JSI F-14 Tomcat Cons - The Bad about the Tomcat

[tmanthegreat]

This is all so very sad! I was hoping everyone would be thrilled with their new birds. I guess I am one of the lucky ones in that my cat is almost flawless. I hope there are some of you out there in the same boat and really loving it. I still cannot get over the perfect engraving. Oh well....

I'm in your boat dean. Amazingly, I've had few problems with my Tomcat and I really, really like the plane The only thing broken on mine was a pushrod for one of the lower airbrakes that came out and was lying loose in the box, complete with the pin to secure it to the hinge. I haven't fixed it yet. Otherwise, my plane was nearly flawless all things considered. The landing gear have held up, all other parts have remained secure, etc. The only real detracting part were the spots and I fixed those

Nevertheless, what I'm hearing around here sounds very much like the old 21c QC shennagians concerning a model that was really too complex for their capabilities and which thus cannot be guaranteed to have good quality control all around. The only difference is that now we are really between a rock and a hard place with how to rectify it.

[Teamski]

As of now I may choose to finish the re-paints that I have and then suspend any future repaints, including the Black Aces due simply to the fact that these are now appearing to have a high risk factor on defective parts and that there is zero accountability stance from the sellers. It's not like Merit and JSI have open arms inviting people to return defective product.
In fact it's quite the opposite. I have been totally unsuccessful in my attempts and they tell me it's not their problem.

This in turn cannot be fully supported by retailers alone and so the industry looks now to US consumers to buy at our own risk and without any guarantee. Keep in mind that I am not talking about some overspray, a misplaced marking, or minor fit and finish issues. The landing gear was cemented at the hinge and broke after hours of working with it to get it to move. That's not a minor QC issue. It's defective. I opened all the remaining F-14's (5 that I have left to finish and found ANOTHER broken, with a front landing gear door and several other small bits of plastic floating about the box.) this one was not from Bad Cat but I can't wait to see how the retailer deals with this one. If it's the same as the other reply it appears that 2 of Cats are broken and one of them is not mine. Doesn't matter that I don't even need to open the landing gear or check them at all to do the repaints. Situations like this start to put me in the middle and all I was really trying to do was help some folks out and cover my time and materials. Trust me, this is not a money making opportunity and I certainly don't need a job. But I don't need the risk exposure at over 200 buck a pop either.


I miss 21C frankly! I will be glad to see some version of 21C come back into the fray.

That is a pretty high fault percentage there, Zack. Not good at all.

-Ski

[tkjaer21]

I just wish that JSI had a parts supply for it's customers whom have received their planes broken and for those whom had/will have broken them themselves.

[VMF115]

I agree Zach JSI really dropped the ball on this one.

[CW4USARMY]

As of now I may choose to finish the re-paints that I have and then suspend any future repaints, including the Black Aces due simply to the fact that these are now appearing to have a high risk factor on defective parts and that there is zero accountability stance from the sellers. It's not like Merit and JSI have open arms inviting people to return defective product.
In fact it's quite the opposite. I have been totally unsuccessful in my attempts and they tell me it's not their problem.

This in turn cannot be fully supported by retailers alone and so the industry looks now to US consumers to buy at our own risk and without any guarantee. Keep in mind that I am not talking about some overspray, a misplaced marking, or minor fit and finish issues. The landing gear was cemented at the hinge and broke after hours of working with it to get it to move. That's not a minor QC issue. It's defective. I opened all the remaining F-14's (5 that I have left to finish and found ANOTHER broken, with a front landing gear door and several other small bits of plastic floating about the box.) this one was not from Bad Cat but I can't wait to see how the retailer deals with this one. If it's the same as the other reply it appears that 2 of Cats are broken and one of them is not mine. Doesn't matter that I don't even need to open the landing gear or check them at all to do the repaints. Situations like this start to put me in the middle and all I was really trying to do was help some folks out and cover my time and materials. Trust me, this is not a money making opportunity and I certainly don't need a job. But I don't need the risk exposure at over 200 buck a pop either.


