Academy F-14A VF-21
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/0/6/8/694068-33356-76-720.jpg)
Intakes require some work with pin marks and mold lines.
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The starboard reinforced vertical tail (leftmost here) has half a position light that shouldn't be there. Also missing a couple panel lines at the root.
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The windshield+panel is probably the best idea Academy lifted from Tamiya on this kit, but it still needs some work because of a slight misalignment.
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Near perfect alignment on the engine intake joint without much effort. Some holes will need plugging but so far so good.
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Kit decals, micro sol and minimal painting gave a very decent result. Needs a flat coat and I can finally assemble the nose portion.
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Used some epoxy to fill various gaps and tried to dress up the IP coamings with the leftovers. Then had to sand back most of it on the front piece to be able to fit the front canopy.
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/3/0/7/706307-33356-44-720.jpg)
And this is where it stands now. No major sanding work other than on the GPS dome and front ECM bulges around the glove vanes. Some scribing left to do on the engine cowlings and wings leading edge, and it will be time to prime.
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/1/5/0/709150-33356-95-720.jpg)
Unlike the crude pieces given in the kit, ventral fins are not identical. The engraved panel should be on the inside faces. Need to remember to add towing points after painting.
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/1/5/1/709151-33356-82-720.jpg)
Primed up. Some minor fixes needed before I can lay down the light gull gray, including possibly thinning out the intakes leading edge..
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/7/9/0/709790-33356-91-720.jpg)
Eyeballed tailcode masks, cut in tamiya tape. I can see here a few touch-ups will be needed to make things straight.
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/3/9/9/710399-33356-72-720.jpg)
Hataka LGG almost done. Some blending needed for the vertical tails which remain a bit darker than the rest.
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After some careful masking, some X-1+MLT and some cleaning with a toothpick, the nose is out of the way. I probably did not spray wet enough, will have to sand that orange peel down.
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MYK decal worked well when laid down on Microsol. Hopefully I don't botch the more important markings 🙂
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/8/4/2/711842-33356-14-720.jpg)
Really satisfying application and result. Some expected touchups will be needed on the fin caps.
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Fixed the nose graininess, worked on the exhausts and glued the fins on. Checking one last time for gray consistency before decaling. Stabilators and the right wing will need another coat, as well as some spots at the tailfin roots.
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Quick and dirty scratching of the dual sidewinders adapter, extra LAU rail stolen from the GWH kit.
![Album image #17 Album image #17](/albums/img/8/8/0/714880-33356-74-720.jpg)
Noticed while decaling that the prominent hinge of the engine visit panels is almost non-existent, probably due to their location on the mold. Too late to attempt a fix. Easily turned the 161618 BuNo from the VF-154 scheme to 161613, lucky!
![Album image #18 Album image #18](/albums/img/9/4/5/714945-33356-35-720.jpg)
Some more stencils and a billion NO STEP to go!
![Album image #19 Album image #19](/albums/img/0/7/3/718073-33356-33-720.jpg)
MYK transfers also stick to decals just fine. Removing that film is still the most satisfying feeling.
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/0/7/4/718074-33356-22-720.jpg)
No step stencilling done. Lime light "ribbing" penciled over the kit decals.
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/2/8/5/718285-33356-70-720.jpg)
Result of applying Hasegawa decals from 1988 after some film clipping and copious amounts of Microsol. Some more care needed.
![Album image #22 Album image #22](/albums/img/4/2/1/722421-33356-75-720.jpg)
First time unmasking Gunze Masking sol R. Worked wonderfully well. Lensing is pretty bad on the bottom part of that canopy though. The remnants of my pebbly X-1 painting are quite noticeable too, might need fixing.
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/4/2/2/722422-33356-85-720.jpg)
Nearing completion. Needs some more painting, seats, pitots, a satin coat and some glueing.
![Album image #24 Album image #24](/albums/img/9/5/1/722951-33356-38-720.jpg)
Seat conundrum. Aires GRUs are much, much bigger than the kit seats.
![Album image #25 Album image #25](/albums/img/9/4/9/722949-33356-68-720.jpg)
Almost done weathering. Some more work needed on the wing bags. And inside the exhausts as I see now.
![Album image #26 Album image #26](/albums/img/9/5/0/722950-33356-58-720.jpg)
Aires exhausts painted with Xtreme metals steel and Tamiya nato black, orange and blue tints. Might need some more blackening.
![Album image #27 Album image #27](/albums/img/4/2/3/723423-33356-74-720.jpg)
It appears the Academy seats are very small headed but normal bodied. So I went for Frankenstein seats using failed Aires recasts.
