**** DONE: 1/40 Grumman F-14 "Tomcat" - Carrier Aircraft GB

[Airframes]

Nice work Charles, it's going to look great with all the colours on.

 

[N4521U]

A bit of all right!

 

[ccheese]

Wojtek was kind enough to send me a pic of what the rudder will look like. I fiddled with it til I got the correct size, then made a decal. I remembered to coat the decal with clear before putting it in the warm water. Had to do a bit of touch up, but this is how the port rudder will look.

Is that cool, or what ?

Charles

 

[meatloaf109]

Very!

 

[Gnomey]

Looks good so far Charles!

 

[Lucky13]

Looks great Mr. C!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Super cool Charles………..super cool.

 

[Wayne Little]

Awesome!

 

[ccheese]

Got the decals on, but I can't say that I am pleased. These are not the warm water decals we all know so well. These are peel and stick. Once they touch a surface, it's there to stay. I tried moving one and it brought up some paint, so I left it alone. Rubbish !!

Sidewinders are next, while I wait for the canopy to arrive.

Charles

 

[Matt308]

I'm still amazed that wood and tissue can mimic compound curves like that on an F-14. Amazing work. Where do you keep all your finished birds, Mr. C? An F-14 in 1/40th scale has to pretty dang big to match the WAF (wife acceptance factor).

 

[Airframes]

Problems with decals or not, it's really looking the part now Charles. For future use, you can still make your own water-slide decals, on your PC printer, by using the appropriate decal paper (ink jet or laser). This is available in clear or white, but of course you can't print white subjects onto the clear version. Best place to get it from is a computer paper suppliers, or similar, as it'll be a fraction of the cost compared to a modelling outlet.
I use a UK company, only purchasing a couple of sheets at a time, but they also supply pack quantities, and can supply world wide, if you can't find the stuff locally.
Beats the heck out of making decals the old way, on gummed paper - which I'm sure you've done in the past!
Matt - love that 'WAF' term !!

 

[ccheese]

Matt: My finished models are all ceiling hangers, in the garage. I hang them at different heights, so I can crowd them together. The Tomcat is just a bit over 18 inches long. Terry, I know about the make it yourself decals, I used them on the floatplane. Didn't realize these were peel an stick til after I had soaked one for 20 minutes !

Here's one of the pic's I forgot to put up earlier.

Charles

 

[meatloaf109]

They look straight. Great color scheme!

 

[Rogi]

Yeah it looks great, keep it coming, can't wait for the canopy

 

[Airframes]

Looking better all the time Charles. Bet that was a surprise, when you found out about the decals after soaking them !!

 

[Wayne Little]

STILL looks damn good Charles!

 

[rochie]

looks damn good to me Charles

 

[ccheese]

Used a heat gun (read: hair dryer) to remove the 200's from the ailerons, and will use the 200's Wojtek sent me. Also removed a bit of paint, and the touch up is drying. Will put the other 200 on it tomorrow, after the paint sets up. Applied the decal to the starboard rudder and the 00's to the yellow rudder tips. Thought about using the hair dryer to remove the front decal on the port side, which is off a bit, but decided against it. If I screw up the decal, I don't have another. Pic's later...

No mail today, it's Columbus Day ! So maybe I get the canopy tomorrow.

Charles

 

[Wurger]

the front decal on the port side.... Do you mean the front strip and the US Star marking on that?

 

[Gnomey]

Coming along nicely Charles!