I miss 21C frankly! I will be glad to see some version of 21C come back into the fray.

PM Sent. Any status on my bird? Thanks.

[CW4USARMY]

Bump, PM Sent. Any status on my bird? Thanks.

[Black_Dragon_One]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXyihqsN ... re=related

[CW4USARMY]

TKO211, Bump, PM Sent. Any status on my bird? Thanks.

[mountian-man]

Well, last week I displayed my F-14 gears down with all the connections plugged in on top of the living room cabinet.

Held up great for one week, then simultaneously both main gears(rear) snapped just above where the wheel connects to the strut. It's now resting on the drop tanks!

These gears, although beautifully detailed are simply not strong enough to support the weight of the F-14... period.

I'm wondering if someone will eventually cast them in metal, now that this seems to be an epidemic.

[pcoughran]

Well, last week I displayed my F-14 gears down with all the connections plugged in on top of the living room cabinet.

Held up great for one week, then simultaneously both main gears(rear) snapped just above where the wheel connects to the strut. It's now resting on the drop tanks!

These gears, although beautifully detailed are simply not strong enough to support the weight of the F-14... period.

I'm wondering if someone will eventually cast them in metal, now that this seems to be an epidemic.

Did you notice if either of your main gear is missing the metal rod that is suppossed to be in each. Unfortunately, the rod even if present ends right about where you are saying yours snapped.
One of my mains had the rod and the other is missing. The one missing failed first putting strain on the other and it snapped right where the rod ends, sounds like the same place yours both broke. So, even if rods are present sounds like they don't extend all the way to the end of the strut past where the wheel actually connects, thus a weak point.

[mountian-man]

pcoughran,

I didn't check to see if the metal bars were installed. I'm out of town at the moment, and I'm going to attempt to fix the gears when I return home on Tuesday. I'll fill you in then...

[fightin]

Mine doesn't have a tow bar.

[iflabs]

Looks like the wheels is a serious issue. I saw a F-14 on display for sale at a flight sim store, but it was limping on its hind legs held up with tape. lmao

[Shin Densetsu]

Anyone know if Skyworks toys will sell their replacement landing gears separately?

[tkjaer21]

The bad news for my F-14 is that My front fuselage, gear and canopy broke in a fall. There seems to be no replacement parts available.

[fly-dk]

The bad news for my F-14 is that My front fuselage, gear and canopy broke in a fall. There seems to be no replacement parts available.

Sorry to hear that How did it happen?

[Jim@Merit]

First of all, we apologize on behalf of JSI for the bad experiences and the breakage problems. All points were reported back to JSI and we had been sending out replacement parts for defectives by taking them from our inventory while we wait for JSI to send us the replacement parts, which are arriving in batches.
The breakage problem is mostly due from JSI desire to have a better "scale" effect. They will exercising more care and attention for all future projects.
Over the years, we have learned that landing gears will give if display on smooth services such as wood shelves and glasses. The weight of the model often pushes the landing gears outwards, bending them and occasionally break them. We usually tape or glue small pieces of sand paper with rough service facing up in spots where the landing wheels should be. This will prevent the landing gears to slide and keep them in their upright position where they are strongest. This trick works great for us and should work for you too. Please give it a try and hopefully this will prevent more breakage.

[pcoughran]

First of all, we apologize on behalf of JSI for the bad experiences and the breakage problems. All points were reported back to JSI and we had been sending out replacement parts for defectives by taking them from our inventory while we wait for JSI to send us the replacement parts, which are arriving in batches.
The breakage problem is mostly due from JSI desire to have a better "scale" effect. They will exercising more care and attention for all future projects.
Over the years, we have learned that landing gears will give if display on smooth services such as wood shelves and glasses. The weight of the model often pushes the landing gears outwards, bending them and occasionally break them. We usually tape or glue small pieces of sand paper with rough service facing up in spots where the landing wheels should be. This will prevent the landing gears to slide and keep them in their upright position where they are strongest. This trick works great for us and should work for you too. Please give it a try and hopefully this will prevent more breakage.

