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F14A Tomcat - PART THREE

a build story by David W. Aungst

Before attaching the intake trunks to the lower fuselage, I painted their insides gloss white. After this dried, I masked and painted the camouflage color of the outer portion of the inner intake. I had no specific pictures of the aircraft I was building that showed the intake interiors. Hence, I masked the most typical paint line I have seen inside Tomcat intakes. Check your references when doing this masking as the line can change from aircraft to aircraft.

During the process to attach the intake trunks to the lower fuselage, you also attach the intake variable geometry ramps (kit parts F10, F11, F12, and F13). If attached the way they are provided in the kit, these ramps are positioned like they would be in supersonic flight. As this configuration is never seen on the ground when the aircraft is parked, I modified the installation of the ramps to correct their placement.

I deleted the actuating rods for the forward ramps (kit pieces H6) and removed all of the raised details on the backs of the forward ramps. This allows the forward ramps to be attached in a highest, flush position. Then, I cut all but a sixteenth of an inch of the oleo extension off of the rear ramp actuators (kit pieces H7). This effectively halved the length of these actuators. This allows the rear ramps to be attached in corresponding higher positions to match the new positions of the forward ramps. This revised ramp configuration better captures the look of the intakes when the aircraft is parked on the flight line.

After attaching the intake trunks to the lower fuselage, I found that another place to work out was the area just under the upper lip of the intake. The intake trunks have pointed forward extensions that should transition smoothly into the lower edge of the intake lip. This was not happening. I used still more filler to shape and blend the pointed forward tips of the intake trunk into the lower side of the intake lip.

If I ever build another of these Tomcat kits, I will strongly consider using intake covers on the model to hide all these intake issues.

 

About the Author

About David W. Aungst (DWAungst)


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