Well I am starting this because im to excited to not rip through the box and go nuts.I know everybody has seen the VF-84 but this will be mine and my first attempt at a few things Ive picked up so lets start.
I'll be building:
Hasegawa kit#09776 F-14A "VF-84 Jolly Rogers"in 1/48
1/48 Aires resin cockpit
1/48 eduard cockpit Pe and Gruz7 Pe sets


Hope you enjoy

Build On,
Justin

Work done tonight first I had to trim the aires cockpit and get it ready...

I then modified the kit halfs which had some flash and it look's like the mold is starting to show its age around the wheel well as this area is poorly molded and required sanding to get it right and tip top.The red indicates the areas that I had to remove or modify for the Aires cockpit to fit snuggly...

Here is the compleated modification.I will let the cockpit sit in soapy water tonight and begin painting soon.Thanks for Looking


Build On,
Justin

Dude, you're a machine. Slow down a little so I can keep up with this one.


Hermon

Well I got a little done today.cleaned out nose so aires cockpit would fit in the front deck.Started working on the front gear well. Hasegawas was a little lacking on detail so I scratch built my own front bulkhead and will start on the port side tomorrow.First pic is Hasegawas for comparison It was strange but for some reason there was a bottle on theres which isnt in any of my referance pics .........

The long wires will run down the sides to various other components I will add.


@Cuda dont worry this isnt one of my speed builds this is going to take a while. this will be my most detailed model yet.Besides I had do something waiting for your campaign to roll around

Build On,
Justin

I would like to correct myself apparently my referance was for a F-14D and I will be scrapping that work and starting over.And I now know where the bottle came from.



Build On,
Justin

Murphy's Law strikes us all.

Keep up the excellent post Justin.

corrected bulkhead as you can see the"A"didnt have anti-skid box or power brake mod.here.




Build On,
Justin

Heres some more progress from last night.I have compleated the nose gear well and will start to paint the cocpit tonight .thanks for looking.

Painted everything in white acryls and then added details.Afterwards I sprayed everything with clear gloss much easier this way as gloss white dosnt seem to spray well for me.



Build On,
Justin

Well heres what Ive been doing I now have finished the AIRES cockpit except for the seats which I wont even put in till the end.Here is some cockpit shots...









Build On,
Justin

She's really looking good, love the cockpit painting and detail work. One of these days I need to finish mine.

Happy Modeling,
Joe

Looks great. I can't wait to see more

Wow. This build sure is inspiring.

I like the fact the you noticed that the canvas cover on the RIO's instruments are normally two different colours, not many people pick up on this

I must clear my bench and finish the one I started many moons ago (I think I got to the decalling stage)

Keep up the good work

Thanks guys I will post pics of last night's progress tonight.It might take less time to build this than I thought.
It will make a nice adition to my collection not having a F-14.
But I see many more coming and I will be ordering the Aires cockpit for my A-10 when the Ground support campaign rolls around.Being my first time using one the detail is just amazing.


Build On,
Justin

Looks amazing Justin! If I may make one small suggestion....on the radar screen try painting it silver, then when it's dried coat it with some Tamiya clear green and finish it off with a drop of Future. This will give it a super realistic look and more depth. That's just a suggestion, keep in mind I think what you've done to this point is an A++.


Hermon

Thanks for the tip cuda I have some on order as we speak.Anything to improve my modeling skills I appreciate any and all input.
First off I installed .45 bullets in the nose and CA them in place and blasted that with some accelerator why because these are my weights and bullets of choice.The contours make them easy to fit in most noses and engine booms.....

Here is the Aires cocpit sittig in the fusalage and ready to be cleaned up and installed onto the main body....


I then got a few of the rear wheel well parts installed and the two main body halfs joined together taped and let dry over night.The circles represent where I had to use some putty as the forward fins were molded in two seperate parts and my CORRECT referance's clearly show them as one...


More work tonight post pic's tommorrow..


Build On,
Justin

P.s.Thanks again cuda

Heres my next update.Have a lot done actually and have been snapping pictures along the way.Heres a few to keep you updated.....

I looked at the boat tail and have read that they didnt install flare packs unless absolutely needed.So I removed mine and scratch built the openings which will be painted yellow later.I also removed the kit fuel releaf tube and installed a pc.of aluiminum tube that I flared at the end for more realism....

Next I started working on seam lines and and rescribing and the air intakes.Im currently in the process of making the intakes seamless and getting them ready to install.They didnt make it easy though.this is what I had to deal with...

Post more progress soon thanks for looking.



Build On,
Justin

Here's an update since I have to wait for the glue to dry.
After sanding.....sanding....and yes more sanding I got the mold marks out of the intakes and glued together.I then sprayed in flat white and dipped in future.....To get this result....

After being satisfied with the end result I painted up the intake fans first with aluiminum then a wash of tamiya gray metallic and then a wash of smoke to and installed in the intakes.....

I also got the intake fins installed.Hasegawa has them set for when the plane is at supersonic speeds I adjusted since mine will look like its in pre-flight on the pad...


Then I installed the intakes onto the fusalage and discovered everything was going crazy all over the place so with out further ado I give you the monster I created....

Crazy man crazy.....
Had to stop because that is definetly going to need to dry before I atempt to touch it.More later...


Build On,
Justin

Looks a bit like an F-14 Ninja Transformer.
Still looking great though. Can't get over how nice those intake runners turned out. Please proceed!


Hermon

Now that I look at it your right.I have a lot of clean up and rescribing to do as nothing fits properly.I attached the cockpit to the fusalge and got a few panels installed its drying behind me it dosnt sit right either.I will post pic's later.Oh and I have to order missiles since they didnt include any and there is no painting guide for the plane on the box just a few other squads like the Sundowners.Kinda the most expencive kit ive bought Besides the new Raptor and im let down.I will just stick with aftermarket decals from now on.

Build On,
Justin

Alright progress pic's and I must correct my self I found the painting guide buried in the box my bad... joined the fuselage with the cockpit and it has dried.I also mounted the front canopy and started work on the rear canopy removing the seam line down the center dipped it in future and is drying now.....



more soon...


Build On,
Justin

Hi Justin
Just found this thread and I have to say the tomcat is looking fantastic. Your doing justice to one of the best looking fighter aircraft ever produced.
tim

Alright update on what I've been doing.I have been doing alot of tweaking and cleanup I installed all the panel's on the nose and found a nasty gap I had to contend with so I filled it with plastic card and sanded it down...



Much better still have a little tweaking to do and probably some filler I will come back to that.
I then started on the engine's nasty little seam line runs down the center of the tubes.Nothing I can do about that next time I will order the AIRES tubes.After a long tedious process I ended up with this result...




I then attached the rudder's and began assembling the wings which are complete now....

And here's where I'm at....









Question's welcome hope you enjoy...


Build On,
Justin

Nope, no questions. I'm just enjoying the show. You've made some really good progress and she's starting to take shape. I'm taking mental notes as you go so I'll know what to look for when I get around to building mine.

Great work!

Hermon

Hi Justin
Great work so far, always enjoy seeing people problem solving. That cockpit looks stunning.
tim

Thanks guys,
Just a note Cuda none of the panals on the nose fit right



Build On,
Justin