My 1/18 F-14 Display (UPDATED FEB 21 2011)

[Ferrari250GTO]

After I got my F-14 (thanks bigsarge!) over the holidays, I knew I wasn't going to just set the monster on a desk. (Or hang it up either for that matter!) I knew I had to make some kind of display for it. So I decided I was going to make a carrier deck section. One side of the foamboard is going to be the landing area with 2 wires, the other the catapult area with the jet blast deflector. I got the foamboard from Michael's framing section. 40x60" was the biggest sheet they had, so I asked them to cut it down to 40x48, so it would fit in the car, and the room in which it is being displayed!
As of right now, I am nearly finished with the landing area, the easier side. I have the two white stripes fully complete on the outside of the board, I just need to do the center line and the tie downs, which I will just paint on.
For the other side, I just ordered a bunch of Vietnam tanker figures from Smalljoes (Thanks Corey!) as they were cheap. I will paint them in all the colors of the flight deck crew.
For the F-14 itself, I am not sure how I want it's final paint scheme. It is currently with spots, as originally purposed. There are 4 paint schemes I am considering for it.
1. Jolly Rogers- All I have to do is get rid of the spots and do some real weathering
2. Black Aces- Skyworks has made the decals, in addition to spots and weathering, I would have to mask and paint a few areas.
3. Evaluators/Vampires- I would have to paint the entire plane, but it would look awesome in all black. Skyworks has made the decals.
4. 159610- I would have to get the decals comissioned. I would probably just leave the rear section as it is, and make the front fuselage a lighter grey.
So why each color? Jolly Rogers because it is easy, and I don't dislike the scheme. Black Aces because I love the vertical stabilizers and the black nose. Evaluators because it is all black- very few military aircraft are all black. 159610 because it is one of 5 American Tomcats to get a kill, and I saw it! It has a personal connection, if you want to call it that. What do you think? Which color should I choose?

[Black Lion VF-213]

When you're referring to Jolly Rogers, are you thinking of keeping it in the same 1988-1989 scheme JSI was intending to do, or are you thinking of a different VF-84 era?

I'm assuming you are meaning the 1977-early 1978 Black Aces. That scheme is kick@$$!
Evaluators - VX-4. I'm assuming you mean Playboy tail? If you're thinking of the F-14A Playboy logo'ed tail that DOES NOT have the red/blue/w/white stars stripe on top of tail, remember that jet is glossy black. That was VX-4's second Playboy Tomcat.
If you're thinking of the one that Century Wings did with the stripe with stars on the top of the tail, that one is very very dull and chipped paint black. That one was the first black tailed Playboy `Cat. VX-4 had gray tailed and white tailed Playboy'ed Cats in the past. Several in fact.

VX-9 Vampires' F-14D's had the vampires logo with two stripes on the tail, one on top and one on bottom. Both red/blue with stars. Later they did paint over the vampire bat with the Playboy bunny logo for one last hurrah before they lost their Tomcats.

Also note VX-9 did fly the B model Tomcat but they didn't have the Playboy tail, just vampire bat.

159610 a Gulf of Sidra VF-32 Swordsmen. Not flashy but important Tomcat nonetheless.

For pure looks I'd go with either 1977 VF-41 or all glossy black VX-4.

Never was a fan of VF-32's looks but they were one of the best squadrons in the Navy. Those "Gypsies" were first rate

[snake]

I would go with whatever scheme YOU like the best.

The carrier diorama sounds like a great idea. Would love to see some pics when you have it done.

[Ferrari250GTO]

1. Yes, same Jolly Rogers as JSI attempted.
2. Yes, that Black Aces scheme, love it!
http://www.badcattoys.com/fvfblac1cewi.html
3. I was thinking the glossy black Playboy. This scheme-
http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers ... mcat_9.jpg
I like accuracy, but I am honestly not concerned with all of the differences between the B and D. I may buy the F110 nozzles from Skyworks however. I definitely don't find 159610 the best looking, but as you say, it's quite a special bird.
I am leaning towards VF-41, here's where I'm at right now.
1. VF-41
2. 159610
3. Vampires Playboy
4. Jolly Rogers
Thank you very much for the info!

[Ferrari250GTO]

I would go with whatever scheme YOU like the best.

The carrier diorama sounds like a great idea. Would love to see some pics when you have it done.

That will ultimately be the result in the end snake
I'll try to post up a pic of the one side tomorrow, it should be all complete except for the yellow stripe in the middle. (Darn thin Tamiya acrylic yellow!)

[VMF115]

For all you Final countdown fans did you know that the Vf-84 did sport zero kill markings and from what I have heard they stayed on the f-14s for some a length of time after the filming.




