Welcome to the Cats Out of the Bag campaign!

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Please post the photos of you completed build in the Official Campaign Gallery

Let them cats loose!

Cool...now to get started. Looking forward to see what everyone else is going to build. This year is a heavy work load, I have four F/A18's going on, F14A, F-16C and the Helicopter build in the next few months...all that and more.

Happy Modeling,
Joe

And we are off I look forward to your builds.I unfortunately have not had anytime to get to the bench lately so I will continue to run the campaigns that I have just don't know if I will be able to finish anything so hopefully I will find time to catch up.

Hi all,

talk about a heavy workload, 4 or 5 Campaigns just started today, what I have I got myself in for????

The F-14 would have to be my all-time favorite Airplane so While I have been a bit hesitant as a newbie on having a go at the 1/48 Hasegawa kit I am really looking forward to getting this build done and having on on display. I wont be in any position to start building right away but I am looking at an F-14A build with Black Box Cockpit. Not sure of markings yet.

Mark

I will probably be using some Afterburner decals generously supplied by a fellow modeller on this board. I have several 1/48 Tomcat kits in my stash and have not decided which one to use yet.

For sure I will go for one of the colourful markings for a squadron leader's aircraft.

More to follow.

Well,

this will be my entry: the 1/48 Hasegawa F-14D with allegedly shameful decals. Also used is the Eduard PE set for the kit, and Aires wheelbays. The Aires stuff is still in the mail (therefore not in the foto).

Parallel I will try to finish a 1/48 Hasegawa F-14B, with Black Box cockpit. I had started that one before (barely, but still). Markings most likely VF 74 Bedevilers (Two Bobs). Images of that one will come later.



First update (on the cockpit) will probably follow tomorrow, after I have won my first battle with the carpet monster (part of the pilot instrument panel was launched into orbit). Good thing the plastic is purple, since that one will most likely stand out more than the usual gray stuff...

Harm

Damn, Harm. I did not know Haegawa made models like that. Those are crasy markings. F-14 + Idol Master = monstrosity
Nice of you to save a nice kit from that fate. Remember to give it a strong base coat to get rid of the purple sheen

It will be interesting to follow your build with all the AM goodies added.

Harm - Good stuff and look forward to your build pictures!

Mark - Am with you on that, I'm a total newbie here too and this will be my first ever build on Aeroscale....gulp....

I've gone for Revell's F-14D in 1/72. And have also hit the bookstore for some more, ahem, inspiration!



The plan (fingers crossed) is to build this as a Tomcat catching a wire back on its carrier. That means dropping the flaps/slats, opening the airbrake, etc. I know the Hasegawa/Fujimi kits have these options but I either couldn't find them or afford them...no doubt many of you will think the paint fumes have finally got to me..

Like Joe says, let them Cats loose!

Enjoy your modelling.

Thanks Jesper,

and no, I will NOT save this one - I will probably save the next one (though keep the decals, and perhaps build one in the future for comparison of my (hopefully) increased skills)....

And as promised, here the first in-progress shots (me vs carpet monster: 1-0):

The pilot's ejection seat, preparing the plastic:



And having added most of the non-coloured PE:



And the tub, prepared for PE:



And with the PE added, a few bits to add, and then I think it is ready for paint. And yes, I made the first mistake; thankfully I have at least 2 spare tubs - since two other Tomcats will get Black Box resin cockpits.



First impressions:

- The Eduard set itself is not that bad (cockpit parts are included in the generic F-14 set anyway).

- If you want to upgrade the ejection seats, get resin ones.

- A shameless plug, but thank God for Gator's Grip acrylic glue. Had I used superglue, the PE would have ended anywhere but where it was supposed to go.

- Although my modelling skills are rudimentary, I get the feeling that my issues with the fit of the Hasegawa tub and instrument panels are mostly not of my own doing. Getting it to fit the fuselage properly should be a lot of fun.

- I get the distinct feeling that if you can afford it, you should get a resin replacement tub - it might even save you time, and seems to pose a lot fewer headeaches getting parts to fit. And the detail is much better than the stock kit and it looks like it is also much better than that of the PE set.

Harm

Wow purple interesting well it looks like we are off to a good start.Usually I start my campaigns off with inspiration but Joe has taken that chance away just joking my friend.I have been so busy.So lets fire this thing of proper.

Welcome to the "Cats out of the Bag"F-14 campaign!
As most of you know this will coincide with the after burner campaign.So if any of you finish your bird using afterburner Decals you will be able to enter it in both campaigns. and receive both Ribbons.Yes folks that's Two ribbons for the price of one!get them while their Hot!
As an added bonus I'm trying something new on this campaign.If we have a 100% completion rate you will receive this certificate to adorn your wall!

