Build review: FineMolds 1/72 F-14D Tomcat Part I

Gary Wickham has already reviewed the parts and built the FineMolds 1/72nd scale F-14D Tomcat kit, but just HOW did he get it looking so good? Well, we have the next part of his journey here today with part I of his build article of this kit. See how this kit was put together, detailed and finished in the first of four parts of the build.

Build review: FineMolds 1/72 F-14D Tomcat Part I

This kit is currently available exclusively from the many parts of the Model Graphix Magazine from Hobby Link Japan

Other parts of this review series:
Part 1 Modelgraphix & F-14 (engine nose & cockpit)
Part 2 Modelgraphix & F-14 (Fuselage)
Part 3 SA Magazine & F-14 (stores + Modelkasten Pilots)
Part 4 Modelgraphix & F-14 (Wings & Stores)
Part 5 Gary’s finished build of Finemolds 72nd scale Tomcat

Part II of the build of this kit
Part III of the build of this kit
Part IV of the build of this kit
Part V of the build of this kit

Grumman F-14 Tomcat Overview

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program following the collapse of the F-111B project. The F-14 was the first of the American teen-series fighters, which were designed incorporating the experience of air combat against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War.

The F-14 first flew in December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U.S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U.S. Navy's primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, and tactical aerial reconnaissance platform. In the 1990s, it added the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod system and began performing precision ground-attack missions. 

The Tomcat was retired from the U.S. Navy's active fleet on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-14 remains in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, having been exported to Iran in 1976 when the U.S. had amicable diplomatic relations with Iran.

The F-14D Super Tomcat (source: wikipedia.org)

The final variant of the F-14 was the F-14D Super Tomcat. The F-14D variant was first delivered in 1991. The original TF-30 engines were replaced with GE F110-400 engines, similar to the F-14B. The F-14D also included newer digital avionics systems including a glass cockpit and replaced the AWG-9 with the newer AN/APG-71 radar. Other systems included the Airborne Self Protection Jammer (ASPJ), Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), SJU-17(V) Naval Aircrew Common Ejection Seats (NACES) and Infra-red search and track (IRST).

Although the F-14D was to be the definitive version of the Tomcat, not all fleet units received the D variant. In 1989, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney refused to approve the purchase of any more F-14D model aircraft for $50 million each and pushed for a $25 million modernization of the F-14 fleet instead. Congress decided not to shut production down and funded 55 aircraft as part of a compromise. A total of 37 new aircraft were completed, and 18 F-14A models were upgraded to D-models, designated F-14D(R) for re-build. An upgrade to the F-14D's computer software to allow AIM-120 AMRAAM missile capability was planned but was later terminated

While upgrades had kept the F-14 competitive with modern fighter aircraft technology, Cheney called the F-14 1960s technology. Despite an appeal from the Secretary of the Navy for at least 132 F-14Ds and some aggressive proposals from Grumman for a replacement, Cheney planned to replace the F-14 with a fighter that was not manufactured by Grumman. Cheney called the F-14 a "jobs program", and when the F-14 was cancelled, an estimated 80,000 jobs of Grumman employees, subcontractors, or support personnel were affected. Starting in 2005, some F-14Ds received the ROVER III upgrade.

My thoughts on Building the FineMolds 1:72 F-14D Tomcat 

The 2015 FineMolds 1:72 F-14D is the first all-new-tool Tomcat from a Japanese maker in over two decades and is a very good one. The kit sprues are only available when purchased in conjunction with the Japanese Model Graphix magazine over three consecutive monthly issues. If you also want the optional weapons sprue, then you will need to purchase the July 15 "Scale Aviation" magazine issue as well.

Model Graphix is described by HLJ as "Japan's most well-rounded hobby magazine, full of articles on all modelling genres including aircraft, figures, science fiction, cars, ships, and more. Excellent photography throughout." All text is in Japanese. FineMolds has a history of partnering with Model Graphix to release aircraft kits spread across multiple issues and in some cases, these models are exclusive to the magazine subscribers and are not offered alone as a separate standalone kit.

Shipped with each magazine issue is a thin sturdy cardboard box that contains selected sprues. The kit has been broken down and supplied with each magazine issue in such a way to allow builders to work on each sub-assembly while waiting for the next instalment. The assembly instructions are provided in the magazine pages (with English translations included). 

The fit of the kit is superb, something that FineMolds is well renowned for with their sci-fi kits. The level of detail provided in this 1:72 model puts many 1:48 and even some 1:32 kits to shame. If FineMolds ever scales this up to 1:48 or beyond it would be a license to print money. Some folks won't appreciate the open access panels as they prefer to model their aircraft clean, but this has not worried me as I chose to model it with everything open to take maximum advantage of all the extra goodies provided. I was a bit disappointed with the inclusion of only one paint/marking scheme provided with the kit, more so because that one option did not interest me at all.

The Build

Construction begins as usual with the cockpit. One of the changes between the A/B and D Model Tomcats was an upgrade to the ejection seats. The earlier A/B F-14's used an MB GRU-7A seat whilst the F-14D was fitted with the MB-14 NACES seat. The seats provided by FineMolds are quite detailed with the only thing missing being the harness. 

Wherever possible I like to use a resin replacement seat for my models. I looked thru the spare seat box and found a couple of seats from True Details that had belts and more realistic cushions moulded in. When I compared the kit and resin seats side by side it was obvious that the head box of the TD resin part was considerably smaller than the kit seat and after consulting reference photos decided that the kit seat was a better match than the TD item.