Here is some Topgun humor form the guys at top gun early 80's

[Ferrari250GTO]

That's awesome! Never knew about that!
However, if I remember the scene correctly, shouldn't the plane only have one kill marking? Guess two looks better

[Ferrari250GTO]

Well, I decided to post up a shot of what I have done so far.

[Black Lion VF-213]

For all you Final countdown fans did you know that the Vf-84 did sport zero kill markings and from what I have heard they stayed on the f-14s for some a length of time after the filming.




Here is some Topgun humor form the guys at top gun early 80's

Little known fact is that the Hollywood crew convinced the Navy an VF-84 brass to have the paint guys paint one extra AJ202 and one extra AJ203 for filming scenes.

I have pictures on my home computer of the duplicate Tomcats, but I don't know how to post them here.

[Black Lion VF-213]

1. Yes, same Jolly Rogers as JSI attempted.
2. Yes, that Black Aces scheme, love it!
http://www.badcattoys.com/fvfblac1cewi.html
3. I was thinking the glossy black Playboy. This scheme-
http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers ... mcat_9.jpg
I like accuracy, but I am honestly not concerned with all of the differences between the B and D. I may buy the F110 nozzles from Skyworks however. I definitely don't find 159610 the best looking, but as you say, it's quite a special bird.
I am leaning towards VF-41, here's where I'm at right now.
1. VF-41
2. 159610
3. Vampires Playboy
4. Jolly Rogers
Thank you very much for the info!

As far as accuracy, well that depends how accurate you really want to get. The JSI Tomcat is a poor specimen if you want to do any "A" Tomcat earlier than 1992. For Tomcats between 1992 and 1999 you would have to sand away the ECM bump on the nose gear door and depending the jet's block number and squadron some had ECM bumps under the wing glove some didn't, some on the tail, some didn't. Before 1992 all Tomcats had the "Standard Style" gun gas purge vents like the ones you see in the VF-84 Final Countdown picture in this thread. Notice the BBQ style design versus the "Ferrari like" NACA vents on the JSI Cat. That's a very hard conversion to do. Hence many collectors couldn't believe JSI chose that mold. THe JSI mold is a late A Bombcat exterior configuration 1999-2003. Which means there were only 4 squadrons that could accurately be represented = VF-14, VF-41,VF-154, VF-211...and yeah a VF-101. okay 5.
Now you could do a "B". All the exterior features are there for a B. All that's needed are GE nozzles. But then again the shrouds are square on GE F-14's. That would require some sytrene plastic sheet construction and some putty and epoxy to get it right. However even just slapping on the nozzles really doesn't look too bad.

As for a D. It's the same outside as B except no ECM bumps under the wing glove and there's the two podded chin versus the one on the B. Then there's the cockpit. Completely different from FWD to AFT seats and all.

None of your choices match anything JSI has given you.

If you could do the gas purge vent conversion, then you could do all those designs you've listed. How? remove all the ECM bumps everywhere and do the vents, and presto, instant configuration.

Here's two other secrets:
1. The rear wheels. The wheels JSI used are from 1973-early 80's. Not even the 1980 or 1990 era A's or B's or D's had those mag style spoke wheels.
2. The Sidewinder rails. Those are the late A and late B and late D model BOL chaff dispensing rails. They are actually easy to convert into the standard sidewinder rails by shaving the back end flush and smooth and rounded and likewise the front end too.

One could get an early A with a lot of modification and be dead on accurate because of the wheels.

Amazing JSI paid all that attention to detail to get a Bombcat but overlooked the wheels.

If all that work is not enticing, then I say screw what the nitpickers will say and paint that thing in 1977 VF-41 CAG AJ100 with a Bombcat configuration and enjoy that beast!!

[Black Lion VF-213]

1. Yes, same Jolly Rogers as JSI attempted.
2. Yes, that Black Aces scheme, love it!
http://www.badcattoys.com/fvfblac1cewi.html
3. I was thinking the glossy black Playboy. This scheme-
http://www.wallpaperbase.com/wallpapers ... mcat_9.jpg
I like accuracy, but I am honestly not concerned with all of the differences between the B and D. I may buy the F110 nozzles from Skyworks however. I definitely don't find 159610 the best looking, but as you say, it's quite a special bird.
I am leaning towards VF-41, here's where I'm at right now.
1. VF-41
2. 159610
3. Vampires Playboy
4. Jolly Rogers
Thank you very much for the info!

The one you have in #3 pictured over the Florida Keys, that one is a D model. Special infact is that it's BuNo is 164604. The very last F-14 ever built, last off the production line.

[VMF115]

For all you Final countdown fans did you know that the Vf-84 did sport zero kill markings and from what I have heard they stayed on the f-14s for some a length of time after the filming.




Here is some Topgun humor form the guys at top gun early 80's

Little known fact is that the Hollywood crew convinced the Navy an VF-84 brass to have the paint guys paint one extra AJ202 and one extra AJ203 for filming scenes.

