Small Scale Military Headquarters

THIS IS MY REVIEW OF THE LATEST RELEASE FROM JSI. THE BLACK KNIGHTS F-14A TOMCAT. TO BEGIN WITH THE PACKAGING IS THE SAME AS THE JOLLY ROGERS, NO NEW BOX ART. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE FIXED AS I CAN SEE THAT WOULD BE REALLY CONFUSING FOR THE RETAILERS IF ALL THE NEWLY RELEASE TOMCATS ARE IN THE OLD BOXES. AS FAR AS PACKAGING GOES, I DIDN'T LIKE THE WAY THE BOMBS WERE WRAPPED UP IN FOAM PAPER AND STORED AT THE TOP WITH THE MAIN FUSELAGE. ONE OF THE BOMBS' FINS WERE BROKEN AND I HAD TO GLUE IT BACK ON. AS FAR AS PUTTING IT TOGETHER, I HAD TO GLUE ALL THE ORDNANCE ON AS IF I DIDN'T THEY WOULD JUST FALL OFF.
THE LANDING GEAR ARE PRETTY MUCH THE SAME. THE MAINS APPEAR TO BE THICKER. THE LITTLE TAB THAT GOES INTO THE FUSELAGE STILL MANAGES TO COME LOOSE PRETTY EASILY, AN ANNOYING PROBLEM.
THE PAINT OVERALL IS VERY NICE, NO SPOTS! THE BOMBS AND ORNANCE LOOK VERY REAL. I ALMOST DON'T WANT TO REPAINT THIS THING. BUT, THATS WHAT WE DO, SCHEME IS TOP SECRET!
THE LIGHTING SYSTEM SEEMS TO BE THE SAME AS THE FIRST RELEASED SPECIAL EDITION. I LIKE IT, BUT THEY COULD HAVE LITE THE OTHER LIGHTS THAT ARE ON THE PLANE, SO ITS KINDA HALF-ASS TO ME.
THE PARTS ARE EITHER TOO TIGHT OR TOO LOOSE, LIKE THE CANOPY, IT FEELS ALOT STIFFER THAN THE FIRST RELEASE, I ACTUALLY BROKE IT OFF OF THE HINGE TRYING TO OPEN IT. SO IF YOU BUY ONE, BE CAREFUL.
MY OVERALL GRADE FOR THIS PLANE, I WOULD GIVE IT AN A-. IT IS A BIG STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME FLAWS THAT NEED TO BE WORKED OUT. AND O, YES THE RADAR WORKS, AND THE SIDE STEPS, STILL NO LUCK WITH THE LADDER THOUGH. BUT, IT IS NICE TO HAVE A RADAR DISH THAT ISN'T BROKEN AND WORKS.
I RECOMMEND GETTING ONE WHEN THEY ARE RELEASED, IT IS AN AMAZING LOOKING PIECE. IF JSI KEEPS THIS UP, I MIGHT GO BROKE BUYING ALL THEIR RELEASES.

Here is my reivew... what he said.

definitely a step up!

THAT14GUY:

Thanks for the review. I've got one on preorder.
How accurate is the weapons payload?....I've read the weapons arrangement is incorrect.

Also, have you heard anything about the F-14 pilots that were supposed to be released in early 2010?

i say for what is considered to be a toy, its pretty accurate, still nothing about pilots.

Thanks for the review.
T

I still have one BLACK KNIGHTS F-14A TOMCAT left at the special price of $309 for the members on here. I had it sold but the buyer never paid or returned emails. Now is your chance! Email to [email protected]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HOOKING ME UP AVIATORNUT! I MIGHT TAKE THE OTHER ONE OFF YOUR HANDS IF I CAN SELL THIS REPAINT, YOU GUYS ARE GONNA DIE WHEN YOU SEE THIS BAD BIRD ALL DONE! SO FAR IT LOOKS AWESOME!!!

dragon53 wrote:THAT14GUY:

Thanks for the review. I've got one on preorder.
How accurate is the weapons payload?....I've read the weapons arrangement is incorrect.