![Album image #28 Album image #28](/albums/img/4/9/0/723490-33356-37-720.jpg)
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Comentários
20 9 January 2020, 09:28
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Can't airbrush at the moment so I'm just playing with plastic. This kit is somewhat disappointing so far. Should still turn into an OK cat.
9 January 2020, 11:39
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I wonder if the 1:72 kit is a downscaled version of the 1:48 kit. In the 1:48 kit with the same box art, there seems to be some issues, and an interesting fix for the 1:48's odd front canopy, might be a simply making the bottom part of the oval shape shorter, to make it look right, a fairly simple fix if you can avoid scratching the plastic beyond repair. Simply requires moving the "scribed" edge on the front, and the sides forwards a little bit.
9 January 2020, 12:44
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Pierre, really????? 😮 I have this kit planned for the exact same bird!!! 😮 (OK, it's Lance 201 but still....) But I'm planning on using Microscale 72-489. What's so bad about the kit other than your remarks so far?
9 January 2020, 13:45
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@Treehugger: I haven't gotten to the clear parts yet so I'm not sure I understand, but I'll keep that in mind when I get there.
@Patrick: The plastic is quite rough in some spots, some details such as the cockpit side panels or the tail plates is a bit soft, some engineering choices are strange such as no alignment tabs for the beaver tail, no glove vanes, annoying ejector pinmarks, etc. It's not as good as their recent F-15, somewhere around the quality of their legacy hornet. However, it's not a terrible kit and I'm not far enough into the build to make conclusions. I'm just spoiled by the GWH kit, which isn't perfect either anyway.
You're lucky to have that Microscale sheet, it looks good. I'm still unsure I'll end up doing this plane, it depends on the quality of the MYK sheet, but I already glued in the early gun vent so I restricted my backup options anyway 🙂
9 January 2020, 15:58
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Hmmmm.... I have the FineMolds and G.W.H. kits as well but wanted to build this one as a 'simple' decal canvas. Currently I'm building their legacy Hornet and I feel what you're pointing at. Fit is good BUT you have to very cautiously align everything before even thinking of cement. And yes, that pebbly surface is a b*tch! My LHS set one aside and I'm eager to get there. Fingers crossed and close watching your build until then. 😉
On that early gun panel; those were in use during the white/gull grey and complete gull grey timeframe. Still a lot of (colorful) options if you don't want to go with the Freelancers.
9 January 2020, 23:10
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Having processed all of the plastic, I feel it should be a better/easier build than the F-18, but still a lot of details are wrong/missing/need more work than you would expect for a 2020 kit.
11 January 2020, 10:07
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Hmmmm..... Good thing I'm using this as a decal canvas then.
11 January 2020, 23:54
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I received the kit in the mail upon my return home. I see what you mean Pierre. It surely has some deficits I wouldn't expect from a new tool. Still not bad though. 🙂 On a decal note, I might have to copy you completely. BuNo 161613 was NK 205 when it crashed but the MS sheet has it as NK 201. The numbers have a yellow shadow, so I can't use the VF-33 205 that's on the same sheet. I preordered the MYK sheet for the Black Knights decals, maybe I use the Freelancers decals as well.
13 January 2020, 01:39
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That sounds like the best solution, that way you can mix and match the correct outlined modex with the correct buno/tailcode for that scheme. The MYK sheet is for the later LGG scheme and it happens that the given BuNo seems like it might be wrong as well (should be 161601 Tarps according to my refs). On the other hand, the Black knight scheme looks accurate. I still haven't received it though, so I'm still hoping it's one of the good quality japanese sheets and not overly thick.
My plan is to attempt to custom mask the tailcode and use the new furball stencils to get the correct buno.
I also want to make Diamond 112 at some point and will have the same modex problem, guess it's gonna be fun trying to custom mask and spray the red outlined modex.
Regarding the kit, it's a bit of a let down but still a good option, which will get better as the price comes down. It has some strong points and can absolutely be a quick build to show off several schemes. Also, I noticed the glove vanes are provided as decals, so that's one less problem.
13 January 2020, 08:40
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Oh yeah, 61 and 62 are the glove vane outlines. I think I'll just measure those and cut slots in a piece of plastic card to use as a guide for scribing them in. Looks just that tad better to me, I guess. I worked with MYK decals before and as I remember they were fine to work with.👍
13 January 2020, 19:21
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Ah, so the front canopy piece isn't the same flawed one as in the 1:48 kit, interesting.
