POST ALL JSE F-14 QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION HERE

Ferrari250GTO · Post by **Ferrari250GTO** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:32 pm

Just keep one thing in mind everyone, these pictures have much worse lighting than the prototype pics.
Not saying anything about the spots or anything else, but I just want you to keep that in mind.

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:33 pm

Well, now I'm officially nervous with the official production sample and officially released photos.

I looked at BCA's photos (the big ones on the product page) and looked at them from all angles around my computer monitor. The spots have not been muted, at least from what I see.

Thought we'd get some nice panel and line shading, but it looks like we didn't.

Dude...where's the droptanks?

[edit] lemme see if I can play with the photos a bit to see any difference.

Ferrari250GTO · Post by **Ferrari250GTO** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:35 pm

NWarty wrote:
Dude...where's the droptanks?

In the box-
http://www.merit-intl.com/month/chicago%20vf-84.htm

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:36 pm

Let's hope so

We haven't even seen the production box.

Played with the brightness and contrast on both big photos. Doesn't look like they muted the spots. Looks like we'll just have to wait and see when we get them.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:43 pm

NWarty wrote:Thought we'd get some nice panel and line shading, but it looks like we didn't.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. And the spots are visible even in the nose cone area.

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:45 pm

Is this the same factory that manufactured and painted the Corsairs and P-38's? I highly doubt it at this point.

I could be wrong. But it looks like my airbrush might be working overtime.

Ferrari250GTO · Post by **Ferrari250GTO** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:46 pm

Here, I decreased the brightness of the picture...

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:47 pm

Ferrari,
That's almost EXACTLY the same image I came up with using my graphics editor.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:49 pm

Yikes.

Those spots on the "USS Theodore Roosevelt" marking really stand out. And not in a good way, BTW.

Ferrari250GTO · Post by **Ferrari250GTO** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:51 pm

NWarty wrote:Ferrari,
That's almost EXACTLY the same image I came up with using my graphics editor.

Don't kill me now, but I don't think it looks TOO bad, that is if it looks like it does in the edited picture.

sluff · Post by **sluff** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:53 pm

I will be upset if there are no droptanks. The pic of the box are a convention shipping box so there is no guarentee that the packaging will be the same.

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:58 pm

The thing is it would have looked even better if they had given it a new-from-the-factory look (sans 'weathering').

thatf14guy · Post by **thatf14guy** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:21 pm

all aside i think it looks damn good. if you want perfection hph makes 1/18 tomcats for around 8gs. so i'm happy with it. but thats me.

toyktdlgh · Post by **toyktdlgh** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:24 pm

Ferrari250GTO wrote: Don't kill me now, but I don't think it looks TOO bad, that is if it looks like it does in the edited picture.

I have to agree. These photos do not look all that bad to me. It’s just the weathering and from what I can see and not a deal breaker. I certainly don’t get the same “spotted owl” feeling I did when I saw the earlier in production shots. Let’s hold off ripping this one apart till someone actually sees it firsthand. Don’t forget, these are not professional photo shoots with proper lighting and backdrop.

YT · Post by YT » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:25 pm

Pics on the Merit site:

http://www.merit-intl.com/merit/main.html

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 8:54 pm

Overall, I do think it looks okay, not great, but okay. Don't get me wrong, I am disappointed in the finish from what I can see in the photos.

toyktdlgh,
I think you're right in that we should hold off on the shotgun blasts until we have it in our hands.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:00 pm

the thing of it is, the spots are still fairly noticable and, make no sense at all. They don't look like weathering, they look like big dots. And should we have to stand back, squint a little, make excuses for it etc when forking out $200 plus for this thing? What we should be doing is grabbing the magnifying glass to gaze at all the fine detail, not apologize for it.

Even 21c's $40 planes never had weathering this poor.

edit: from badcat's site...it looks like german wwii nightfighter camo

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/badcattoys_2083_55717994

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:07 pm

I absolutely agree Aferg.

If it does indeed show up at my door and look like crap, I'll be pretty po'd and vocal.

Post by **aferguson** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:11 pm

at this point, i am seriously considering cancelling my pre-order. If i were the etailers i'd be pretty steamed right about now.

This could go down in 1/18 history as one of the biggest gaffs of all time..

Birddog · Post by **Birddog** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:14 pm

I think we all should do exactly what toyktdlgh has said. If you are still on the fence about getting one, wait until someone has it in hand or a retailer puts out their own pictures of one in hand. Then make your decision.

