Monogram 1:48 F14 Tomcat

[qeialto]

Hello,
I'm going to share with you this build that means a lot to me. I purchased this kit with my Father many years back, I think around 1989 or a bit later and we were supposed to assemble it together. For some reasons we did not started immediately and some time later he passed away.
I'm now more or less the same age he was when we purchased it, it's time to take responsibility and simply do it to the best of my capabilities.



As far as I can see I suppose the kit was decent for that time, photo etched parts are still inside and will be part of the built.



The decals appears to be a bit old, hope can still stick to the model, I'm thinking to purchase an after-market but if I do, it won't be the same, I need to think about it. As you can see, very few decals given the size of the kit, it really shows how the times and the kits have changed.



The instruction sheet is still ok, a bit of holes and time consumption here and there but not a big issue. Again is visible the difference in how the kits were engineered and built looking at the 4th picture, a very few pieces compared to the monsters you find today...









Now I'll start assembling it, wish me luck and patience
Cheers,
Antonio

[qeialto]

Just a short update.

The kit shows the signs of the time and also the quality is debatable... Scratches all over the places, the box has been stored into some box for a long time, no surprises here.
What makes me really laugh is the logo and the tm sign on the external part of the kit, as well as other nice signs, that will require lots of sanding...









Cheers,
Antonio

[Sturm]

Umm... I don't mean to discourage you but I had this old monogram kit with different box art but same molds and it's a beast. Prepare to use filler as there are HUGE gaps when connecting the upper fuselage with the lower, alot of fit issues too. Your a brave man attempting to build this kit, I salute you! Good luck.

It's weird though, me and my dad were suppose to build this kit together as well but we never got around to it. Eventually I tried to do it on my own but never finished it. I still have the kit...I think.

[Avgas]

Good luck Antonio. Doesn't matter if it's a pig of a kit, I'm sure your old man would be proud of your build.

[Paul]

Good buddy I'm sure you will do you dad proud, as for the decals I'm sure you can get an aftermarket set to watch those if you look around

[qeialto]

Umm... I don't mean to discourage you but I had this old monogram kit with different box art but same molds and it's a beast. Prepare to use filler as there are HUGE gaps when connecting the upper fuselage with the lower, alot of fit issues too. Your a brave man attempting to build this kit, I salute you! Good luck.

It's weird though, me and my dad were suppose to build this kit together as well but we never got around to it. Eventually I tried to do it on my own but never finished it. I still have the kit...I think.

Thanks Mate, I already see this to be a LOT of sanding and Mr Surfacer and Putty and so on.... We have something in common

[Nige201980]

Good luck with the build mate.

[qeialto]

Hi there,
An update, as planned reality kicks in and first issues comes around...
Due to age, transportation or for whatever reason, one part of the cockpit seat is missing, I'll have to go for a workaround but will be with much less details...



I'll snap a small piece of plastic and will fill the gap. Not the best but hopefully will not be so visible.



I then started to glue the wings, actually I'm terrified by the dry fitting and how the wings will fit into the main body, but that is for the future to worry about. Details are not really the best and fitting as well, as someone already suggested, there will be lot of puttying and sanding...







Until next, cheers.
Antonio

[qeialto]

I did some studies on the VF-33, I think I'll go with the original decals and will take the chance...
Below 2 pictures I found on the web of how it should look like





Will see how it goes, will be fun...

[qeialto]

I'm back from the US, have some time to work on the model and use some of the stuff I took over there.

So, I decided to prime and paint the wings separately from the main body in order to have more accuracy.



As the glueing of the main body with the wings is going to be really tricky, I decided to pre-glue the rear part of the fuselage and later prime and paint it. Once all is be done, I'll connect the wings to the fuselage and will move it from there.






Started the masking of the canopy



And will use the new masking tape I took in the US, the vendor said that is great stuff, will see



New decals taken in the US as well, I'll have to study if the original painting I was planning is still applicable...

[qeialto]

Another small update, as anticipated this kit is proving to take lot of time in working out so many details, far from being a "perfect fit" kind of kit....

So, I painted the engines part with the Vallejo metallic colours, as always great stuff to spray:









Other step is that I decided to start glueing the main body and include the wings. A bit tricky I must admit.... The alignment of the parts is not really top notch, I've to see how to sand and fill the gaps, will be kind of fun...



As you can see I've already prepainted the wings, but I'm 99% sure that I'll have to paint again as many corrections will be required due to the sanding and fillings...





As you see from the images above, there is some alignment issue that I'll have to sort out.
Until next, have a good time.
Antonio

[qeialto]

Hi there,
Another update, the whole week has been spent on sanding, filling, sanding, aligning and all this exciting stuff that I love about modelling

Eventually I managed to put all pieces together and give them some decent shape, but this kit is too poorly made for my modest capabilities, nevertheless the challenge is on ...

These pictures are just a small example of the mess...











A small progress on painting on some of the missiles:



And last but not least I managed to pour some drops of Ultimate Cleaner on the painted wing, this is the result... I hope I can paint on top of it and will be sorted out.



Until next...
Antonio

[Vinitine]

Nice going on getting this one to fit together. Just starting my Revell 1:48 F-15 and being on the cheaper side i am expecting some similar issues but look forward to conquering it.

[qeialto]

Good luck with that, I can understand the feeling

[qeialto]

Hi all,
Things are finally progressing in a good manner, eventually.... I can start painting after all the pains on fitting the parts....

This is just before spraying the black on the different parts of the fuselage



What happened is that the airbrush started to overspray and some parts have been painted, you can see that on the rear wing, when I removed the masking tape the nice effect came out... I'm a pure disaster...
I think I'll fix it by spraying a very diluted mix of thinner and tamiya smoke paint to give a bit of darker blend, will see...



The rest of the painting is kind of decent, some parts of the black paint went under the masking tape, again due to this overspray from the airbrush, I still have to sort out the pressure and I've the terrible fear to have damaged the airbrush during a complete cleaning process... Time will tell....







Now I'm decaling, so far so good.
Until next,
Cheers
Antonio

[EricM]

looking like quite the turkey! Looking forward to the finish! Well done

[qeialto]

Well, it's over, long process.
Panel lines are weathered with AK wash while the whole body is Ultimate wash dark dirt.

The left gear is out of alignment, I could find no way to fix it.
All in all I'm partly satisfied, the assembly process has been so painful that I've rushed a bit on the painting, I could have done better.













Cheers,
Antonio

[JudgeDredd]

Mate - she looks stunning. Well done.

I had a similar issue with an old kit (Me-262)...in the end, you can do what you can do and the finished article there looks stunning.

Good job...your dad would've been impressed with your tenacity and final result.

[qeialto]

Thank you Mate!

[PrivateMansoor]

Stunning mate, given the problems you had youve done really well. love the weathering.

[AtomicAndy]

Beautiful finish.

[qeialto]

Thank you all!

[Smiffy]

Top notch job on an old ill fitting kit, you Dad would be very proud indeed.