Let me first say welcome Jim from Merit to the club. I must say after all the gear disappointment I was very pleased with Merit's recent response to my request for some new gear after both mine failed. It only took them 10 days from my email request to getting parts in hand.
I haven't installed these "new" gear and actually now that you mention they are probably taken out of your stock and not true replacement parts, I'm a little concerned.
As I mentioned before numerous times on this forum and in my email to Merit, the gear on mine were defective in that one of the main struts had not metal rod in it like the other main strut had. Guess which one broke causing undue strain on the other with bent out and then broke at the wheel connection to the strut where the metal rod ends inside the strut. This is a QC issue as the metal rod should have been in both struts. The one missing the metal rod was hollowed out just didn't have the metal rod. Even after inserting a metal rod myself and gluing everything back, the gear were in such bad shape that there was no hope.
Since what Merit sent me may have the same problem (no metal rod in strut) I'm now hesitant to put any effort into installing these. Your suggestion about the sandpaper is good only if the gear are not defective. If one or more is missing a metal rod it is a matter of time. Even with the rod, these gear are very susceptible to breakage right where the wheel meets the strut (that part of the strut is where the rod ends and it is just plastic at the "L" connection.
So, guess I'll wait for Skyworks to get their replacement gear out and get those - a shame to spend even more money after having to repaint the ugly spots and all.
Cudos to Merit though for their effort to make things right.

[Coreyeagle48]

Phil:

The F-14 gear can be disassembled to see if the metal rod is in place. I forget how I did it but when I disassembled my F-14, I was able to get the main gear into two parts, the part that hooks into the airplane and the part that contains the tire and wheel. When these two sections are apart, you can clearly see if the metal rod is in place or not (the spring will fall out and you will need to put it back in though.

These parts were not glued. I got mine apart just by gentle twisting. Hope this helps.

Corey

[pcoughran]

Corey,
Thanks for the suggestion - I already knew that though, just afraid when I take the small pins out the small plastic pieces will break so didn't even attempt as I ordered some metal gear from SkyWorks. The spare replacement gear will be used to get those complete.
Phil

[Semtex]

Hello!

I've just joined the forum and must say that as an 1.18 Tomcat owner I found remarkable help specially about correcting the paint spots problem: My VF-84 just waits for a bit of time and among the suggestions I chose the aerograph spraying of the light gull gray from Testors...

Agreeing with many other members I think we must accept the fact that for the price we get a (relatively) well made item, its size of course being its main feature...

Just have a look at the quality of a Tamiya 1.32 Cat... But it's a kit and have a look too at its price...

I should say now that I was much disapointed when I received my VF-154's and maybe someone will be able to help me correcting what is the most visible problem: a big gap between the base of the canopy and the fuselage... Having disassembled the whole front fuselage I tried to give it a bit more curvature under hot water but that did not fix the problem... I don't see any other solution: either leaving the canopy open for display, or maybe trying to lower the front part of the canopy on which the main part comes when closed??...

If someone has any idea it will be welcome... It's seems a common problem with many 1.18th aircraft: much of my BBI F-18s show the same inaccuracy...

About quality: I have to add another problem, and here again maybe someone will help: my Black Knights' was purchased last year at Aviatornut... I had not the time (nor the space!) to assemble it and it sat since in its box... When I discovered that the guys in China had put in the box twice the right stabilizer!... Of course I can use my second one for the left side but then it's upsidedown of course and shows its underneath: no more "no step" markings, and the awful "2 parts assembly seam"...

I sent two emails to Aviatornut, two other ones to Merit Int'l (thinking that as distributors and makers of the second version they could have the part) in order to swap one of my right stabilizers with the right part (left one): .... and got no answer at all...

So, what should I say about quality and aftersale service about these F-14s?...

Finally I must say that I don't know what they make with the main fuselage before packing it but on mine, both air intakes upper edges are lightly broken and will need some puty and repainting... By the way, did anyone find the matching color for these second version as was the case with Testors LGG for the VF-54's?...

Thanks for any suggestion!

JJ