Also, have you heard anything about the F-14 pilots that were supposed to be released in early 2010?

The weapons load is accurate, it just has to be arranged in a certain way particularly with the GBU-24's. They can't be mounted side by side. Otherwise, I believe any other combination is possible. (although might not necessarily be a typical load out)

FIGHTERPILOT1:

Thanks for the info.
So does JSI include the proper racks/pallets for the LGBs to be mounted accurately?

Also, what was a typical weapons mix for a Bombcat on a real bombing mission?... I doubt it carried a Phoenix.

dragon53 wrote:FIGHTERPILOT1:

Thanks for the info.
So does JSI include the proper racks/pallets for the LGBs to be mounted accurately?

Also, what was a typical weapons mix for a Bombcat on a real bombing mission?... I doubt it carried a Phoenix.

Yes, JSI did make accurate bomb racks for this Tomcat. There is no "typical" weapons load, it all depends on the mission and even every squadron did things differently. GBU-12's were a very common bomb carried on the Tomcat. Modellers love to slap GBU-24's on Tomcats cause they're huge and look cool but in reality, it wasn't very common in a combat load out for the Tomcat. (like GBU-10,12,16 or even JDAMs)

as for the Phoenix, it's also a hit or miss thing. There really was no need for the Tomcat to carry any air to air later on in its career (lack of a threat in Afghanistan and Iraq) but sometimes they did, just to balance out the weight of the plane.

a couple of VF-154 pics for yah:

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/ ... 0F-012.jpg

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/ ... 0F-011.jpg

Here's a thought what happened to all the Phoenix missiles they must have had in inventory once the Tomcat was decommissioned? At a $1m price tag each, as I'm led to believe....quite expensive to just scrap...or did they just have a free for all shoot out against F-4 drones by the end?

JoeS wrote:Here's a thought what happened to all the Phoenix missiles they must have had in inventory once the Tomcat was decommissioned? At a $1m price tag each, as I'm led to believe....quite expensive to just scrap...or did they just have a free for all shoot out against F-4 drones by the end?

MAYBE THATS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 1/18 IRAN TOMCAT!

firefighterpilot1 wrote:
a couple of VF-154 pics for yah:

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/ ... 0F-012.jpg

http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/ ... 0F-011.jpg

Thanks for the pics...btw where you a NA or an NFO at one time?

nope, never an NA or NFO. Just a military aviation enthusiast/ Tomcat aficionado

FIREFIGHTERPILOT1:

Thanks for the info. To clarify it for me, does JSI includes the proper pallets so two LGBs can be carried correctly--diagonally?

I don't have this JSI Tomcat so I don't know. As far as I can tell, it only has the bomb racks for the front pallets. Maybe someone who has the model can confirm this.

That is correct, It only has the front Phoenix Pallets (bomb racks) that Sparrow Misssle is in the back. I have not really tried to take the sparrow off but it may be glued on.

Duplicate post

o its glued on pretty good, but i managed to ply it off with a butter knife.

JWCARPENTER:

So the JSI F-14 can only carry 2 LGBs side-by-side---which is inaccurate?

Yes only side by side unless of course you modify it. The only pictures I have seen of the GBU 10's they are side by side. That GBU-24 is quite the monster but the pictures show those being loaded the same way. I do not claim any expertise in the subject but I would like to learn more, do you have any picture of the GBU's sitting differently than side by side?

You have pictures that show two GBU-24's loaded side by side? It MAY have been done in testing but if I recall correctly, it wasn't cleared to do it for combat.

I have only ever seen one GBU-24 mounted on an F-14 at a time.

first photos of our next tomcat project, as the scheme is still not ready to be revealed this is all you guys get for now, hopefully it will be done this weekend, but this one is looking amazing, i might decide to keep it. and yes its a bombcat!