Hi everybody.

We thought that it is time to open a topic showing our stuff and ask some questions we have in our minds.

I (caanbash) am building the F-14 Tomcat as a Top Gun pilot's plane, duelling JollyRoger's F-5 Aggressor. The Tomcat is retiring and I realized that through years, I have built many different Tomcats, all of which were being used in the US Navy's aircraft carriers. I thought I might have a little fun by doing something different, and I remembered the "Ferris Camouflage" scheme, which was used for a short time, in early times like 80s in Miramar... I made a little research and found out that Ferrsi Camo was used in Miramar for some time, too. Here is an example for that:



Now, my questions are:
1. Did they ever use F-5 Agressor in Miramar?
2. Did they ever use F-14 Ferris Camo in Miramar?
3. Did the students go to Top Gun with their assigned aircraft which they use in their units in the aircraft carrier or were they given a Fightertown F-14?
4. What I plan to do is to paint a VF-124 F-14 in Top Gun (like the picture above), would that be proper with an F-5 Aggressor?

Those who might know something about this, I really appreciate your help.

So, let me tell you about the kit I will use. It is the 1/144 Revell F-14A Black Tomcat. With tiny little pieces, they have done a great job in fitting and detailing. Nice little cockpit with more than what I expected, no flash, hard and smooth plastic, decals for two squadrons which are fairly detailed, good instructions... The only fitting problem is about the wings. You can not close them totally, but this can be fixed with a little alteration. I would not expect more from a 1/144 kit, so I highy recommend it. Here are two pictures:





I'm airborne, let's see the opponent
Cagin

Hi Cagin!

I think in this case it's appropriate to say "size doesn't matter!" :-)

Jean-Luc

Yes, you have to see the F-5, it is even smaller

Cagin

So, noone knows if Ferris Camo Tomcat went into dogfight with F-5 Aggressor in Miramar? Am I taking a risk here? I really appreciate your help...

Thanks.
Cagin

Oh, sorry, I was on vocation, thus my aswer is rather late. I also started my side. I am building Dragon's F5F Agressor with USAF decals so I have to find a way to finish it as a Navy Agressor. I decided which one I want to build but I won't mention it here because it will be terribly intimidating if I can't menage to do it as it ought to be. All I want to ask is ,is VFC-13 a suitable squadron for my opponent's heavy gauge? Fatsoooo!!!! Naaaana naa na naaaa naaa!!!! You can't catch me!!!! Naaa na ana naaa anaaa!!!!...ehem...sorry, No need to be too overagitated right?:} Unfortunately I still don't have a digital camera so I can't be helpful about the condition of the kit. All I can say is eventhough it is a Dragon kit from last Milennium still pretty sattisfactory on the details and fitting subjects. I adored the shape of it on that scale. There are a few problems though, greatest is inner hatches of the rear landing gears are closed for good, needs a surgery and I am not that patient, so excuse my wrong model please. Second one is it doesn't contain the horisontal part at the top of the vertical stabilazer. I will fix it somehow. And the last is canopy is one piece so you can't make it open OOB. Am I expecting too much from 1/144?

As I understand from your post, your intention is to make the Aggressor with landing gear down and canopy open... I thought we would have our dogfight in photoshop when we finish, both airborne... If you like we can have our duel with my plane airborne, during a strafing run on your plane which is near the hangars and you, having a cup of coffee :-)


Oh, by the way, any ideas about this Ferris Camo? No replies so far, so I think I will decide to use the camo on my plane... But both our planes must be from the 80's Miramar base... Any thoughts about this?

Cagin

This topic weirdly started to look like a chat window between us two and even more pointless is being two Turks speaking in English:P Coffee is not a bad idea, trainees generally got shot down anyways, no need to rush:}
I am building mine on land, can't remember the regulation of being airborn. I sence some fear in you in the subject of open LG in 1/144 scale eh? Actually mine probably be on the taxi, I have no intention to fiddle with the canopy.

It is said that people don't like Ferris Camo much... And not even arrogant-ignorant-coffee-loving-instructors taxiing on the runway without even fiddling with the canopies of thie F-5s

Yes, weird "chat window"...

Cagin

Don't push me miss, I have enough time for it if you want:}

Hah! Don't spill the coffee when I "buzz the tower"!

