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 looks remarkably similar to the mold line. Update: Just realized now that there’s actually a detonation cord in the forward canopy too. Alas, I’ve sanded that off.
Looks good once scraped, sanded, buffed and given a dip in Future.
The 2 part canopy is then masked off to prep for painting. The usual blue/green tinted front windshield section is not present in the F-14 Kai so I left this area clear.
In the anime, Shin’s F-14 Kai carried 6x AMRAAMS but because of the pipe I inserted for the display rod, I have to settle for 5x AMRAAMs instead. The weapons stations were put together so the gaps can be filled immediately. I had to fashion a smaller rail from plastic plates to attach to the LAU-92 so the AMRAAM has enough clearance to fit underneath. It’s crude but not very visible so it’s fine.
Some last simple details to add are on the chinpod. I added Kotobukiya round nozzles and domes for the TCS and IR Seeker.
Time to finish the cockpit and close it up. The pilot’s seat has a rod inserted so there’s a more positive fit for the figure.
Everything was given a base of black.
The details were then handpainted. I decided to leave the ejection handles a solid yellow without the thin black stripes because I’ve never been able to paint something so thin and all my previous attempts have never really looked right.
I painted the flight suits based on a reference picture and since Shin and Edgar’s wore markings on their helmets I tried my best to replicate these.
Heyyy…. not bad at all!
Once the canopy is attached I can proceed with the tedious work of fixing gaps.
Build Log
Part 1 – Cockpit | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Construction
Part 4 – Construction | Part 5 – Construction
Part 6 – Painting | Part 7 – Finishing
