The Weapons – or lack of!!
As I mentioned at the start the lack of appropriate weapons has been well documented. The kit only has a typical ‘A’ model load out of Phoenix, Sparrows and Sidewinders. Options such as a targeting pod and some air to ground weaponry would have been nice. Fortunately, I have a rather large F-14 spares box from my previous Tamiya and AMK builds which provided me with more than enough store options. I chose a targeting pod for the right wing pylon and a ACMI and Sidewinder drill round for the left wing pylon. I opted to fit the forward Phoenix pallets but rather than fit the Phoenix missiles I fitted some Tamiya BRU’s into them.
The boarding ladder has great detail and I did drill out the holes but be careful if you do this as the ladder sides are very fragile and easily damaged. The kit has the option for the AAR probe to be extended. I used this option as I wanted to show all the options that were available on this kit.
The final part of the build was the canopy. I was really impressed with this as the detail far exceeds the Tamiya kit. The biggest difference in this kit is the canopy is made up from three main parts, the main frame, the lower frame and the clear glazing. This may put a lot of modellers off and I was a bit unsure of it as this part break down didn’t work that well in the AMK kit but in this kit the main frame and glazing parts clicked together perfectly. The clear parts are then held in place by the lower section of the canopy which can be glued to the upper frame without any chance of glue getting near the clear parts – very clever. It is also designed to be moveable so you can move it from the open to the closed position and vice versa if required. Just be careful when fitting this as care needs to be taken as the fit is very tight. The kit has a metal rod for the actuator which gives strength to this area and there are PE mirrors for the interior. With the canopy in place in calling this one done.
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Paul Ainsworth says
Hello,Dave – A magnificent build of the Tomcat.
One to be very proud of indeed.
May I ask how the GWH kit compares to the Tamiya kit as far as detail and ease of construction are concerned?
Best Regards,
Paul.
Daniel Beeden says
Fantastic build and a beautiful paint scheme. Great work