Hi folks,

@ Ray- great work on the cockpit!

Here's my entry, an Acedemy 1/48 kit:



Great artwork on the box, hopefully the kit stands up...

... and my decals:



I'm afraid that they're not Afterburner decals, but I've a choice between pre and post revolution Iranian decals or Aggressor decals. I'm probably going to plump for one of the Aggressors.

I heard a story that during the revolution a Grumman technician who was in Iran at the time removed all the chips from the guidence systems in the Pheonix missiles, rendering them useless. Any truth in that??

Eoin

Not sure where I read it, but supposedly the IRIAF was still able to use them in the war against Iraq.

Probably they still have them, based on an images in these threads:

http://www.irandefence.net/showthread.php?t=11463&page=2

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Country-By-Country/Iran_F-14_.htm

IIRC there are also youtube (propaganda-) movies which show(ed) IRIAF Tomcats with Phoenix missiles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ8rPk0Bh-8&feature=related at 2:27, what looks like a single Phoenix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViF5CYwwrJM Brilliant video (presumably propagandistic) of IRIAF. Many close-ups, which clearly show American High-viz stencils still in use, and at 13:10 what to my untrained eye a Hawk missile loaded as AA missile (the IRIAF officers refers to it in relation to the Phoenix missile - at least, the word 'Phoenix' pops up in the conversation).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owoyb00ws-Y&feature=related At the start shows an ammo-train of what look to me like Phoenix missiles.

So it is safe to say that they probably still possess some missiles - even if these images and videos are not extremely recent, although the aircraft are wearing what seems to be a modern Iranian scheme. Whether it is merely for show and propaganda or that they can still be used (or have been modified) is of course a matter of speculation.




Two additional points:

Supposedly the Iranians have difficulties with the cover of the inflight refueling probe coming off/jamming. So a good number seem to have that cover no longer (the probe is always visible).

Wolfpack designs sells a conversion/update of that probe, which IIRC is sized for the Hasegawa kit.

Iran apparently also managed to convert the HAWK Ground-to-Air missile to Air-to-Air use.

I know Wolfpack designs did an IRIAF conversion set which included the probe, Hawk missiles and pylons and decals. It is now OOP.

For the record, I do not possess either of these update sets. I just came across them when looking for stuff for an IRIAF Tomcat (which I do want to build, and I do have the decals).

Hope this helps,

Harm.

Hi Harm,

A lot of food for tought there...

Thinking about the aircrew lost. Myt reconsider my build.

Thanks,

Eoin

First things first,

it was never ever my intention to put you of your built. My intention was to try and answer your question - what about the Iranian Phoenix missiles? - and tell you what I have come across when looking for info for an IRIAF F-14 build of my own.

Although many Iranian aircraft seem to be missing the cover of the in-flight refuelling probe, IIRC I have also come across IRIAF F-14's in more modern schemes with the refuelling probe cover still in place.

The update of the refuelling probe itself by Wolfpack design seems to be affordable - Luckymodel sells them for US $ 10, and IIRC free shipping - although I have no idea whether the probe will easily fit the Hasegawa kit.

Also, you do not need to put a Hawk missile under the wing. Allegedly (not sure where on the web I came across it), standard armament seems to consist of Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles.



So basically you are still quite good to go for an Iranian Tomcat - assuming the kit has US high-visibility stencils, or you have another set somewhere.

Cheers,

Harm

Another minimalistic update, just to show that I am at least doing SOMETHING !





Magnus

Hay was that pointed at me im coming guys i swear

Thanks for the kind words guys! Eoin, it's a pleasure to see someone from lovely Ireland here in the forums! I'm a proud American, but I also love to honor my irish heritage with long bouts of drinking and hurling ( the sport, not the bodily function... )

anyways, making progress, maybe!




JEEZ!!! would you look at those gaps!!?? horrible fit! It's gonna take a lot of work to get it right I think, and worst of all I know I'm going to end up having to rescribe a bunch of it. Justin ought to have have plenty of time to catch up... good thing I've got 6 months to finish!

Wow... that is almost painful to watch....

Good luck with correcting that!

Cheers,

Harm

Hi Harm,

I really appreciate the research, man. What I meant was that while I was going to build an F14 from an Aggressor squadron, I might just switch to build an Iranian F14.

Thanks again,

Eoin

Ray just slide a pc.of plastic card in there and it will cut the work down a lot also use CA glue no filling needed and scribes well

No photos this time but both have had a coat of Light Ghost Grey on the undersides, one now has a crew and a pot of medium grey was purchased at the weekend ready for the upper paint work once the Dark Ghost grey goes on the sides.

alright folks just finished cold war campaign so get ready because here i come let the fun begin

So I made my start Here are the kits that I will be building and the build log located HERE

Iwill be building the bird on the bottom for this Campaign

Cheers

Another small update, cockpit is done after an evening of painting really tiny parts!





Side panels are a combination of paint and (mostly) just scraping away the paint from the etched parts. I've tried other tactics in the past with Hasegawa etch, one disadvantage is that detail is quite shallow making both washes and drybrushing difficult. Scraping worked out quite well though!

Justin! Awesome decals!



Magnus

Thanks good looking pit mag

OK paint has reached these puppies. That's light ghost grey, dark ghost grey and medium grey.

They have also had a coat of 'Klear' ready for decals.

Very nice! On the topic of 1/144...

Sometimes my builds turn into work, and that kinda sucks... So I like to tinker with other stuff... I plan to finish my 1/48 build of course, and I'm slowly making progress. It's sometimes hard for me to have patience, and it's a good thing I still have another 4 months to finish, but in the meantime I scored a whole slew of little kits off of E-bay... Something to occupy my time...

Looking good on the tiny planes not for me I'm afraid I'd go insane

And that's 5 months sell

no pilots in my bird, but here's some paint for ya...

pre-shade

Good work sell nice paint

OK decals on another coat of 'Klear' then some weathering next week. Stand has been primed, I'll give it a coat of steel over the top and leave the sides black.

Changed the layout of the stand I think it looks better this way round but what do you think?






Mmmm..... 5 months to go well I do have some more F-14's in the stash

Hey Littorio those look awesome! Do you have a preference for manufacturers of 1/144 kits? I definitely notice a difference in kit quality between yours and mine ( granted, I only paid 16$ for 6 kits ) and also do you use much aftermarket stuff? I noticed my decals go on well but they're visually of horrible quality...

Good work Littorio they are very cool looking

Ray, it depends on subject. I like the newer Revell kits as well as Sweet and Platz but I don't mind a bit of a challenge and love the kits from Attack Hobby which are for the most part Mig's.
To say I love the Revell F-14 is an under statement as I have 20 of them some A's and some D's, to go with that I have after market decal sheets from Fightertown, FCM, MYK and Microscale and a resin set for slats and flaps
Oh did someone say Dragon? well the F-14 kit's will all go in the spares bin while I'll use the decals on the Revell kits, as for the rest of the range if its got the weird alien crew then no thanks.

Justin, thanks I hope to have them finished by end of next week. Planned is an oil wash followed by a repaint of the panel lines to get that F-14 look.