Cagin

TOPGUN was formerly known officially as the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, and was established on March 3, 1969 at NAS Miramar, California after a United States Navy report recommended that a graduate-level school be established to train Fleet fighter pilots in air combat tactics to counter the relatively poor air combat performance being experienced by Navy aircrews over Vietnam. The school initially operated the A-4 Skyhawk and F-5 Freedom Fighter to instruct F-4 Phantom II aircrews in dissimilar training, including the first US aces of the Vietnam War, Randy "Duke" Cunningham and Willie Driscoll.

The 1970s and 1980s brought the introduction of the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet as the primary Fleet fighter aircraft flown by students, while TOPGUN instructors retained their A-4s and F-5s, but also added the F-16 Fighting Falcon to better simulate the threat presented by the Soviet Union's new 4th generation MiG-29 'Fulcrum' and Su-27 'Flanker' fighters.

During the 1990s, the TOPGUN syllabus was modified to include more emphasis on the air-to-ground strike mission as a result of the expanding multi-mission taskings of the F-14 and F/A-18. In addition, TOPGUN retired their A-4s, F-5s, and F-16s in favor of F-14s and F/A-18s. In 1996, the transfer of NAS Miramar to the Marine Corps was coupled with the incorporation of Top Gun into the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) at NAS Fallon, Nevada. TOPGUN instructors currently fly the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-16 Falcon.

When I was last at NAS Miramar (1989) the instructors were flying the A4

Thanks very much for the brief history Mr. Fields, it is helpful at least to match the time line of the encounter. Can you help us abput the question of Ferris patterned F14 and F5F? Or at least trail balze us to a source to check them. I am willing to paint one of the VFC13 F5F's but I couldn't find much document about the Squadron.

So, here is the situation of my 1/144 (one-to-one hundred and forty four) scale F-14 Ghost Rider. Cockpit almost finished, two halves of the nose has some putty work to finish. Seats had some accuracy problems, which are corrected, all the ejectiona handles and seat belts are scratch. Planning to add throttle and sand the putty, join the nose to the body this weekend. Here we go:









I plan to make the canopy open, by the way.

Regards.
Cagin

Hi Cagin

you are insane!!

... and you should have included a size comparison like a match to show how small an ejection seat is in that scale ... marvelous!!!

I am looking forward to see it finished.

cheers

Steffen

Hearing this, *IS* the best reward, thanks a lot, friend.

Cagin

Then eye shalt reward you further... You are nuts!!!! But don't expect the same quality from my build. I am doing it nearly OOB.

Because of the criticisms related the photos not showing the detail clearly and not making one recognize the scale, I added the intake turbines and took one photo with a pin as a scale to make those unfamiliar with 1/144 scale recognize it. Hope it helps both your recognization and my insanity. :-)



Best Regards.
Cagin

It certainly does Cagin! :-)

Jean-Luc

Ok here is my one that certainly doesn't deserve to match Cagin's insenity. I did some little stuff on her. Actıally it was a long time ago and haven't done much exept the guns on her lately. And don't even ask about the canopy. I broke it while cutting.

All fuselage, wing, etc. glued together. Many fit problems emerged during construction, I tried to correct them as much as I could. Sprayed Tamiya primer, sanded, sprayed again. Will try to rescribe lost panel lines, attach the windshield, mask it and paint. The pictures of the current situation are:





All comments are welcome.
Thanks.
Cagin

Hi Çaðýn and Yalým!

Looks very nice so far! I can't wait to add both models to the finished list!

Jean-Luc

I sprayed my bird's base color too. I am working on a few other models so I couldn't pay the attention it deserves. I am planning to mask the pattern and finish it hopefully...oh... I need decals...Damn!!!!

AAAAH!!! Couldn't find the correct shceme nor decals, hit the bottom, quited and started up the F-5E. Found a plane that I wanted, same story. Now it is going to be 21 of VFA 127 oob.

And here is my Cylon, not finished as seen on TV... sorry, I only added the gun barrels. Have a huge silvering problem but I will try to solve it.




And with its sibling:

Hi Yalým!

You don't need a big photo studio for these models! :-) But a good macro feature!

Looks very good so far, especially the underside. Don't forget to paint the tyres. Do you have eduard masks for that?

Jean-Luc