Grumman F-14D TOMCAT
Carrier-borne Fighter (VF-31)
Hasegawa 1:72
by Don Murphy
FIGHTING THREE ONE
Squadron Name: The Tomcatters
Call Sign: Cat
Date Received First Tomcat: 22 January 1981
Fleet Location: Atlantic
Date Disbanded: September 22, 2006
Kit: Hasegawa F-14D Tomcat "25th Anniversary" in 1/72nd scale
At 61 years of age VF-31 is the second oldest continuously active US
Navy aircraft squadron. Originally established as VF-1B on 1st July
1935 the squadron received it's current designation in August 1948.
Before converting to the F-14, VF-31 had a notable history, being the
only US squadron (of all three air arms) to score confirmed kills in
three wars, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. VF-31's association with
their namesake, the F-14 Tomcat, began in January 1981. In honor of
the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Midway and the Doolittle Raid,
USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln hosted celebrations. USS Carl
Vinson hosted the Doolittle Raiders while the USS Abraham Lincoln went
to Midway. VF-31 painted her birds in 1942 colors complete with
"meatball" markings. Ignoring existent Navy regs on high versus low
visibility, the fourteen birds went glossy hi-viz with crimson tails
and huge Felix the Cat markings.
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Our kit is the first ever
Hasegawa F-14D kit which is the old standard "Grim Reapers" kit but
packaged as a special commemorative kit for VF-2's 25th anniversry.
The cockpit is stunning in all respects with decals or photoetched
panels for the control areas. The only gripe would be that Hasegawa do
not give you the distinctive "horns" that go on the tops of the
ejection seats that the D model Tomcats are equipped with. Scrap brass
does the trick.
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The RIO's portion of the
cockpit is expertly done and rivals any aftermarket resin if you take
your time. The entire cockpit is Testor's Modelmaster Dark Ghost Grey.
The individual cockpit control panels are Polyscale Night Black overall
with Testor's Modelmaster Insignia Yellow and Polyscale U.S. Navy Light
Grey for the individual control panel knobs and switches. The seat
belts are molded on to the seats, but nothing you can't live with.
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"Felix" is normally white
inside a black ball and the ball is normally the only tail marking.
For this scheme, they chose scarlet tails with a larger "Felix." Also
note the "E" inside the cannon ball signifying a battle efficiency
award. I chose to build this model with the wings folded back. Note
the "meatball" markings on the wing tops. The bottom wings would sport
the normal U.S. Navy hi-visibility national markings under the normal
wing.
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The engine exhaust cans for
the GE F110 engines contain six petals each and are painted in Testor's
Modelmaster Jet Exhaust. The insides of the air brake wells are
Testor's Modelmaster Gloss White. The red brake edges are courtesy of
the new Testor's Modelmaster Paint Pens; Insignia Red in this case.
Few manufacturers produce Tomcat kits in any scale with open airbrake
options, so as a general rule, I build them open every chance I get.
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The hi-viz markings for
this cruise were one-off and upon the squadron's return to port, the
normal black or grey tail with normal "Felix" inside the black ball,
would be the markings of the day. The "NK" marking signifies the
fleet, in this case, the Pacific Fleet. The squadron painter's
original artwork called for red and white stripes on the rudder, but
the idea was nixed at the last minute. The overall color of the plane
is Tamiya Haze Grey which replicates what VF-31 birds looked like at
Midway.
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The pilot's area is just as
stuffed with detail. Here you can see some photo etched seat belts,
painted Tamiya Khaki Drab. The Hasegawa seats themselves are five
pieces each and they look pretty good when done. Care should be taken
when building though as they don't quite fit in the cockpit once
painted. A little sanding of the seat's lower area takes care of the
fit. The actual seat itself is nothing more than a survival kit with a
thin cushion over it. Hasegawa does not mold this detail into the
seat, but you can take care of it with your paint. I chose to paint
the survival kit portion grey (though you can also use silver) and the
cushion part Tamiya Dark Earth. The cushions can also be a variety of
colors. Check your resources.
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The bottom of the boat-tail
contains some interesting bits and pieces including the
flare/pyrotechnics bay. You can leave it covered over with plastic or
you can remove the plastic cover or you can just glue the photoetched
bay piece over the cover (which is what I did). Fleet birds never have
the cover closed. Even Revell (of all people) mold the bay open, so
I'm not sure why Hasegawa went that route. The inside of the flare bay
is Insignia Yellow.
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The sharp end of the Tomcat
is pretty brutal. The occasions being celebrated were the Battle of
Midway, the Doolittle Raid and sadly, the last flight of the Grumman
A-6E Intruder. Though the F/A-18 Hornet had been in the fleet for some
time, it's performance at replacing the Intruder was less than stellar.
The Intruders were all weather birds. The bugs were not. In a last
ditch bid to kill the bug's overall acceptance, two VF-31 birds "bombed
up," launched and recovered with twenty four MK-20 Rockeye cluster
bombs. All that a viciously evil mach 2. Funny enough, this part of
the kit was the most expensive as four Hasegawa Aircraft In Action
Weapon Set 2's were needed.
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The finished product was
quite intimidating and although the drafter of that plan didn't succeed
in keeping the bug from fleetwide acceptance, it did prolong the
Tomcat's life another ten to twelve years. Initial Navy plans were for
the Tomcat to be retired in the 1990's. Word got around and soon, all
squadrons were being referred to as "bombcats." Carrying air to ground
ordnance would breathe new life into the big Grumman bird.
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This particular bird would
make the last Tomcat flight in 2006. This kit is one of several
high-end Hasegawa's that I have, so there really - at this point -
aren't any surprises or hissy fit material. For my last D model, I'll
do a detailed build article. For the money though, there's not much to
gripe about and this bird was easily built one Saturday when I had the
house all to myself.
Cheers,
Don
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