I have pictures on my home computer of the duplicate Tomcats, but I don't know how to post them here.

Here is two of the double vision AJ202 from VF-84.

[Ferrari250GTO]

@ Black Lion and VM115- It is pretty crazy what those movie producers will do for a shot.
@ Black Lion- That is a heck of a bit of useful info, thanks for taking the time to write it all out for us. I will probably do the simpler modifications depending on whichever scheme I go with. I'll sand away those bumps, or smooth out the rails as they seem simple. I do really like the nozzles, so if it is right, I'll probably add them too. I just don't see myself doing the vent modification, I'll be honest, it seems a bit too difficult to me, plus, I have an entire plane to despot and repaint.

"If all that work is not enticing, then I say screw what the nitpickers will say and paint that thing in 1977 VF-41 CAG AJ100 with a Bombcat configuration and enjoy that beast!!"

That may just happen! But I will probably do some of the necessary mods depending on the scheme.
Thanks again for the info!
@ Black Lion again- That may put that scheme higher up on the list, another special Tomcat.

[Black Lion VF-213]

Ferrari Man,

That's a good attitude regarding VF-41. Super classy scheme.

I have to give you the heads up on sanding. I did a 1992 VF-33 Starfighters CAG decomission scheme last year. To get it's configuration correct I sanded the bumps. Didn't have to touch the vents since they were correct. I didn't mess with the Sidewinder rails but I have modified some for another F-14 project I'm doing. Therefore I was almost there in getting it super correct.

Here's the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13688984@N ... 496834258/

I sold it to Jay (JOC here on this forum) earlier this month. That plane means alot to him and his wife. He served on the America during VF-33's last cruise and remembers that jet well. Glad he has it.

Oh yeah the heads up. Regarding the two bumps under the wings. The really big bump doesn't need sanding. Take some pliers and pop it off. It's glued. It leaves a square hole though. That will have to get filled and sanded.
The littler one needs sanding. However once you've sanded it down to being level the plastic gets hairline thin. Why? Because the mold was made to have a cavity behind the bump. Sucky but cheap engineering. Therefore you will have to pop the "skin" and fill the hole with putty and then re-sand to level it. It's not really that hard. Then there's the bump on the leading edge of the intakes. That one takes longer. the plastic was really dense there compared to the other spots. That's good because it's harder to make a mistake.

Then there's the bump on the door. It too acts like the smaller bump under the glove vane. Pop the skin and fill, then sand. The ECM bump on the beaver tail is the worst. I recommend leaving it alone unless you can handle rebuilding that area with styrene and epoxy. It leaves a very difficult hole to work with using putty alone. It's also the least noticeable bump and one I really could have cared if it was there or not. It doesn't add nor subtract to a Tomcat's appeal. Same for sidewinder rails. They aren't noticeable either regardless of old or newer.

Now all the other ones up front are ugly. Hence for me....they had to go

Good luck and I can't wait to see the progress!!

Cool avatar name. Very hot car. I'm big fan of the 265GTB

[Ferrari250GTO]

Those pictures help immensely. I've been looking at my Cat, and I couldn't figure out all of the bumps you were referencing, but now I see.
I would like to compile a list of modifications for each scheme I am thinking about, please help me correct this list. Note, I will probably leave the vents and the tail alone. Also, if you say that the missile rails aren't noticeable, then I'll leave them be.
1. Black Aces
a. Big Bump
b. Small Bump
c. Intake Bump
d. Front gear door Bump
2. 159610
a. Big Bump
b. Small Bump
c. Intake Bump
d. Front gear door Bump
3. Vampires Playboy
a. Big Bump
b. Small Bump
c. Nozzles

Back when I was into cars, it was probably my second favorite car ever. It just has a beautiful shape. It's one of the 1:18 cars I own that I don't see myself selling. I bought so many 1:18's on impulse, and now I'm trying to move them out for planes to move in.
When you say 265GTB, are you thinking the Daytona?
Thanks!

[Black Lion VF-213]

Nah,

nice though. Think 1967. Think this

http://static-jpeg.sport-prestige.com/w ... 1967-2.jpg


Kinda blend of Corvette, Ferrari, and 240Z rolled into one.

[Ferrari250GTO]

Nah,

nice though. Think 1967. Think this
http://static-jpeg.sport-prestige.com/w ... 1967-2.jpg


Kinda blend of Corvette, Ferrari, and 240Z rolled into one.

Hello,
I have seen a red 275, which is quite similar, at a few local shows. It does have a beatiful shape!

What do you think of my list of corrections above, is it correct? Anything other than the vents and the tail that I would need to add?

The one side of the carrier deck is now complete, though I may go back and spray a thin coat of gray or black for some weathering. I used some electrical wire for the arresting cables. It fits perfectly within the Tomcat’s arrestor hook. :



Thanks