1/48 Academy F-14A Sundowners

Gallery Article by Mick "modelling muppet" on Oct 27 2016

 

      

G’day all! This is my first post on ARC after being an avid follower of the site for some years now. This is also my very first complete build. I used many resources both on this site as well as many other internet sites to help me with the build. I’ll put my hand up right now and say this bird is not entirely accurate, and may upset the ‘rivet counters’ as it’s not fully legit as the instructions state.

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I decided to cut down the nose gear as I have seen on other builds to give the Tomcat that ‘ prowling' pose just before carrier take-off. Again, it’s not entirely accurate, but like I said, I’m just starting out and will hopefully develop my skills and detail as I do more builds. As the Academy kit doesn’t come with adjustable flaps, I cut these out and lowered them myself. I also did the some scratch built petals for the cans - not the best finish, but..meh!

There was some filling and sanding required on the main joins, but overall wasn’t too much trouble. The weapons load is whatever I found came together best as some of the munitions were a poor fit when glueing the halves together. I also ditched the ‘growling mouth’ decal as it was too thick and wouldn’t conform to the shape of the nose - even after a lot of decal softener. I scratch painted the tail myself as the decals were again ill fitting and didn’t conform to the detail.

Overall, I’m happy with my first ever go. Learnt heaps for the next build and hope you enjoy the photos! Thanks heaps to Steve and this amazing resource as well as the many others who have submitted their builds that have inspired and amazed!

Cheers all!

Mick

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Photos and text © by Mick