Having decided to stick with the kit seats I needed to build some harnesses. For this task, I used some lead foil straps and small plastic card for the buckles. One of the advantages of making your own belts is that you can position them independently so they don't look like identical to each other.

The main part of the seat which will be visible on the finished model is the head box. A simple trick to remove join seams on parts that would be tricky to sand is to cover them with plasticard. I used that technique on the back of the head box and added some other small sections to make it look busy.

With the seats dealt with it was time to dry fit the cockpit and forward fuselage halves. This revealed no problems with fit at all (in fact it was an excellent fit all round). One thing I did notice was that the moulded plastic parts used to represent the front and rear shroud over the instrument panels did not look at all convincing. On the real Tomcat, these have canvas covers which I wanted to do something about, but that would come later. 

The kit instrument panel raised detail is excellent. FineMolds provides the option of using single piece decals for the IPs and side consoles which is the way I ended up going rather than hand paint them. 

Test fitting with the seats in place convinced me that putting any extra detailing effort into the cockpit would be wasted as in 1:72 very little of it would be visible with the seats (and eventually canopy) in place.

As I was in a dry fitting mood I continue to assemble the rear fuselage sections with small pieces if Tamiya tape holding it all together. Every piece and sub-section literally clicked together with no gaps worthy of mention being present. 

The wings and elevators are designed to enable you to attach them at any time in the build. I dry fitted them early on and then left them aside during painting, decaling and weathering to allow much easier access to the fuselage sides.

An overall shot of the main parts of the kit together (if only with tape). The spine is provided with two options, one open as you see here and the other closed.

I was now happy with the overall fit of the kit and had a much clearer idea of my planned assembly sequence. Returning now to the instructions I began work on assembling and painting the cockpit proper. Note the assembly sequences run from right to left, remembering that these were designed for Japanese speaking modellers who read in the opposite direction to us English speakers.

One advantage of a smaller scale like 1:72 is that many of the assemblies can be moulded as single parts. The cockpit tub is one such item that in a larger scale would consist of several parts. FineMolds have engineered the kit so that mould seams and ejection pin marks, for the most part, are on surfaces that will be hidden on the finished model.

When painting flat parts like cockpit panels or access doors I like to hold them in place with some tape folded over onto itself (basically making it double sided). Its quick and easy and means you don't have to worry about handling the parts while painting.

There is other work needed to the forward fuselage interior before we add the cockpit sub-assembly. If you plan to display all the gun, refuelling probe and avionics panels closed then steps 7 & 8 can be skipped.

Always interested in trying something new, I decided to test out some of the MiG Ammo paints and washes designed for 'US Modern Cockpits'. The cockpit interior was primed with black followed by a couple of light coats of MiG-205 Acrylic Color thinned with Gunze Mr Color Levelling Thinner. The paint flowed nicely thru the airbrush and covered well allowing me enough control to get some variation over the black undercoat.

Relevant parts of the cockpit were next hand painted in black (well Vallejo 70.862 Grey Black actually as I always find pure Black to be quite overpowering for scale models).

Once the base painting was complete a quick gloss clear was applied followed by the assorted side and instrument panel decals. These were softened with generous amounts of Micro Sol which encouraged them to settle into the raised detail. Left to dry overnight the whole cockpit was then flat coated as you see the result here. I think the decals are a good option in 1:72 and do a far better job of showing the detail than my dodgy hand painting could ever achieve. 

The seats were base coated with Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black (again I avoid using pure black) and then the seat cushions and belts hand painted with Vallejo paints. I wanted to simulate some wear and grime on the cushions and had recently read an article on using Vallejo Glaze medium to turn their paints into a wash. This turned out to be an easy way to add subtle shading to the otherwise monochrome seat and I was quite happy with the result. The seat frames and cockpit edges were lightly dry brushed with my favourite Model Master Chrome Silver to show some wear and tear.

Before the completed cockpit can be glued into the forward fuselage we need to complete interior painting of the gun and ammunition drum bays. The rear of these bays is formed by parts attached to the nose wheel well on the bottom of the cockpit tub so you can't really leave it till after things are all sealed up. I hand painted the ammo drum using Citadel Metalizer paints and the gun with gun metal. A light wash and dry brushing was all that was needed to finalise these areas. 

With all the prep work complete a quick double check of the assembly instructions showed I was good to proceed with glueing the fuselage halves. Step 11 was next and I decided to do some extra work to the canvas cover on the RIO's shroud as this is a very visible and distinctive feature of the F-14.

Part II of this build process is to follow in serial form over the next few days

Other parts of this review series:
Part 1 Modelgraphix & F-14 (engine nose & cockpit)
Part 2 Modelgraphix & F-14 (Fuselage)
Part 3 SA Magazine & F-14 (stores + Modelkasten Pilots)
Part 4 Modelgraphix & F-14 (Wings & Stores)
Part 5 Gary’s finished build of Finemolds 72nd scale Tomcat

Part II of the build of this kit
Part III of the build of this kit
Part IV of the build of this kit
Part V of the build of this kit

Gary Wickham

Thanks to Hobby Link Japan for sending us the magazine/ model kit combo – look for the other parts of this magazine very soon and then a full build of this exciting looking little kit...

See more of Gary's wonderful builds on his Facebook Page and his Scalespot Website.