Norman Lim's Scale Models and Travels Blog: 1/32 F14B Tomcat finally done

4 weeks of slogging and its almost done. I have completed the model only to have Mark, MCON's reigning champ telling me the AIM9L tail fins are not black as per the instructions in the dreaded Trumpeter ill fitting kit but grey! I have to snap and break them off the rails and then painted them by hand and airbrush and re weather the tail fins to make it stick back looking correct.

The missiles are sitting on the rails now with tape on them and hopefully, they will not fall off.

After salting, the wings are patched up with dark grey patches and highlighted new paint repairs by using lighter tone of the base coat. Then the whole model is glossed over with Gunze gloss and then the decals applied and re matted over with Gunze Matt very diluted.

The model was pin washed with Tamiya washed both brown and black.

The cock pit needed retouching and the resin seats are finally fitted in with plastic carded bottom to sit in the groove caused by 2 rails on the deck of the cockpit tub by Trumpeter. Decals are applied and later a light wash of grey and brown were given to tone down the decals to make it blend with the surroundings. The ejection handles overhead were taken from the kit and the original Wolfpack fragile ones were discarded.

The model preping for the canopy to come one with the mirrors and locking jaws. Which I took time to weather them with grey and silver and then washed with black again to accentuate their 3D profiles.

Step platforms were added and the ladder too, along with the suicide door below. Bombs were added only to have Mark telling me that those are only used on the F117, so, I threw away the JDAMS which I took 8 hours to mask, spray, weather, decal and powdered with pigments, Followed by the GBUs that were also given 8 hours of work only to be thrown away again in preference to the smaller 500 lb Paveways. Sigh!