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Alastair Barbour
8 articles

Academy 1/48 F-14B Tomcat VF-14 Tophatters

November 10, 2014 · in Aviation · · 18 · 2.6K

An oldie from the 'loft insulation'. I built this a while ago but it still looks good. Not a bad kit and would argue better than the Hasegawa kit for the price. Certianly less complicated. When you don't spend big bucks on a kit it's much more relaxing.

Reader reactions:
6  Awesome

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.


18 responses

  1. Great F-14 Alastair, nice weathering, especially the wing swing area.
    Well done

  2. Nicely finished...I like the tarmac you did as well.

  3. nice Tomcat! great weathering job!

  4. Very, very nicely done with equally fine weathering. It's tough to make a lo-vis paint job look good but you accomplished that very well.

    • Thanks Jim. I'm sure I've used your publications for photo reference for this weathered effect. This model's picked up a couple of awards at shows long time ago. Still one of my favourite subjects. All the best

  5. Very nice build! That's a cracking finish you have on it.

  6. Very Nice Tomcat, really like the weathering.

    • Thanks Rick. It was fun, rewarding, but tedious. You have to love the subject to go to such lengths. I love US Navy subjects and do plan at some point to do the 'Aquaflage' digital paint scheme on the Centenary F-18. That will be a task to be put off for Winter I expect. Not sure which winter mind you 🙂

  7. Like the others have said, great finish and weathering, and the cockpit looks good, too!

  8. Well done Alastair. Your rendition of the patchy retouched paintwork is superb!

  9. That's some very well-done variation to the grey camouflage there. Welcome onboard at iModeler, thanks for sharing!

  10. Cool F-14. Love the low viz paint job.

  11. I love it. I need to try a F-14 soon!

  12. Great job on the cockpit, congrats!

  13. These things sure did get tatty looking in the low vis paint! You rendered it very well! I also love the Academy F-14. I've only done the A in my youth and now have another one as it was re-released. I like the fact that they give you open and closed nozzles for the A as when they were shut down, one was usually closed and the other open. Monogram didn't give you that option and they're kit didn't fit as well. I like the fact that you built it clean from what I can see. (All I noticed were the drop tanks.) Stores detract from the great lines of this bird!

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