As soon as I heard Tamiya were finally going to release a F-14 I knew I'd be building it as soon as I could.
As the kit in the box is an early F-14A and most of F-14 sheets are for late A's or B's I did hold off a couple of months to see who'd do a decal sheet specifically for this kit, thankfully Furball decals weren't backwards in coming forwards and released a sheet with a cool VF-41 Black Aces option from USS Nimitz, 1976.. As soon as I saw that, it was game on.
The Kit
- Tamiya 1/48 F-14A.
This kit is the best engineered kit I've ever built, with daylight second. All through the build I was marvelling at the smart but simple ideas the engineers came up with to solve the sort of issues that large complex models like this always have.
Things like the way the forward and aft fuselage are joined, so perfect in fit and with surfaces you can glue but that are also well away from the detail. The front windscreen, Phoenix pallets, fuel tanks and undercarriage doors are more examples of this forethought. Something many other manufacturers could take on board.
Detail overall is excellent, although I'd have liked a decal for the side consoles.
I doubt I'd ever bother with an aftermarket pit as you don't see that much even with the canopy up.
The weapons are pretty good, even though they are multi piece affairs. Cleaning up the seams on the phoenix's probably was the worst part of the build. That said at least they are correct size, unlike Eduards.
Is it perfect? Not quite, but for me it's a perfect mix of detail and build-ability. The whole experience was fun from the minute I opened the box until the end. If you haven't got one in the stash then get one... it's that good
Aftermarket
- Quickboost Seats - a worthwhile upgrade as the skit seats only has decals for belts. That said if you use the excellent pilots this isn't an issue. Next time I think I will.
- Eduard Wheels - Nice detail but why can't they make the holes in the nosewheels the right size.
- Master Model Pitot probe
- Eduard Fabric Remove before Flight tags. - First time I used these and I was quite impressed although they are difficult to work with
- Eduard Steel Remove before Flight tags. - Again first time trying these and I liked them a lot. Much more workable than the old brass ones.
- The Base - Skunkworks
Decals
- Furball F/D&S-4810 - simply excellent
- Tamiya for the weapons - Nothing wrong with these.
Paint
- Mr Color Lacquers for the main white and grey
- Vallejo Acrylics for details
- Tamiya Nato Black
- Various Alclads for the Exhausts
- Gaianotes the Gloss coat
- Mr Color Semi Gloss for the finishing coat
Weathering
- Artist Oils for the washes and the various grime marks
- Pigments for grime etc.
I kept the weathering lighter than I usually do. But unfortunately the photos don't show it up very well.
Build Threads
Photography
I usually use a white background but as this was quite a light aircraft I figured I'd try a dark one. I used black material and my usual light. I found that photographing using the the black background was quite difficult, with lots of light spots showing up on the images. That said, I think for light subjects like this it does look better.
The Photos