16 January 2020, 17:03
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Very nice! I was looking to pick up the older tool Hasegawa kit and didn't realize Academy had released this new boxing! Definitely getting one ASAP!!
3 February 2020, 03:15
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I'm currently building it and must say that I am impressed! Not as detailed and refined as the FineMolds and G.W.H. ones but definitely better buildable than the Hasegawa one.
3 February 2020, 05:55
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Looking good! Did you encounter any problems with the two piece intakes? I had to sand and rework them quite a bit but that could be my own fault.
5 February 2020, 22:01
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I don't recall anything too bad other than the obvious joint work, no reshaping was needed. Could it be that the pieces are mirrored and you happened to mix up the pairs?
5 February 2020, 22:18
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No, I meant the join running along both sides. But you encountered the same thing, so it wasn't me misaligning the two parts. 🙂
5 February 2020, 23:03
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Gotcha! I got the seam sorted out. Wasn't as bad as I initially thought. 🙂
6 February 2020, 03:20
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Ah right, I thought by rework you meant more than just a little sanding 🙂 In any case, you can't really see much once it's all buttoned up.
6 February 2020, 08:31
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Nice to see this kit looks good and easy to build. Want to see more.
6 February 2020, 09:06
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Hi Pierre, I just received the MYK decals and somehow the sheet seemed a bit strange to me. So, I looked at the Japanese instructions but somehow my Japanese isn't what it used to be. Luckily there's a link mentioned where one can find English instructions. Error code! Let's look at MYK's website.... There is an English page and it is proud to announce the novelty type of decals! Only thing is, I have no clue what is written on that site. Not being a native English speaker myself, I sometimes misunderstand English but this site leaves me absolutely flabbergasted! 😮
What I think these decals are, are the same type of Wet decals produced by HGW Models. You cut out the decal WITH the protective sheet attached and soak them in water. Apply as any other decal and rub them down. After an extensive drying time you carefully peel off the protective sheet and the decal is firmly in place on the model. At least, that's what I make of it. Either look up the HGW instructions or wrestle through MYK's version but you might need to experiment a bit before you apply them for real. Either way, good luck! 👍 😄
7 February 2020, 22:53
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hgwmodels.cz/en/content/18-wet-transfers
Here is how the HGW Wet Transfers should be applied.
8 February 2020, 00:07
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Well, that's interesting, always nice to try new things 👍 Thanks for the tips and good luck to you too, I haven't received the sheet yet so you might be the pioneer with these😉
8 February 2020, 07:36
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The last paragraph on the MYK "Asu Deka" page seems to call for a softener agent, so it works probably just like the HGW transfers with Mr Softer. Hopefully that works with Microsol, because the Mr Softer I have is the neo version which has proven useless a few times already.
8 February 2020, 07:41
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In that case, I'll give it a try on the 205 Modex on that wing when I get back to my modeling table. 👍
8 February 2020, 21:30
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Wow! That is coming along nicely! And not to mention: quick!!! 😄
12 February 2020, 02:55
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Did you glue the wings to the pegs or are they just stuck on?
12 February 2020, 03:03
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Well it all goes together really well, so it turns easily into a quick build. The wings are just slid on 🙂 The gap between wings and wing gloves is minimal, which is really satisfying compared to Hasegawa or even GWH.
12 February 2020, 08:22
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Oh btw Patrick, I noticed yesterday this particular VF-21 scheme sported full original stencilling, including two yellow rectangles on the spine I had never seen before. The recent Furball stencil sheet appears to have those.
12 February 2020, 11:47
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the top one is the TACAN aerial warning. it was only used at the beginning. I think there was a warning stencil for other antennae as well but I only saw the TACAN one (made it for my VF-1 sheet)
12 February 2020, 12:55
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Thanks for the tip Martin. Both can be seen in that pic commons.wikimedia.or..on_(CV-64)_1984.JPEG
12 February 2020, 13:05
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Thanks for mentioning that! I have both the 1/72 Furball stencil sheet and the 1/48 Furball VF-21 sheet. I already used the 1/48 sheet as instruction for the 'no step' markings on that wing.
12 February 2020, 21:09
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If you look at Modex 200 in Pierre's picture you can see remnants of the black curve on the nose as seen in the cover pic.
15 February 2020, 03:54
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It's a great picture indeed, you can also guess the repainted tailcode in the forefront.
