1/72 F-14D Hasegawa Idol Master

[EagleOnyx]

I know how popular my previous Idol Master build was so I couldn't deny you guys the pleasure of seeing the new one! It's the 1/72 Hasegawa F-14D Tomcat, molded in purple plastic! This one is actually the "Good" engraved line Hasegawa kit rather than a reboxed revell or other manufacturer kit like some of the other Idol Master kits. This molding/tooling needs a refresh however! There is BAD FLASH and huge ejector pin marks all over the place on this thing! The "D" model parts tree seemed to be the worst offender as the Gun vent parts wouldn't even fit the fuselage. I used one of the A or B gun ports instead because they fit better. Some of the instructions aren't that clear as to where/how parts go either. I'm pretty disappointed in the kit so far actually comparing it to that Modern Tamiya F-16 I just built. Anyone know if the Hobby Boss or Academy versions are better?

[UKguyInUSA]

That has to be the first purple plastic model I've ever seen?! Just happens to be my wife's favorite color....maybe if I bought that kit, she might show an interest in my hobby?

Good luck with the build and enjoy

Cheers

[LifesGoodDH]

Your skill level overcomes any reservations any of us should have on the kit itself. Looking forward to see what you can conjure up!

[EagleOnyx]

I have three extra copies of this model UKguy, just sayin'... You want this don't you


I got the extra ones because they were cheaper than buying the same kit with real F-14 decals, that way I could make a bunch of sweet F-14's later. I just started my Idolmaster SU-47 Berkut BTW. lol

[EagleOnyx]

Update on the F-14! I've been draggin' my feet with it for some reason but I did a lot today. I got the Body main color mixed up and painted onto all the parts. I have to say that I really love Mr. Color solvent based lacquers! They spray so very nicely!

The main body is a purple color that required 4 different paints to mix; Purple, White, and a small amount of black and wine red. I did 70 drops of Purple, 30 drops of white, 5 black and 7 wine red. using eyedropper bottles makes that easy.



The loadout will be two pheonix, two sparrows, two aim 9's and the TARPS pod.



I've got the base color coat down and Alclad gloss Klear Kote topcoat on. I can start the decals tomorrow!

[5Craven]

Nice! I have the 1/48 scale version of this kit and its a monster. I am currently finishing off the F-16 Idolm@ster. I am building the 1/48 and my daughter is building the 1/72. We have both got to the stage where all the decals are on, its been a fun build for us both to do together.

[EagleOnyx]

Nice! I have the 1/48 scale version of this kit and its a monster. I am currently finishing off the F-16 Idolm@ster. I am building the 1/48 and my daughter is building the 1/72. We have both got to the stage where all the decals are on, its been a fun build for us both to do together.

Oh really? Did you make a video about these F-16's? I watched a video where a dude had both F-16 kits and he mentioned his daughter was going to build the small one... That video convinced me to go ahead and get some of them. If that IS you, thanks for that video!

How does the 1/48 Hase Tomcat look in the box? I was a huge Tomcat fan until I joined the USAF to work on F-15's, so now the F-14 is more of a second favorite. lol

[5Craven]

If you mean this video;

[youtube]qcE6NWESfzA[/youtube]

then yes that was me! Its nice to think that someone watched and liked what I was doing enough to buy some of the same type of kit and have a go at them. I hope to post up some completed build photos of these birds soon. As for the F-14 the kit is in the same purple plastic as its smaller cousin but has some nice added goodies with it. If your interested I could do a review of it for you. Don't pay any attention to the guys ribbing you over the builds, this is your hobby, do what you enjoy doing! Anyway I went for the full experience and bought the pink F-22 Idolm@ster as well.

[EagleOnyx]

haha! that's awesome! thanks for the video again. I would love to see a review of the 1/48 version actually. I have thought about making some review videos myself but most of the stuff I buy usually has reviews out there already. I bought the 1/48 F-2A and F-16 just because HLJ has them for less than $15 each right now. I have them in 1/72 already, so I may or may not buy standard aftermarket decals for them. TBD. I have nearly the whole collection of Idolmaster in 1/72 scale. The only ones I need are the F-22 Ver.1, F-15E Ver.2, SU-33 Ver.2 and just remembered the F-117 Ver. 1. As for the ribbing; it's expected! These jets are just too crazy for most! lol

I'm working on the decals for the F-14 now and the stripes are the worst part man. You just need to use SO much patience because they WILL settle down over the bumps but... the impatience dark side is strong and you just want to force them before they are ready. I put the vertical stab decals on the wrong side (it's not glued to the jet yet) but thankfully I was able to pull it off without damage and put it on the correct side. I keep wanting to just spray the stripes thinking it would be easier to mask them but it probably wouldn't be. IDK.

[EagleOnyx]

Update time! This is to chronicle the main character decal, and the "fun" you get to have making it work! (it just takes patience, really)


Decal in place!


You can see all the lumps it needs to settle over


It needed a slice here but my knife wasn't sharp enough so the decal tore. Don't worry, the torn section of the vert stab gets painted white anyway.


I tore this side a little also. Same thing, that part gets turned white later. no worries


I'm not sure why they made the characters head end up here but it has me worried. There are insert decal pieces that fit over the bypass door and those two ribs. Yikes on the ribs!


other end


Had to cut a little here


This is after a short time under Mr. Mark Softer, maybe 30 mins?


close up, 30 mins appx


The design decal must make leaps here!


It went down fine though!

[EagleOnyx]

More updates!



these are the insert decals that go over the ribs! What I did was line them up on the inside edges, making sure the parts that overlap the face line up as perfect as possible. it will look terrible if the face is distorted so it's crucial that those lines match up. at this point only the inside edges are stuck down and the rest of the decal is "free floating" with Mr. Mark Softer working on it.


Low angle shot, same time as previous pic.


This one shows it better



From the other side. Patience patience patience. let the decal solvent work its magic.





After a while the solvent starts to soften the decal and you can slowly start molding it into place. Don't rush! You can easily tear it at this point! I just gently massaged it down a little, applied more Mark Softer and waited.


still working it.


Lookin' Good! I should have timestamped the photos, I think this is after an hour or two...


almost there


I think it's done! I'm amazed that it worked!


close up



Schnazzy!


This side of the decal came up a little short in the end. you can see the purple basecoat under there. oh well. it's still hard to see it. It was really tough to get all the lines of those decals to line up over that hump.

[EagleOnyx]

On this kit I had decided I wanted to paint the white lines because some of the white decals didn't fit good enough. I sprayed a layer of clear over the decals that were installed and then masked to paint the white parts. I ran into a snafu on one of the wings because I apparently didn't apply enough clear coat. When I removed the masking tape it snatched 90% of the lower wing decal off with it! it was one of the highly decorated decals too. Thanfully I have 4 copies of this F-14 (only intend to do the one in Idolmaster decals, the others will get normal paint schemes) so I had a spare sheet. I must stop using harbor freight "low tac painters tape" it has too much tac! I don't have a picture of that, but I was able to fix it!

Now the jet is nearly complete! I spent about an hour painting those engines, I used 5 different colors including hot metal red and blue but you can barely tell....



Sorry this one was blurry











SCCCCCCCCCCCWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[CJSomerset]

WOW.. I've never seen one of these before, in fact I don't think I've ever seen anything like this! It's more decal than model! Great work though, can't wait to see it unmasked.