Here are the major components after spraying the topside Mr. Color gloss light gull gray. The wave pattern of the color demarcation line was done with masking tape cut a craft scissors. Then fit of the components was so tight that little glue or seam refinement was necessary.
Even decaling was done before merging all the subassemblies. The Cartograf decals fit perfectly and conformed to surface detail with Microscale Micro Sol.
I had to wait for delivery of the proper blue paint for the trim before decaling the fins, but here is the bottom view of the model and the last few items to be installed. The stripes on the missiles are all decals!
Before applying the topside color, I masked the canopy with Bare-Metal Foil and painted the framing and interior canopy structure flat black. Note the forward fuselage has the cockpit covered with Parafilm M.
Paul Boyer recently built Academy’s new-tool 1/72 scale F-14A Tomcat for a review you’ll see in the April 2020 FSM. In the meantime, here are few in-progress photos that give a sense of how nicely this Tomcat goes together.
Here’s the completed cockpit tub. Optional parts include instrument and console panels for this early production F-14A, and a set for an F-14D. These seats represent the original GRU-7A seats, but there are no harnesses. A few parts on the sprues are for the later NACES ejection seats.
To paint the white areas, I decanted Tamiya Fine White Primer into a bottle and applied to the model with an airbrush. This was easier to manage with the model still in subassembly stage. A coat or two of Mr. Color gloss white acrylic lacquer followed.
