[JesniF-16]

I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I am doing a Hobby Boss 1/48 F-14A in the 1978 Black Aces version. I will be using the kit decals for this build.
My references are online walkarounds and following the great builders on this site (Anders Isaksson, Erik_G, Geedulebuyer chuck etc and so on) I will be using some aftermarket stuff and mainly posting this build for advice. This plane is being built for my own entertainment and learning experience.

I started out with the kit cockpit and seats which I finished but decided to scrap them because the aires aftermarket stuff looks so awesome....

[JesniF-16]

So here are the kit seats, which I think are good looking and include PE belts, BUT............


here are the Aires aftermarket seats before weathering,

And after weathering,



Thanks for looking

[ChippyWho]

A great start there. Aires seats are way better than anything in plastic; I have a pair for my pending HB F-14B. The rest of the 'pit looked pretty good from the box, though. One thing I didn't check (even after a debacle with a Tamiya F-16: duh!) is whether the Aires GRU Mk 7s actually fit the Hobby Boss cockpit tub...may I take it that you did?!

[JesniF-16]

Doh?! I have ordered the Aires cockpit set, but I did a test fit of the Aires seats to the kit tub and looks like you will have to do a bit of modifying to get the seats to fit..... They seem a bit wide!!!!!
You would prolly have to remove the flaps by the leg rests? Here's a pic but they definitely will need to be narrower

[JesniF-16]

I have more updates gonna keep posting as I wait for paint to dry and stuff... As I said before I was planning on using the kit cockpit but went with the Aires instead, so lots of time wasted on painting both sets .......
Here's the kit tub, which I did a white wash on and didn't really like the outcome......

So here is the Aires resin tub




And the side walls

I tried to order an Eduard PE exterior set but no one seems to have it in stock, I don't even know if it's completely necessary to have so maybe someone could enlighten me as to whether I should order the exterior set or not.... I am not going to have the gun bay or radome open so maybe it's not needed.... Or if anyone has one they want to sell let me know... Also I pretty much just drybrushed the Aires cockpit and the results are better than the white wash IMO.
Any advice is appreciated
Jesse

[JesniF-16]

Also began some detailing work in the gear bays and such. This is my first attempt at detailing a model... I got into this about 6 months ago, so this is also my first Tomcat and the largest scale model I've attempted. I did one model with an airbrush, so also with all the extra work i'm doing here I hope I don't botch the paint job in the end !!! Working on re-scribing when I have time also.
I can see this is going to be a difficult construction project, maybe bit off more than I can chew, but maybe you guys could give some pointers along the way.
I think this is about my third attempt at wiring the gear bays, but finally I think it will work out.




Thanks for looking, will keep posting until I get this build up to date

[dehowie]

Looks like your off to a good start...
Keep it up!

[erik_g]

Nice work! You´ll have to grind a way quite a lot of resin to get the cockpit to fit, especially underneath the pilots floor, where it meets the nose gear bay. Thanks for the cred, but compared to the others in that list, I am but a hamfisted amateur :-) )

/E

[ChippyWho]

JesniF-16, on 17 February 2012 - 01:26 AM, said:

Doh?! I have ordered the Aires cockpit set, but I did a test fit of the Aires seats to the kit tub and looks like you will have to do a bit of modifying to get the seats to fit..... They seem a bit wide!!!!!
You would prolly have to remove the flaps by the leg rests? Here's a pic but they definitely will need to be narrower

Thanks for that, Sir -my F-14B is still in a crate somewhere after a house-move. Looks like an Aires win, then...

BTW, lovely work on the landing gear bays! Will be following this one with interest.

This post has been edited by ChippyWho: 17 February 2012 - 10:41 AM

[JesniF-16]

Thank you dehowie, Erik and ChippyWho!!! Well I got the cockpit dry fitted into the forward fuselage. It looks pretty good except for the canopy locks along the rail..... I may have to come up with something to cover this annoying gap which I don't believe is on the actual F-14!!! Filling and sanding would be difficult so I might try to cover that area......