15 February 2020, 13:16
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F-14 Tomcat VF-21, VF-33 & VF-154 (Microscale 72-489, 1:72)
F-14A Tomcat `VF-21 Freelancers´ (Hasegawa 00774, 1:72)
I'm just wondering why you would go through the hassle of masking those tail codes while there are at least two ways to obtain decals for that exact paint scheme. 😮
19 February 2020, 19:06
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Heh, thanks mates. I just wanted to try something new. I only failed twice before I got a shape that looked somewhat right (which is definitely not the case of the Microscale sheet). It's probably much harder to replicate a proper font, or a modex... which I might have to do anyway :/
19 February 2020, 21:11
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Alright! Now I notice how the shared N and K is much taller than the rest. I think your version does look better than the available decals! 👍
19 February 2020, 21:16
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I found the Modexes to be quite comparable to other yellow shadowed and slanted ones. Maybe another decal set might help you out?
19 February 2020, 21:21
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hlj.com/1-72-scale-f..n-1994-1995-myk07276
Darnit! Out of stock!...
19 February 2020, 21:24
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I'll figure out something 🙂 I'm more concerned by your results with the MYK decals, gonna have to test those out at some point.
19 February 2020, 21:33
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WIP F-14A Academy | Album by Hagel (1:72)
Not that good I'm afraid.... 😉
19 February 2020, 22:12
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Looking great sir! It's going to look epic in that scheme, can't wait 🙂.
20 February 2020, 04:38
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It's quite tricky to get right Patrick. I ended up with a slight asymetry and I think I didn't do the upper curb correctly, but I'm still pondering whether it's worth fixing. The cones all seem different on the various pictures I've seen, and it looks the part anyway, so I might just not bother 🙂.
20 February 2020, 21:56
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I surely believe you! I'm not looking forward to that part either... Getting stuff like this symmetrical is a real hassle but yours looks great nonetheless!
21 February 2020, 05:26
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If that can be of any use to you Patrick, I used a 4mm disc to mask the front part, and I think now it was just a tad too small.
21 February 2020, 08:45
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So you let the MYK decal float on Micro Sol? Didn't it soften the decal?
21 February 2020, 13:26
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Yeah, I was able to lift it again and move it slightly with a brush, it didn't melt right away. There's probably not a lot or margin for error though.
21 February 2020, 16:25
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Niccccce!!! And those are still the MYK ones? What did I do wrong then?
22 February 2020, 23:35
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Maybe try another time with Microsol or Mark softer and see where that leads you.
If one seems to be stuck right away, apply more liquid underneath after lifting a corner or the whole decal. They seemed rather sturdy and there's time to deal with positioning.
Once in position, I was able to start burnishing them into creases right away with a wet cotton bud, since they stick well once most of the microsol was gone.
Also, as you said it's kinda confusing that the protection sheet falls right off when you cut the decal, but it's not used during application. This is apparently a different system than the HGW transfers. The shiny carrier film on the decal itself is what gets removed once dry. It can be tricky to find a way in to lift it but then it peels off really easily.
23 February 2020, 09:57
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So, reading your story about those MYK decals, I'm getting more and more convinced that I f*cked something up instead of the MYK decals being the culprit. I guess I have to give them another try on a spare part with a spare decal to see what I need to do to have them conform the way you got them working.
24 February 2020, 15:46
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Still on the topic of MYK decals, I did encounter the same issue as you did with an intake warning red triangle, where it got stuck, got slightly bent and started deteriorating as I was trying to lift it. So I sanded, repainted and used the kit ones, which are more accurate anyway.
Not sure what happened, so exercise caution.
28 February 2020, 18:58
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Haven't had bench time yet, but I wanted to do a test with the 'Oop, ack, baby!' decal this weekend (that decal looks in no way like the one in pictures (or in the Fujimi kit) to see how I funked things up before and if I could practice with the Micro Sol. 'Good' to see that others experience the same difficulties.... 🙁 Nevertheless, the rest of your decal work looks great! 👍 So, which ones are MYK and which are the Cartograf/Academy ones?
28 February 2020, 19:54
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Good call on the decal test. I thought it happened to me because the paint was a bit rough on that spot, but your wing looked really smooth so I have no idea what's going on. Still probably a good idea to slide them in the correct position right away 😉
Also, regular scotch tape works well to lift and remove the upper film when it's hard to get with tweezers. It also works well to remove surrounding regular decals when you don't pay attention...
Used the MYK decals on the tails, fins, modex, NAVY and Buno, rest is Acad/Furball, which are much more finely printed. Found out the Furball stencil sheet is missing a couple decals present on the callout (98 and 99) and that the stabilators seemingly had yellow NO Pull/push stencils. Luckily, those are in F-14A Tomcat (Hasegawa 04037, 1:72), but as expected the sheet I have will need sunbleaching and some praying to decal gods.
