WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A+ Kai Tomcat Pt. 5 – Construction
The final stretch before I can start addressing all the gaps and bad fitting parts. First up is working on the canopy, which has a long mold line going down its middle. 5/6 of this needs to be scraped off with the remaining 1/3 at the back remaining as there’s a canopy detonation cord that …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A+ Kai Tomcat Pt. 4 – Construction
Work continues slowly. Before combining the 2 halves of the fuselage together I added the slot for the rod. To ease handling, I added a small length of brass pipe into the fuselage. The rod will then insert into this pipe when I’m ready to mount the kit to the base. A glob of epoxy …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A+ Kai Tomcat Pt. 3 – Construction
The F-14 Kai is equipped with the larger of the 2 sensor pods under the wing glove. The kit comes molded with the smaller one which needs to be cut off. The larger pod is an option in the kit. The Kai doesn’t have the wing gloves so these need to be closed up. With …...
WIP : Wave 1/20 Rapoon Pt. 2 – Painting & Finishing
Time to finish this kit. Seamlines aren’t hidden and need to be addressed. The areas in shadow were pre-painted in black before assembly. Black base as usual to begin. Marble coating with white. Nothing too precise though. I went with a ground-oriented color scheme with red pauldrons. The joint covers were handpainted in medium...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A+ Kai Tomcat Pt. 2 – Construction
This is actually my 4th go at the ‘new’ mold Hasegawa F-14 kit. The less said about the first 3 disasters the better. Anyway I hope to break the cycle with this one. The kit includes all the parts for the various iterations of the F-14 through its 30 years of service so I’ll be …...
WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.4 – Finishing
While waiting for the gloss coat to cure, I decided to tackle the exhaust. After a base of black and painting the inside white, the outside is painted with Vallejo Model Color Pale Burnt Metal. I then masked off the exhaust petals with both 1mm masking tape and liquid mask. Yes each individual petal. The …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 F-14A+ Kai Tomcat Pt. 1 – Cockpit
I’ve always wanted to build the F-14 that appeared in the Macross Zero OAV. Based on some research it looks like this particular boxing of the 1988 molds has all the necessary parts to depict an almost 100% replica of the F-14A+ Kai. The Tomcat that appears in the anime is officially designated F-14A+ Kai …...
WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.3 – Painting
After fixing the few gaps, it’s time to put some color on this kit! First, the stealth coat with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black. Then a marble coating with Tamiya XF-12 IJN Gray. The instruction sheet made a mistake in calling out 3 gray tones for the camouflage. By 2010, this jet only has 2 gray …...
WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.2 – Construction
Disappointingly, Tamiya left some visible ejector pin marks on the gear doors which need to be addressed. Tamiya calls for some blue and silver colored parts inside the gearbay. Not sure how accurate this is. The main undercarriage is designed to be installed from the beginning. While troublesome, the upside is a stronger fit. The...
WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.1 – Construction
Next on the factory floor is this Tamiya kit which looks to be as shake and bake as it will ever get. This is the 2nd release where Tamiya added the pylons, underwing stores, armaments and targeting pods. Checking the parts, I realized that by adding 1 component, I can model the F-16CM, an upgraded …...