Also I am pondering the idea of looking at adding/removing panel lines/rivets, just don't know if I want to deal with all the work involved, plus I need to get a daco book so I can find good pictures of the aircraft... Oh well maybe someone could inspire me..... Meanwhile I took Anders Issakson's route tackling the intakes... IMO there isn't a better way to do it, so if anyone has a better idea let me know... Hopefully I can get this sanding done in a timely fashion


Please keep the feedback coming, I am currently unemployed so I have lots of time to work

[Neo]

Looks really nice

And there i tought your where sponcerd by Flory...

[Wolfgun33]

Looking great! Nice pit too. Can't wait to see more.

[JesniF-16]

erik_g, on 17 February 2012 - 09:05 AM, said:

Nice work! You´ll have to grind a way quite a lot of resin to get the cockpit to fit, especially underneath the pilots floor, where it meets the nose gear bay. Thanks for the cred, but compared to the others in that list, I am but a hamfisted amateur :-) )

/E

Thanks for the encouragement Neo and Wolfgun33!!! Also Erik are you still working on your Persian Cat??? You might be hamfisted, but I basically copied your version of the Gear bays

[JesniF-16]

Hello, another update.... I decided to use the Aires resin nozzles because I do not want to use nozzle or intake covers on this build.... Using the Prime Portal F-14A Black Aces walkaround as a reference, I proceeded to tackle the nozzles without much of a fight... They are easy to work with and fit the Hobby Boss nozzle housing beautifully!!!




Sorry about this photo, very difficult to get a decent shot

[JesniF-16]

Also, the Hobby Boss left out the detail on the nozzle housings so added some detail to spice it up a bit.... This is the first time I decided to re-scribe and add detail compared to the real thing... I have found that the pin vise would be the tool of choice. The Tamiya scribing tool has its uses but I could get by without it. It seems like the lines can get too wide if you're not careful. The pin vise works nicely when you make a line and later clean out the grooves. Anyway, I am a beginner so someone else might find this tool very useful and save $10 and not but the fancy scribers. If you guys disagree maybe I'm doing something wrong..




And another thing is, I don't know why my pictures are so enormous... shows every little thing, oh well... What do you guys think so far?

[JohnS]

Nice work, so far!

[JesniF-16]

Hello modellers,
I finally finished the landing gears and gear bays ..... Also still plugging away at the intakes, re-scribing and good times... I also found out that LuckyModel has shipped my exterior PE set and with luck in a week or so and I'll have it... Anyway, here are some pics and I still have to add some clear glue to the nose gear light to call it done....If anyone has any F-14A reference books with pictures let me know, I will buy... Thanks for looking, more to come later...
Jesse

[Sukhoi Su-27]

Looking good!
I like chipping on landing gear

[JesniF-16]

Thank you Sukhoi! The chipping is done with an old pencil.... And gonna call these instrument covers done, a little dry brushing of Japanese interior blue for the HUD lens... Also the rear pit display was smashed, I didn't notice til the pit was painted, so it'll have to do... Maybe the pilot kicked it in or something :crying2:And used a pencil to give the display screens a little sheen... The pics of the panels is the best I can do

[JesniF-16]

Ok, so now i'm realizing that my inexperience is beating me up !!! Gluing the forward fuselage together is resulting in a couple of problems... I should've done a bit more dry fitting cuz I knew the turtle deck wasn't fitting correctly, but I thought I'd force it to fit while gluing.....
Problem #1)The gaps on the sides of the deck... I added some plastic hoping to blend later....
Problem#2)The tub should've been 2mm forward, so I sanded those two plastic strips that go along the canopy locks to make it fit

And third, the nose gear bay was off 1mm so I added a piece of plastic here and super glued the gap by the join


Hopefully after paint and nose gear is on this area will be hidden.... If any of you guys know what to do about the turtle deck please give me some input... I am hoping the photo etch set has the strips that go along the canopy locks....I hope that this model doesn't win in the end