Tamiya 1/48 F-14A Tomcat/ “Miss Molly”… VF-111 “Sundowners”
the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy's primary fighter for 35 years from the early 70's till 2006...it came out of Mcnamara's failed F-111 project...in fact from the intakes back the F14 is the F-111 though the Navy added the second tail for stability...it's primary job was to be a big huge sled built to carry the AIM-54 Phoenix missile...the "Tomcat" named after Adm. Tom Connolly relieved the F4 Phantom in the Navy inventory...when F4 pilots transitioned to the Tomcat they were terribly let down by the fact that the Tomcat was better than the F4 in almost every respect/ speed , climb , payload and maneuverability., which was a hard pill to swallow for the guys who loved that platform...now bear in mind the F-18 would whip it in a dogfight being much more agile and responsive but is far too slow to take on any interceptor role or even get close to the Tomcat... like the M1 Garand the AIM-54 Phoenix missile has the ability to "reach out and touch someone" from enormous distances/ eliminating the need for a dogfight, making it a great protector of the fellow air crews, F18's, Intruders and the fleet carriers/you might say the toughest kid on the block...the M1 Garand could penetrate through two coconut trees and still take out it's target...the F14 was the only platform to ever use the AIM-54 Phoenix but ironically the U.S. Navy only fired the missile three times in anger, each time ending in failure...
when the Shah of Iran was in power the U.S. sent him the F14 which the people who overthrew him took over scoring 62 kills in the Iran-Iraq war with the AIM-54 Phoenix and was the only country to do so...the Tomcat was retired in 2006 as the airframes got old and they never really upgraded them...the B or bombcat was considered a joke by it's aircrews/ the C never came to fruition and the D though new and improved never got the digital upgrades and things it needed to move up to the next level and she was abandoned like the red-headed stepchild...
this is "Miss Molly" from 1989 to the mid 90's U.S.S. Carl Vinson...congressman Carl Vinson was the U.S. Navy's greatest friend from 1940 till 1981 and "Miss Molly" was his personnel nurse
[
That is a great looking "cat" Bob. Nicely done!
Cheers,
Scott
thank you Scott...i love your avatar...thank you for your wonderful service
Great work, Bob! Anything to look out for in construction? I have one of those and want to build it IIB using the VF-2 markings.
Based on my own experience not much except follow the instructions. It is a well engineered beautiful kit. It will still take a lot of work because it is a Turkey but it isn't the Hase kit which has a habit of fighting you every step of the way.
thank you John...the only problem i had was fairing in the canopy and windscreen as i painted them separate from the body, then had to go back in with in with white glue and careful hair raising spraying...if the canopy is open , no problem but tack the windscreen down and feather it in before painting...it needs no nose weight...build the front section and the back and paint and detail them before you glue them together...that eliminates all turbulence and gritty paint around the intakes and the fit is marvelous...love them "Bounty Hunters"...just put a little glue on the female side so it squishes in when you join them...the canopy has a whip of some sort running partially down the front and back of the canopy...probably a defroster...i sanded till the cows came home down to 350 grit before i caught on...it was molded in
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Thanks Bob!
Nice presentation, Mr. Mack...good all-around work, sir.
as usual thank you very much brother
I personally think the weathering on a Tomcat is what makes it stand out. The weathering on this one is real good. Mix it with Sundowners markings and it makes for a beautiful Turkey model.
thank you Dan...and i agree with you , you don't see many clean ones in photos even though they are washed pretty regularly
Clean ones look weird to me even when seeing photos of the first Tomcats like the VF-1 birds during their pre cruise workups.
Fantastic looking Tomcat Bob! Paint work is great for that low-vis scheme - added plenty of interest. And who doesn't love the Sundowners scheme?!
thank you Greg...love your positivity
Terrific Tomcat, Bob! Fully loaded for Bear.
thank you Bob...i used to know a hillbilly boy that said"loaded for bear to tear a coons a all to pieces"
Wow, that's really nice. Great job with the weathering, and I love the markings.
Mike
thank you mike...your running some really nice stuff through here
Thanks Bob!
Superb work. Cats are so cool. Like the hot rod/super car of fighters. Yours is a masterpiece.
‘Liked’
thank you very much for the great comment Matt…yeah i’d compare it to a big old heavy HEMI Dodge or Plymouth of Richard Petty fame…not nimble like the F18 which replaced it but 350 mph faster so it can engage and disengage combat at will, with a weapons system you might not see till too late...kind of like nelson's gun ships…your son’s fantastic…you lucky dog you got to pass your passion down to somebody…wunderbar
Breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL. Everything about this model looks outstanding. Well done!
thank you very much for that wonderful comment Morne...always great to hear from you
That is one pretty kitty Bob. Well done sir.
thank you very much Tom...everytime i think of you beautiful Mustangs and P40's pop in my head
Nice job, Bob. I really like the Sundowner markings, especially on F-14s.
thank you very much George...i agree on the sundowner markings on F14's...they look pretty good on F5's also...what a great career you had
Nice one bob. Looks great. I to love the sundowner markings on the big cat.
thank you very much Glenn...love your jets and weathering
Well that’s very nice of you. Thanks bob. ?