Small Scale Military Headquarters

this might work... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2jNCRo_VyM

Ok so I did a video review of the Exclusive F-14 tomcat.. Im sorry if the video is bad and if I sound like a sick dog.. I have a cold plus it was 1:00 am and I was super tired.. Plus I shot the video on my iphone.. I will do a real review next week when i get my regular non exclusives in. I hope you enjoy and dont get to pissed at me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxVad0O1I0s

Great review, thanks very much.

that was a good youtube review, thanks. It's a great plane, except for those spots. If they truly are a lot paler in subsequent models i still may consider getting one. But if they look like that, i'll have to wait and take my chances on their being an S2.

Thanks for the review! Much Appreciated and you did a great job of letting us see the features.

Great review, awesome bird. Can't wait for mine to arrive.

you're getting a polka dot tomcat, g1?

You wingnuts just don't get it do you... try to look at it from a tankers perspective...it's ambush camo... Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist, anyhow, I agree with you all, it looks pretty horrible...yikes..

Likelihood is that the paint used on the plane will be acrylic based- any acid will eat through and ruin the finish further. I'm not sure how this aircraft has been finished- however the shade looks like US modern light gull gray. Testors, xtracolour, lifecolor, vellajo all do a version that can be matched and shot through a double action airbrush. You might be able to tone down the spots, but the plane will look patchy when the differing shades catch the light from certain angles. To get rid of this I'd overcoat it with a gloss coat, apply a wash to darken the panel lines and provide for streaking effects which will take the eye away from the spots. Finally add another clear coat this time a satin finish which would blend it all in hopefully. However for this to work you;d need to be pretty close on the gull gray batch you mix up. It's not impossible but tedious and time consuming.

I'm getting the Tomcat and I'm debating whether trying to tone them down or at worse repaint the whole plane which will be expensive for the materials. What stops me from a complete repaint are the tampo printed markings which can never be replicated. Decals are a close a second but there's nothing like printed markings. I know testors and Tamiya so spray cans for light gull gray so there is the repaint option without needing an airbrush- but this can be a bit hit or miss as the paint flow cannot be controlled like an airbrush. Paint thinner could be used to maybe remove the patches, I'll try dabbing it on the lower underside to test when I get mine. WARNING- do not get the thinner anywhere near the markings- they'll just smudge, run and be eradicated.

The special edition in my opinion was a bit of a dumb idea. Especially when they put the name of the show on it. The light up idea was nice, but the name of the show was a little odd. If you must put the name of the show on it, put it somewhere a little less noticeable like on the bottom, just my opinion.

The irony about the lights is that it made the Tomcat look more toyetic, which is the antithesis of what JSI was going for. JSI wants to be known for making high quality collector models, not toys. The places chosen for LEDs on the Tomcat are more akin to a toy than a high quality collectible.

If anything the lights on the vertical stabs, wings, et al were lights I thought would light up but no we got a red TCS, and inaccurate VSD/HSD, radar screen that light up in BLUE for some reason, amongst other things. Those places look like places a toy company that makes those $10 RC airplances with wires that you see in discount stores would choose to light up.

Even the Newbright Tomcat from over a decade ago, despite having lights, sounds, wires, and a control console, didn't have a light up red TCS and the other parts I mentioned above.

Instead of lights I think all of us would have preferred to see a pilot and RIO figure set included instead.

i was joking about using acid.

it would be ideal if some fairly weak solvent could be found that you could just rub the spots with a cotton swab soaked in the solvent and both wipe them off and blend them in to look more like natural weathering. It would probably only take an hour or two to do the whole plane and the results would probably be excellent.

Whether such a solvent exists or not i don't know, but somebody may find something that does the trick.

aferguson wrote:i was joking about using acid.

it would be ideal if some fairly weak solvent could be found that you could just rub the spots with a cotton swab soaked in the solvent and both wipe them off and blend them in to look more like natural weathering. It would probably only take an hour or two to do the whole plane and the results would probably be excellent.

Whether such a solvent exists or not i don't know, but somebody may find something that does the trick.

I do know that denatured alcohol will take some of the paint off.

Maybe a Q-tip with just a little could be used.

I do know that when I used some on 21st plastic it actually etched it. SO BE CAREFUL. IF TRIED.

I use the denatured alcohol when I am trying to wash off glue , bondo and release agent.

I also used it on my glases to wash off resin splatter. It took off the chemical that darken my glasses in the sun.

They do not darken anymore.

lol pickel (about your glasses)

paint thinner would take about anything off, but it would probably take all the paint off.

i used a pencil eraser in the past to get off the 21st bonus marks that appeared on their planes when they had the poor QC. it did work. would it work for this i don't know

Non acetone nail polish remover removes weathering without harming plastic, it worked on one of my shermans. it didnt take the painted star off I was trying to remove but the weathering on and around it instead

Grilledcheese wrote:I foresee the customizers of our hobby picking up a great many F-14's at deep discounts in the not-so-distant future...

Wow. Just.....wow.
JSI really had intercourse with a Dalmatian on this one.



Jeffrey

I sure hope so, my preorders are going on evilbay the day I receive them, recoup my investment. I may keep one and actually "customize it, sand it down, re-shoot acrylic and have a buddy who does decals for plastic model industry make me up some decals for this, and I sure as hell won't attempt the Navy's failed "Leopard Spot Camo"..lol or at least JSI's interpretation of "weathering".