Small Scale Military Headquarters

Which JSI/Merit F-14 has the MOST realistic detail, I have about $400 saved up for one and another 1/18th, I'd just like to get the correct F-14 and not be disappointed in a $300 buy..

Derek:

I would personally save your money and not buy either one. The first series F-14's were notorious for the terrible paint scheme and the fragile landing gear. Many of the landing gears were broken in the boxes and the plane suffered from other quality control issues throughout. Read back through the forum and you will see all the issues people here had with the JSI F-14. Some people had their F-14's just break by sitting on the shelf on display due to the gear being that fragile.

Apparently, the Black Knights version is a bit better and they improved the landing gear and some of the other detail parts that were prone to breaking. However, a long time respected member wrote here when he got a Black Knights plane that he was still concerned about the model and the weight of it on its gear.

If you are going to get one, the Black Knights version is probably the better version. I would also spend the extra money and invest in a stand that BadCat sells to display the aircraft off of its gear. The gear is very fragile and very easy to break, way too fragile for an aircraft of this size in my opinion. And if you break the gear the replacement parts are almost impossible to come by. The new BBI F-18, while a less accurate mold is a far more durable mold if you are looking for a modern naval fighter.

Personally, after having 1 F-14 and having a ton of issues with it, I will not buy another one, I do not trust it

Corey

Thanks for the info Corey, i was actually hoping it wasn't the black knights one but it's better then having large QC issues, and as for the F-18, I was planning on that being the second 1/18th, but i would rather an older model, don't quite like the new one.

Ehh, found a black knights F-14 for $267 so I think I'm just going to surprise my dad with the $84 BBi BF-109G-6 + decals from small joes, I'm sure he's going to be real happy for this one, because I promised him a 109 out of my store because he wanted one, he didn't want nothing to price, (ones in my store are 1/100) but I'm sure he'll much rather this instead!
Ya think?

the word on the grape vine is a 3rd version is in the works as a sundowner miss molly at a cheaper price . the stands from pizzaguy work really well i have 2 tom cats and 2 hornets and 1 sbd on them. the gear on the black knight is stronger but still probamatic . a spot cat repaited is killer and there a person who does amazing work dave miller at rngr92@live.com. he is working on one for me the weathering and grease marks are so real. his price range is in line with tko s old pricing. he is looking to take on some more project s.

After many years of collecting and selling 1/18 aircraft in my opinion there is not a better aircraft then the F14. Detail, Size, beauty, history.

rudedog wrote:the word on the grape vine is a 3rd version is in the works as a sundowner miss molly at a cheaper price . the stands from pizzaguy work really well i have 2 tom cats and 2 hornets and 1 sbd on them. the gear on the black knight is stronger but still probamatic . a spot cat repaited is killer and there a person who does amazing work dave miller at rngr92@live.com. he is working on one for me the weathering and grease marks are so real. his price range is in line with tko s old pricing. he is looking to take on some more project s.

Well I'll be ordering the black knights F-14 in a few weeks, I'm kind of a "right now guy" plus as long as there's on in my collection, I'm happy!
As for the stand, I'm going to have to look into that after I get and inspect the gear, I might just consider it just as the safety precaution, and the covers for it, I'll see if I can bring up a few bucks to get them for the F-14 & F-4, is there any other cool add-ons like this out there?

The F-14 is so big I couldn’t display it on its gear if I wanted to. I had to hang mine so any issues with the gear I can’t attest to. I can say I have owned both versions and the Black Knights version has a far superior paint job. Really though, anything minus the spots was bound to be better.

I would agree with Coreyeagle's assessment, but also Aviatornut's and toyktdlgh's praise. The F-14 is the largest and one of the most detailed 1:18 aircraft in existence. In many ways, its the pinnacle of 1:18th aircraft design. But as with anything that pushes the envelope, it suffers from serious flaws that need to be worked out. The S1 version had horrible "spotted" weathering and a majority of the planes had problems with brittle landing gear and other QC defects. The S2 Black Knights plane is better with improved weathering, but can still be prone to QC issues from what I've heard. The F-14 model in general is very large and hard to display unless you have the space to. Its hard to move around.

