*COMPLETE* The Final Countdown Zero dogfight diorama - Part 1: 1/72 Academy F-14A

[JNordgren42]

One last pic for the night. The paint is dry, if not fully cured so I did a quick test fit of the wings and horizontal stabs and it's really starting to look like proper 'Cat.

 

[Analyzer]

One helpful commenter on Reddit pointed out something interesting that I totally missed. These birds didn't have the white upper surfaces on the horizontal stabilizers, flaps, and spoilers. I don't know how I didn't notice with the amount of times I've gone over the film footage. I prefer the white on the upper parts, but I won't have to mask the spoilers, so that does make things easier.

Interesting

I guess it depends on which year they were from? IIRC the Jolly Rogers were stationed on the Nimitz during filming in 1979

as of 1977 they had the typical high vis light gull grey/white scheme, but towards the 80's the white was being toned down and eventually became the all Light Gull Grey by the mid 80's so it could be possible they were all Gull Grey on top

I tried to find some movie shots but could not get any good pics showing either top down or too washed out with colors to tell

Although, this pic from filming year it looks like the rear wing (horizontal stabilizer?) is still white?

hard to tell here, but looks like it could be white based on the tail fin and contrast between the two wing flaps?

But even then not quite as white as below. So hard to tell

 

[Attirex]

Hm. Those look like 3D renderings, not photos.

 

[JNordgren42]

Interesting

I guess it depends on which year they were from? IIRC the Jolly Rogers were stationed on the Nimitz during filming in 1979

as of 1977 they had the typical high vis light gull grey/white scheme, but towards the 80's the white was being toned down and eventually became the all Light Gull Grey by the mid 80's so it could be possible they were all Gull Grey on top

Yeah, it can be tricky to tell colors for sure from a photo, the angle of the light can make a huge difference in the perceived tone. But I think this shot from the film is reasonably clear, the flaps spoilers and horizontal stabs are all about the same color and the missile pylons are definitely different.

 

[Analyzer]

All light gull grey on top for sure in that one

 

[Analyzer]

Also mainly curious for myself as well. I have a Trumpeter 1/350 Nimitz that is based on the 1975 period. I picked up some F-14s and was hoping to get it into the 1980 time frame

 

[joberg]

Hm. Those look like 3D renderings, not photos.

Yes...manipulated for sure

 

[Analyzer]

Hm. Those look like 3D renderings, not photos.

Yes...manipulated for sure

The one at the top maybe, but the other three I do not think so

although at first glance it looked like the tractor was badly edited in and there are weird floating people, but the top of the tractor deck blends in so well with the color of the flight deck that it creates that illusion of their legs/feet being cut off in mid air

 

[JNordgren42]

The one at the top maybe, but the other three I do not think so

although at first glance it looked like the tractor was badly edited in and there are weird floating people, but the top of the tractor deck blends in so well with the color of the flight deck that it creates that illusion of their legs/feet being cut off in mid air

View attachment 1687324

I believe they're in-game renders of The Final Countdown F-14A skins from the DCS flight simulator (the fidelity is extremely impressive). Also explains why they would come up in a Final Countdown F-14 image search.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dcs/comments/ykykkt

 

[Analyzer]

I believe they're in-game renders of The Final Countdown F-14A skins from the DCS flight simulator (the fidelity is extremely impressive). Also explains why they would come up in a Final Countdown F-14 image search.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dcs/comments/ykykkt

They are pretty impressive renders

 

[JNordgren42]

They are pretty impressive renders

Definitely. The only reason I knew of the DCS skins is because of the Reddit user that pointed out the all grey uppers in my WIP thread there. He mentioned that he found out about it because he saw the DCS screen grabs and thought all grey was wrong, but after researching it turned out to be correct (as we noticed from taking a closer look at the film footage).

 

[Attirex]

Not to knock 3D illustrations (wish I could make them!), but drives me nuts how often a Google image search surfaces these types of renders (they're often the top hits) whenever I do a search during a build and need actual, accurate photos of aircraft.

 

[Analyzer]

Definitely. The only reason I knew of the DCS skins is because of the Reddit user that pointed out the all grey uppers in my WIP thread there. He mentioned that he found out about it because he saw the DCS screen grabs and thought all grey was wrong, but after researching it turned out to be correct (as we noticed from taking a closer look at the film footage).

Great to know. I will have to keep that in mind for the 1/350 ones. I would have added the white like the rest of the planes on board in the high vis scheme

 

[JNordgren42]

Well, there's good and bad today. I got the ventral parts masked off and started on the underpainting. Unfortunately the fuselage slipped out of the foam I had it supported on while I was painting. I caught it and prevented any major damage, but I jarred the airbrush in the process and spilled paint on it. Thankfully it was heavily thinned with Mr. Leveling Thinner and didn't gloop too badly. A little very careful sanding once it cures and maybe a little touch up and I should be back in business.

All masked and ready to go. I used Blu-Tack to do the soft edges, hopefully it works out.

Pre-shading done, other than the oopsie and whatever I need to do to fix it.

The worst of the paint spill.

There was also a very small scratch just aft of the main gear door.

 

[Analyzer]

oh no, that sucks, but like you said, it could have been worse

Maybe one way to hide it is to make it look like one of the "touch-up" panels by masking off the ones around it and have it freshly painted a bit lighter?

 

[JNordgren42]

oh no, that sucks, but like you said, it could have been worse

Maybe one way to hide it is to make it look like one of the "touch-up" panels by masking off the ones around it and have it freshly painted a bit lighter?

Yeah, a little sanding with a 3000 grit sponge basically took care of it. and with the base color on it basically disappeared. If you look in just the right light, you can see a tiny ripple, but otherwise it's fine. And once it's weathered and top coated I'm pretty sure it will be invisible.

 

[JNordgren42]

I managed to recover from last night's disaster. A little sanding and the light gull grey went over nicely.

Bottom side looking good.

Top side:

A little sanding on the area where paint spilled.

And you can't really tell there was a problem:

Close up of the nose. I'm happy with the transition between grey and white:

 

[pengbuzz]

Looking pretty sweet so far! As far as the scratch is concerned, it doesn't look visible at all.

 

[JNordgren42]

It's really starting to come together. I'm making good progress on the detail painting. I've got the black cockpit anti-glare and horizontal stabilizer done, as well as the metal for the leading edges, gun port, and ECS heat exchanger painted. I've also got a start on the exhausts, but that is a multi stage process.

The gun port was sprayed with Alclad Airframe Aluminum with a very light coat of Mr. Color burnt iron on top.

Intake leading edge.

I love the bare metal leading edges.

 

[JNordgren42]

I've got all of the basic painting done and I have started on decals. It's really starting to pop with some markings on.

I still say this is the best livery in all of aviation.

Bottom

Fear the bones.

Love the high-viz Stars & Bars over the squadron stripe & chevrons.