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GROUP BUILD ENTRY no.15
Raffle no. 15

1/48 Academy F-14A
VF-32 Swordsmen, 'Gypsie 200'
by David Bey
Singapore

This is the Academy 1/48 F-14a kit with an Eduard detail set, the rest is OOB. decals are Aeromaster 'Anytime Babe! pt 8'. They're thin, great to work with, but you gotta cut them up a little to get them to fit the Academy kit.

i built this scheme because I thought it was one of the more attractive schemes in light gull gray overall.

the kit was easy to work with, well fitting in most places. includes 6 phoenixes and 4 sparrows and 2 sidewinders, so you can do almost any loadout. includes tarps pod, and 2 sets of nozzles open and closed.  Much has been said about the shortcomings of this kit, I found it not too bad, had to reshape the nose and rescribe the forward fuselage, but forgot to do the nose pitot tube. rescribe detail was taken from Hasegawa's f-14a, used it as a template for measurements etc.

Wing gloves cracked open when I put in the wings after painting and all (Ii made the necessary holes and gaps to slot that in), so I wasn't too happy about that. missiles have really bad seam lines sometimes, esp. the phoenixes. sidewinders are copies of monograms, sparrows look like copies from Hasegawa weapons sets.  it's a lot like the Monogram kit in some areas, e.g., cockpit and wheel wells, but equally as fun.

Weathering was kept to a minimum as she looked pretty clean in most photos... it's a showbird, so it wouldn't be filthy.

i opted for a full air to air config of 2-4-2.  Ii asked Darren Roberts for his opinions on the colour of the Phoenixes and the sparrows and sidewinders, he said they were transitioning at that period and would have been a mix of colours, and suggested doing that to liven things up. so there, one single Phoenix in white, the rest in gray... thanks Darren!

The decals for all the missiles came from the RoG Vandy One kit, and my Vandy One was bare of ordnance, so Ii used the decals here  The pit... Eduard detail set and nothing else.  Reminder to self - Eduard details sets have many many
redundant parts that I don't need!  I used a lens from Gundam wave option, painted clear green.  Canopy was masked with Eduard EZmasked-shaped Tamiya tape.

http://s102164210.onlinehome.us/forums/index.php?showtopic=46014 for more pictures.

Thanks!

Copyright 2005 by David Bey

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