I have the S1 Jolly Rogers F-14 and mine never had any serious QC defects other than the spots (which I repainted). Only one pushrod for an airbreak came off during shipping. Never had issues with the gears, either, and I even displayed it for several months sitting on its gears after I got it without issue. But breakage was always on the back of my mind and really determined how I treated the model. Given the sheer size of the model, and for fear of breaking anything, I hung it to get the thing out of the way. After I moved to my new house, I still have it hung up and rarely take it down. Again, its just too big and fragile!

I've thought at times about getting the S2 Black Knights version, but was never wild about the "Bombcat" version of the F-14. Also, what would I do with a second giant aircraft? However, if there is an S3 version in an acceptable scheme - and JSI is able to seriously address the QC issues - I may consider another one

pizzaguy is working on some new things that i sent to him he also does the nozzles they are uber cool and detailed. good price he also has a md3 tractor and remove before flight tag kits.

Aviatornut.com wrote:After many years of collecting and selling 1/18 aircraft in my opinion there is not a better aircraft then the F14. Detail, Size, beauty, history.

Absolutely...Agree 100%. Love the two I have, but not sure I'd buy another one unless someone else comes up with replacement gear like he-who's-name-we-do-not-mention!

456THBG wrote:

Aviatornut.com wrote:After many years of collecting and selling 1/18 aircraft in my opinion there is not a better aircraft then the F14. Detail, Size, beauty, history.

Absolutely...Agree 100%. Love the two I have, but not sure I'd buy another one unless someone else comes up with replacement gear like he-who's-name-we-do-not-mention!

i love them so much i bought 4 of them... three through aviatornut.com and 1 from board member... i want 6 over all... they are great.. i wish f15 an sue came out... may be when pigs fly we can have the f15... and sue...

I also have 4 of them. Best modern plane in my opinion! 2 of them on their orig. landing gear for 2 years now. Paint was not great on the S1 but still worth it. I would buy another version in a heartbeat! You have to have Pizza Guys nozzle thou.

sorry to say but i doubt you will ever see the F15 or the SU but something smaller may be on the horizon.
the sun downer is the most likely F14 we will see. it is suppose to be cheaper and most likely no bombs or missiles on it.

still have the black knight F14 in stock and never heard any QC issues from past customers.

Why would they sell it without ordinance?

nothing has been said for sure just talks but they think the sun d F14 would sell better if they can drop the price down and have an ordnance pack for sale

Aviatornut.com wrote:nothing has been said for sure just talks but they think the sun d F14 would sell better if they can drop the price down and have an ordnance pack for sale

This makes sense, but why would they go with Sundowners?
Isn't there already one out there?

not in 1/18 scale besides i know the plane this is possably going to be made from i have seen the pictures and it is a awsome repaint . the person who did it is a member and its killer work. a ordinance pack would solve a lot of custom problems anyway. pizzaguy might even think about a loader wagoon or other tools to load things with.

Ok, this may have been asked before, but will the same ordinance of the other F-14, go on the bombcat "Black Knights"?

The_Helicopter_Pilot wrote:Ok, this may have been asked before, but will the same ordinance of the other F-14, go on the bombcat "Black Knights"?

no because the phoenix missile on the first tomcat has railing for it for the s1 spotted cat... the bomb can has all the weapon of the s1 with exception of the phoenix for the under belly

the side Lateran, sparrow in mid line of the f14 the two type of smart bomb are unique to the s2 or bomb cat...

Sign me up! How soon can we expect this?

heres the good news boys and girls i have sent all the bomb cat parts to pizza guy to see if he can cast all the parts needed to fix the cross problem between the spot cat and the black knight keep watching and we will see how they turn out.

also found some cool nose art for a cat sending to lair at vex to see if he can print this up will post pictures if it works.

Ok, I keep getting all these bad things on the F-14, so maybe I can wait on the new, I thing I'm just going to go with the F-16 and BF-109 from the flying mule, I also getting an F-18, I don't really like the new one, but if it's the cheapest I guess it will do, unless someone can find a cheaper or same price older F-18?

I agree with tman. The f-14 model was an amazing aircraft despite its numerous spots and flaws with strengthening the gears a bit more. Certainly a major undertaking by JSI to even have pull it off at the scale it is. It maybe fragile in a few areas especially with the landing gears but for the most part its a pretty solid build in my opinion. I purchased two and currently have them hanging from the ceiling in a dive position. One with wings stretched out and the other swept back.