/50 part, half paint, half thinner right?)

Diego

There are a lot of positive points about this plane, now that I got one

All the intricate details, working features, the sheer size and I could go on. Overall, I am very pleased with the F-14.

Got mine yesterday. WOW even with the spots its amazing.For the people that display them on there gear are you going to put something under it to help keep all the weight off the gear? I have small blocks I use for the F18 and the F104s to help. Even with the spot's good job JSI

Greetings:

Got mine today from MTS, talk about very fast shipping. There are several positive points I like about this model.

1. I thought the missiles were nicely painted, like the little stenciling. I also like how the missiles come off and on really nicely, easy design but still looks good.

2. Clever design on the tailhook and landing gear. Though delicate, both areas are really well done. Quite a super model.

3. Packing is so much better. Very good job here by JSI.

4. Cockpit detail is just terrific, I love all the painting in there and the different highlights. Super job here.

5. Swing wings work really nice.

Now that I've had the chance to spend some more time with my F-14 over the past couple of days, I keep feeling more and more positive about the plane. The detail and sculpting are fantastic... One can spend all day looking over the plane and taking it all in. I'm also developing a more positive opinion about the landing gear. While I would rate them as the weakest point in the construction of this model, their complexity also makes them rather neat and the working"hydraulics" are a neat feature. The landing gear also fold up quite well and the doors close flush with the fuselage - at least on my plane

tmanthegreat wrote:Now that I've had the chance to spend some more time with my F-14 over the past couple of days, I keep feeling more and more positive about the plane. The detail and sculpting are fantastic... One can spend all day looking over the plane and taking it all in. I'm also developing a more positive opinion about the landing gear. While I would rate them as the weakest point in the construction of this model, their complexity also makes them rather neat and the working"hydraulics" are a neat feature. The landing gear also fold up quite well and the doors close flush with the fuselage - at least on my plane

Yes, I found that interesting as well. For as weak as they look the gear on my plane work rather well and the doors fit flush with the fuselage. I found that surprising on an airplane that size. My 21st Century P-47's never did that.

Hi Guys - I have checked this site for years on current information on new releases, information, etc... This is by far the best site and information share available for the hobby. I have every -literally- plane and ground item made in 18th scale, most still in the boxes, and enjoy collecting them and displaying. When I found the P51 and ME109 at TRU back in the day I though "Holy Smokes!" and things have steadily gotten better. I created this account when I saw the steady tailspin of negative talk about the F14, JSI, Merit and BC. You guys really need to get it under control. (NO I am not BadCat Rob or anybody even related) I think the long dry spell has negativly effected our brains. I did get the F14, the Special Ed. and LOVE it. Yes the spots are bad but hpoefully JSI, Merit or whoever will fix that in S2 if there is one after all the bad talk. I used to own a brick and morter business and kind of understand BC's higher prices...they have to pay utilities, employees, overhead and such.

I think general consensus is the F14 is AMAZING. It used to be someone would do a report and pics of anything new but I didn't see that, just negative ramblings. If I didn't burn my bridge and get my new account canceled I will be a positive member of this community.
Thanks - Mitch [email protected]

Mitch,

Well, not everyone is a Negative-Nancy on this forum. You may see more people talk so poorly about the F-14 and there are many rivet counters on this board, but they are mostly the people that do not have the F-14.

BTW, so you are the one that always beat me to the 1:18 stuff when I had lived in Omaha from 97-2005.

Would anybody be interested in a review (with a few pictures) of the standard release?

Here's a "size matters" picture....


JSI Tomcat vs. 21C Saber and MiG....no contest.

tkjaer21 I agree overall this seems to be a bunch of good guys. lol...between my dad and I we made regular recon runs. Whenever I brought something home I would say to my wife...hey at least I don't smoke, drink or whatever - always works!

Mitch

the wing sweep area on the wing looks very crudely painted. Is it? Is it supposed to look like that?

The wing sweep area on Tomcats does look pretty rough. I think JSI did a good job with this. I was looking at some F-14 pictures today, and that part of the plane always looks rough.