28 February 2020, 22:53
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I'll pray with you on that! Let's hit them with some UV! 👍 Good call on those yellow stencils! I'll have a look on those too!
29 February 2020, 20:28
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Some more decaling done. The Hasegawa sheet is being un-yellowed, some testing shows it should work fine. The sheet also has the canted modex for the wings, so that's another useful addition.
8 March 2020, 12:03
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Ooh!!! I like the way you penciled over those slime lights! I used black decal stripes, but sanded those off again as they looked too stark. Yours look dead on! 👍
8 March 2020, 14:36
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It gives a decent enough result yeah, perhaps some brown or dark yellow would work even better. The 30 year old Hasegawa decals went down ok. They're not flawless though, hopefully I can blend them in better with care, a clear coat and some sanding.
8 March 2020, 20:57
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Happy to have completed this! Might revisit later when I haven't spent the whole previous week working on it. Will also shoot some photos with Hasegawa's kit side to side for shape comparison.
21 March 2020, 19:37
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Excellent result. Can't wait to get to this kit myself.
21 March 2020, 19:50
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Thank you guys!
@Martin it's a really pleasant kit, with very few hurdles to overcome.
21 March 2020, 19:56
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Lovely work my friend!! However I've never seen a Tomcat load out like that, I think it works really well for the model! I've seen 4 x AIM-9 + 4 x AIM-7 and that's a nice load in my opinion. But yours seems more unique. Great work all round.
21 March 2020, 20:06
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Thanks Neal! There are a few pics of this loadout on a VF-24 bird on Wikipedia, and that asymetry just looked too cool to not go for it.
21 March 2020, 20:10
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Pierre I agree about the cool factor of asymmetric loads, something I have a "penchant" for!! I'm trying to find those photos. Thanks for the heads up.
21 March 2020, 20:17
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haha Neal, the fuel tanks are not drained symetrically anyway so you gonna be trimmin' either way
21 March 2020, 22:32
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Thank you Mark.
Added a batch of pics that show how blue Hataka's LGG is and some shape differences with Hasegawa's kit.
A lot of Hataka's LGG coldness might also be due to the black primer, while the C315 was sprayed on grey surfacer.
21 March 2020, 23:07
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I haven't been on Scalemates for a while (you know, busy social life and such..........ehm..........no, that wasn't the reason.....) and I definitely missed out on this photobomb! It really turned out beautiful!!! Martin, get this kit, you won't be disappointed! It's not as detailed as the GWH one, but it is a well fitting, easy to build and nonetheless very refined kit! Seeing the comparison with the Hasegawa one, you will see the fine panel lines, rivets and general shape. Especially looking at the nose, you will see the Academy kit is a bit less bulky than the Hasegawa one. The real Tomcat's forward fuselage is bulky and a bit triangular in shape, but now that both the Hasegawa and Academy kits are next to each other you can see that Academy just captures that shape a bit better. In it's own right the Hasegawa is an awesome kit, but put next to the Academy one, from now on I will choose the Academy. The only letdown for me is the huge injection mark in the aft Sparrow recess! Pierre fixed that by choosing this particular load out which covers that mark by the fourth Sparrow. I building it with Phoenix pallets installed, that mark will show up, unless addressed.
That's just the kit... Pierre, your paintwork is just awesome!!! 👍
23 March 2020, 14:45
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Beautiful clean & colorful Tomcat - is this really 72-scale? 🙂 Very nice work all over, those Aires nozzles really add a lot of detail "punch" to the aft section 👍 A lovely couple you got there, congrats!
23 March 2020, 15:01
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Thank you Patrick and Slavo, I'm glad you both like the final result.
Patrick, I agree with your feelings about the kit. I still love the Hasegawa one for nostalgic reasons and because I prefer the finer engraving, but I already ordered another Academy cat. I used sprue goo for those fuselage pinmarks, but I think I'll go with epoxy putty next time, should be easier and cleaner. In any case, I hope you get to finish yours soon😉
23 March 2020, 15:53
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When I'm done working my emails from my home office later today, I'll take the long trip to my studio (4 meters) to start working on the Cat again. I used sprue goo too for both the landing gear ejection marks and the rear Sparrow well. The landing gear ones are easy to shave/sand flush, but the Sparrow one is difficult because of the convex shape. Maybe Mr. Surfacer would heave been the easier solution here.
23 March 2020, 16:32