This is your leader over and out!

Yup indeed... I haven't worked on the fuselage halves yet (for a 1:1 comparison), but first impression is that the plastic is also slightly different, since it seemed easier to use a chissel on it than on the regular grey plastic F-14B.

But yeah, the official campaign-bird will be a purple one...

Frankly I hope to see as many attractive schemes (= not standard grey) as possible. Is there a list somewhere of what planes/schemes people plan to build?

To get the list started:

Campaign entry: 1/48 Hasegawa F-14D, Idolmaster

Hope to finish as well: 1/48 Hasegawa F-14 B VF-74 Bedevilers (Two Bobs 48-045, the CAG bird).




Cheers,

Harm

Wow, great initiative, Justin. Great looking certificate.

Cannot wait to get started.

I think I just watched a tumble weed go by man do I need to catch up

My decals arrived from the States today so I can unveil that my entry for the campaign will be Revell's 1/144 F-14D with Fightertown's "VF-31 Tomcatters 2006 Last Combat Cruise" Decals.



I've gone for 1/144 as I will hopefully get it finished along with the 4 other campaigns I have ongoing and it may get further than this one that has been sat since the swing wing campaign we had a few years back (and the cockpit was started for the Tomcat campaign back in 2007 )



Justin - I love the idea of the certificate but my only suggestion would be to centre justify the red text under the picture of the Tomcat. (Oh and the Tomcat should be from VF-31 rather than VF-84 )

I just failed to aquire a bagged 1/48 F14 on ebay for $4.65 + 5.00 postage by $1.75.

Bob

Hi all,

Does anyone know of any good SBS or build logs of an 1/48 Hasegawa F-14 that I can browse over to let myself know what to expect?

thanks,

Mark

This is one post:

http://www.hyperscale.com/features/2001/f14constructiondwa_3.htm

If using the Black Box cockpit there is info about that one as well in one of the links on that page - it is part of a four page SBS to build an NSAWC Tomcat in splinter scheme, by David Aungst.

Probably also look at posts by Justin (Keeperofsouls) on these boards. And there are also posts on here (in the modern forum) by IIRC Jurjen (armour modeller goes Tomcat) where he discusses his experiences (although the model is not finished yet (or at least not in the thread), using the Aires resin cockpit and wheel-wells..

Of the top of my head, head's up issues:

- Fit air-intakes to fuselage - (shape and therefore fit issues).
- Main landing gear wheel-wel construction (extremely tight fit-parts are squeezed in between fuselage halves)
- Fitting front fuselage (cockpit) to main fuselage - again shape and therefore fit issues.
- Instrument panel fit on cockpit tub sidewalls is also extremely tight (unless I made a major mistake)

IIRC those were the major issues.

Hope this helps, and undoubtedly there are more experienced builders who can point out other issues.

Cheers,

Harm

Friends!

I have a leftover kit from Allen's earlier Tomcat campaign . It is slightly started, I hope you all accept me joining anyway!


This is the kit, I haven't decided what markings to use yet.


This is how far the kit has gotten...

I'm planning on bringing the kit with me on next week's holiday to start parts cleanup and subassemblies, with the amount of parts in the kit I should be kept busy for most of the evenings !



Magnus

OK well the boxes have been opened and photos will be posted tomorrow. I'm building two of the Revell 1/144 F-14D's using the kit markings for VF-101 BuNo163 and 164.

Question for all you feline lovers out there, when Tomcats are flown at an air display did they have just the pilot aboard or was the RIO on board also?

Reason being I intend to display them flying but only have two 1/144 crew figures.

The Tomcat can only be flown with a full crew since some vital systems controls are only available to the RIO. Remember Top Gun? Some of the actors did quite a lot of backseat flying and actually had to learn a bit on how to handle the systems! Sorry, you will have to go shopping for an extra crew!

Regards Magnus

By the way, for those of you doing the Hasegawa kit in 1/72, I have posted my facts and findings from an earlier build here! I don't think it covers it all but there might be some useful hints and tips!



Magnus

OK as promised a photo of the kits and an Airfix flying base that I'll be using. Now just need to find some more crew.

Hey guys, I'm in! went to the IPMS show yesterday and scored all this loot for 120$ The Bombcat was only 22$ and I was searching for a kit to join this campaign...

nice score sell!

Well I'm not going to do the 1/32 scale F-14, right now I have a ton of open kits I'm working on...6 F/A-18's, F-16C, F-4J Phantom. So I decided to do the 1/48th Hasegawa F-14A converted in a 14 Delta. I had an older Revell D’ model that I’m using for the parts.

I’m also scarfing the dual chin pod, vent panels and ejection seat…maybe the seat.









More to follow.

Happy Modeling,
Joe