[jetlover]

Well, the price is 7140 yen, which is about US$70!

[Kaptin_Kirk]

Plus shipping will probably be just a little under $100.

[RJLee]

I just got a note from Century Wings -- apparently there will be a series of 1/72 Tomcats being released over the next year (starting with the VF-84 items next month):

- F-14A, VF-84 "Jolly Rogers", AJ200, circa 1978 (Nov. 2006)
- F-14A, VF-84 "Jolly Rogers", AJ202, circa 1978 (Nov. 2006)
- F-14A, VF-21 "Freelancers", NF200, circa 1995 (Nov. 2006)
- F-14A, VF-154 "Black Knights", NF100/101, circa 2003 (2007, production sample)
- F-14A, VF-154 "Black Knights", NF100, circa 2000 (2007, master sample)
- F-14D, VF-101 "Grim Reapers", AD164, circa 2000 or 2004 (2007, master sample)

So, a very interesting assortment -- VF-21 and VF-154 were the two Tomcat units based in Japan (VF-21 was commanded by "Heater" Heatley, of The Cutting Edge fame, during Operation Desert Shield, before being shut down around 1995). The VF-101 airplane was the showbird for the Tomcat RAG -- probably the one with the sharkmouth, black tail with large white grim reaper.

Not sure about pricing; they promised to generate a quote for me when they were ready to ship. Default shipping is at-cost through EMS, though they can do FedEx or UPS if you have an account they can bill through (I've never purchased from Japan before -- is it really $100 to ship to the U.S.?) They also mentioned that they were in the process of looking for a U.S. distributor, which is good news.

[zed550]

thanks for the info,who did you get it from?very interested in these.i have purchased from topgun before and found them to be very good.

[RJLee]

Oh, one last thing: I don't think that these are the same molds used by FOV. The nosegear, for instance, doesn't have the "filled in" error that appears in FOV's VF-154 F-14A. Based on preproduction photos the panel line engraving also appears to be deeper (kind of like Revell's prior offerings), but with less of a weathered look. The only downside is that I'm not sure that the canopies open (which, in the case of the flaps-down "kneeling" F-14A is just fine).

Liveries and loadouts appear to be very nice. For those of you who want to see gray Navy airplanes, these are still all CAG/squadron commander aircraft but the VF-154 airplanes are fairly muted -- tail contains red markings on gray but the remainder of the airplane is all low-viz gray-on-gray. Also the VF-154 airplanes carry a bomb loadout -- NF100 carries an LGB and LANTIRN pod, while NF101 has at least one JDAM.

I've still got my eye on the "kneeling" high-viz VF-84 F-14A, though...

[RJLee]

Originally Posted by zed550

thanks for the info,who did you get it from?very interested in these.i have purchased from topgun before and found them to be very good.

One Mr. Yoshi Urata, GM of the TopGun division of CenturyCorp, who was kind enough to respond in detail to my email query. He says the VF-84 articles will be ready in mid-November, and VF-21 in late November.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Thanks for the info RJ on the F-14's.
I would like to get both of the Jolly Rogers fighters
since i have every Jolly Rogers fighter ever made
from WWII to Present.
JP

[SKUNKY]

Originally Posted by STARMAN 352ND

.....i have every Jolly Rogers fighter ever made
from WWII to Present.
JP

Are you sure you're not Nukie?...

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by SKUNKY

Are you sure you're not Nukie?...

Sorry Skunky nope......I just love the skulls and Crossbones fighter which started way back when i was a kid and saw a F-4 Jolly Rogers up close and personal right in the cockpit at the base my father was station at during a show and it's stuck on me since............Just like Mustang said on another thread.......Raw Power that F-4 had.
The F-14 is retired now so i want the FOV Jolly Rogers too
JP

[zed550]

still positive these are the new fov mould as topgun had the vf154 version produced for them in a slightly different box and it was available quite awhile before the general release.perhaps they have refined the errors with the filled in areas on the nosegear.no matter what they look good will have to see if they need a uk seller