TazMan2000
Master Member
Nice job.
TazMan2000
TazMan2000
Top Gun F-14s (1/48 Hasegawa F-14A)
- Thread starter crackerjazz
- Start date
PHArchivist
Master Member
Good to see this one again!
rbeach84
Sr Member
Good to see you back "on the case"!
Your mounting brings to mind a local modeler who used to mount his stuff inflight over appropriate images of ground or sea to provide some context. In your case, a pic of the America might fit the bill (since your two are 'in a break' to join the pattern...) Or perhaps the airbase used for Top Gun during the 80's. Miramar I believe...
R/ Robert
Your mounting brings to mind a local modeler who used to mount his stuff inflight over appropriate images of ground or sea to provide some context. In your case, a pic of the America might fit the bill (since your two are 'in a break' to join the pattern...) Or perhaps the airbase used for Top Gun during the 80's. Miramar I believe...
R/ Robert
crackerjazz
Sr Member
Thanks for the encouraging words, fellas! 
Nice idea, Robert!
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Nice idea, Robert!
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crackerjazz
Sr Member
Thanks, guys!
Some of the Hasegawa F-14 woes. Will need some sanding.
A and B aligned but C needs correcting.
I'm using the OOB cockpit for Iceman's plane. The kit's RIO coaming doesn't have the canvas cover -- borrowed some poop n' scoop from my cat.
The covers are in two pieces zipped up along the middle according to Dave Aungst's walkaround shots, so I made them in 2 pieces.
Painted up the OOB cockpit and test-fitted the RIO coaming.
Some of the Hasegawa F-14 woes. Will need some sanding.
A and B aligned but C needs correcting.
I'm using the OOB cockpit for Iceman's plane. The kit's RIO coaming doesn't have the canvas cover -- borrowed some poop n' scoop from my cat.
The covers are in two pieces zipped up along the middle according to Dave Aungst's walkaround shots, so I made them in 2 pieces.
Painted up the OOB cockpit and test-fitted the RIO coaming.
yuumi2891103
Master Member
You,
Take my breath away!
Talk to me Goose,
Katsu
Take my breath away!
Talk to me Goose,
Katsu
crackerjazz
Sr Member
Hey, guys, thanks for following! Katsu-san, thanks, my friend! I might have to scrap the pit, unfortunately. The kit's RIO instrument panel doesn't fit right -- there's a huge gap between the side panels and the railing big enough for one's arm to go through, scaled up. I had to cut a portion of the instrument panel -- at first just a little, then a bit more, until I've practically destroyed it. :facepalm It was too painful to see so I didn't even take photos of it. I even broke a large chunk off the coaming where the grabhandle is. It's gonna be a lot of work to repair so I might as well get an Aires pit onto Iceman's tomcat -- which will require a lot of work too, I know -- Oh, well.
At least Mav's got his:
At least Mav's got his:
Last edited by a moderator:
crackerjazz
Sr Member
Hi, Robert, yes, the bulkhead's contour doesn't match the rear fuselage's shape and makes alignment difficult. A lot of sanding followed, too, after mating them together. There's the problem, too, of the glove vane area being too thick and the wing seal near near the pivot having a large gap
Prepared a thin sanding stick to reach the pivot. Needed to shave off a little to allow it to close more when I thin down the glove vane area. In hindsight I should have done this before I glued the rear fuselage shells together, when the pivot was easier to reach at.
What makes it difficult is that there is another rod that's in the way. It originates from lower fuselage half and goes into the pivot tube. So it was bit tricky to reach around the pivot towards the back and shave off the amount that I needed. I couldn't think of any tool that would allow me to do this.
After that I started cutting a section of the glove vane area, so that the fuselage halves could be clamped closer together and hopefully brige the gap by an appreciable amount.
Checked often that I was cutting straight. Holding the fuselage with just your hands and without a jig makes it easy to go off-course.
Made the same cut on the other side.
Prepared a thin sanding stick to reach the pivot. Needed to shave off a little to allow it to close more when I thin down the glove vane area. In hindsight I should have done this before I glued the rear fuselage shells together, when the pivot was easier to reach at.
After that I started cutting a section of the glove vane area, so that the fuselage halves could be clamped closer together and hopefully brige the gap by an appreciable amount.
Checked often that I was cutting straight. Holding the fuselage with just your hands and without a jig makes it easy to go off-course.
Made the same cut on the other side.
crackerjazz
Sr Member
Bottom plane with corrected gap is Maverick's.
The glove vane area on the Hasegawa model has a bit of a shape issue, too, where the bottom side is kind of flat, but from the photos the bottom side kind of slopes gently in a more rounded shape:
crackerjazz
Sr Member
Wasn't satisfied -- I wanted a tighter fit of the wing. I realized that as long as the wing glove section is opened up, I could pry it open some more and get to the pivot with a razor saw to remove more material than just by sanding. So I proceeded to cut through the starboard wing.
I was able to get at the pivots on both Tomcats better and removed this much.
Wing gloves mending.
Iceman's Tomcat. That's a pretty tight fit and I'm happy : )
Worked on 2nd Tomcat's front office -- need to finish the cockpit to close up the forward fuselage. I really didn't want to shell out anymore cash for another Aries pit so I had to figure out a way to fix Slider's instrument panel which had a big gap between the side panels and the front IP. The only way to do it would be to duplicate the Aries IP. So I took a photo of the completed RIO IP from the 1st Tomcat.
Then constructed a new Tactical Information Display
On the right side panel of the RIO on top of the multiple display screen there is a thingamajig with a coiled cable like a phone cord. Wrapped some fine speaker wire strand on a a 0.3mm drill bit.
And constructed the thingamajig.
crackerjazz
Sr Member
I was thinking I could spruce up the front windshield/HUD area as it looked too empty.
They look like indicator panels with glare covers I'm not sure.
Drew something so I could cut up some patterns.
Printed the side profiles onto a piece of paper and spray-tacked onto some styrene sheet and cut them up and started gluing them together.
The little buggers are tiny : ) I lost quite a few parts -- they just launch to nowhere while cutting.
They look like indicator panels with glare covers I'm not sure.
Drew something so I could cut up some patterns.
Printed the side profiles onto a piece of paper and spray-tacked onto some styrene sheet and cut them up and started gluing them together.
The little buggers are tiny : ) I lost quite a few parts -- they just launch to nowhere while cutting.