If you have one ordered and you don't like it when you get it, send it back.

If you don't like the way it looks now, cancel your Pre-Order before it ships. Then you won't have to worry about having to take the time and effort to return it.

One way or another, a message will be sent by completed sales I'm sure. Vocal or non-vocal.

NWarty · Post by **NWarty** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:16 pm

Just to let everyone know. I hope my posts didn't come across as sympathetic and sounding like excuses. That couldn't be further from the truth

To be blunt, yeah, I'm kind of pissed about the weathering right now and my worst fears about this $225 model are being realized. Even BadCat Rob's post on talesofthecat.com sounded sort of "ho hum" about the finished production model.

I'd like to know WTF happened in JSI's paint apps department between the Corsair/Stuka/Lightning models and this, the Tomcat.

And lastly, seems that they couldn't get the paint right, and my question to Merit in the morning will be "Where the heck are the drop tanks? Did they forget to put them on for the picture?"

snake · Post by **snake** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:22 pm

I am holding off on judgement.

It does look a little spotty,but only a couple of less than great photos.

I will make my own decision,when I have it in my hands.

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:41 pm

Greetings:

I saw an F-14 down in the Air and Space in 2007 (one of the last ones taken off active service that now has a museum home) and it was being refurbished for the museum but the weathering on the panels did look spotty to some degree. The only difference was that this was a low viz scheme so the actual weathering was darker. I also have a puzzle with a Jolly Rogers F-14 in flight from when I was a kid and the weathering appears slightly spotty as well. It may be the way the panels weather according to the elements, due to mechanical problems, etc. I remember as a kid doing models and actually painting complete panels different shades of color to achieve the idea of a replacement part from an aircraft that is not the same shade.

Remember, these jets were aboard carriers and suspectible to all sorts of elements and weathering. I highly doubt any two F-14's weathered exactly the same way and showed the same weathering patterns. I have no doubt that JSI looked at some photo for this model, and that photo showed this type of weathering.

In my opinion this model looks like it will be just fine, it's better painting than I can do and it's a pretty cool jet. That's all I need to buy one. One also has to consider these need to be mass produced in an effective fashion. This is obiviously the weathering techinque that JSI has decided on that will work best for them. Honestly, it has to be better than the fingerprints, body hair, smudges and touchups with the wrong paint we saw so commonplace on many of the 21st models. If my model arrives without those nice little details, I'll be quite pleased.

I think we should just be thankful this thing is coming out. I never thought it'd be possible. It in all honestly doesn't look that bad. I don't quite see why this is making everyone as upset as it is before it has even arrived at our doorstep.

Corey

vulgarvulture · Post by **vulgarvulture** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:00 pm

The thing is it would have looked even better if they had given it a new-from-the-factory look (sans 'weathering').

I was actually thinking this when 'spotgate' first erupted. No weathering would have been fine with me. Some of my favorite planes have no weathering e.g. Tuskegee P-51, S-1 F-104, F/A 18 USS Washington, Bunker Hill Corsair, P-47 Blond Angel, P-47 Peg O My Heart, P-38 California Cutie, S-2 Kepford Corsair, and the list goes on and on....

King O' Fools · Post by **King O' Fools** » Tue Dec 01, 2009 10:13 pm

Coreyeagle48 wrote:I highly doubt any two F-14's weathered exactly the same way and showed the same weathering patterns. I have no doubt that JSI looked at some photo for this model, and that photo showed this type of weathering.

So you'd rather have the spotty version over the paint master because the 'Spot Cat' was weathered in a more realistic and accurate fashion? Is that what you're saying?

Because, as far as I can see in the pictures released by Merit, the production model looks nothing like the paint master, so clearly one of them must be wrong.

I'm sorry, but I can't see how a plane sporting that shade of light grey would possibly fade/age into a plane with random spots which are noticeably darker without having any weathering present on the panel lines at the same time. The production model lacks this feature in case you haven't noticed. Maybe JSI found a picture of the only plane that ages differently from all other airplanes represented thus far in 1:18 scale

And, yes, for $230 plus shipping I'd expect the pros to actually produce something better than what I can achieve by myself. I mean, that's why I pay a mechanic to repair my car and a software technician to fix my computer, because I expect them to do it better than I ever could. In fact, I expect them to get it right. If they botch my car/PC somewhat I still get pissed. But that's just me. Maybe I should be thankful that they just had a mild screw-up instead of a real snafu.