[Dobber]

Man!!!! I'm so looking forward to monday when mine arrives!!! Also looking forward to seein the Mule putting the next few on preorder!

Chris

[David Hingtgen]

Got mine today, trying to figure out what to do to get the Phoenix pallets in nicely----they're tight enough that if I press hard to fully attach them, they'll never come out again. Either enlarge the holes, or shave down the pins.

Something no one else has mentioned: There are small grooves/gaps at the tips of the gear wells, to allow you to remove the gear doors! On a Dragon (and many Corgi), if you insert the closed gear doors---that's how it'll be forever, as you'll never get them out again without damage. You don't have that problem with the Century F-14.

Skysurfer--that's one of the few F-14 books I dont have. Will have to pick it up. I just watched The Final Countdown recently, and most of the good shots of 202 and 203 show a wavy line. (with grey flaps and stabs). But if you watch the whole movie you'll find even more variations, I think there's a decent shot of 204 in a really weird combo. IIRC 200 only shows up at the very beginning and very end. Need to go watch it again, though most of the shots of 200 are from head-on. If nothing else, that movie proves that F-14's roll with their stabilators (spoilers are used ONLY when the wings are outswept--when the wings are swept back absolutely nothing on the wings moves, all rolling is with the tail). Anyone know the exact filming dates of The Final Countdown? Because the scheme Century did is most likely Jan-Jul of 1978, and doesn't match Oct 1978.

Inside the box they print some possible weapon configurations-----they all conform to what's available for the VF-84 and VF-154 releases--except for the 6-Phoenix one they show---so that probably means they plan to release a plane with that! Note that the GBU-24 configuration they show isn't possible, and I've discussed it with Zed--they may change it for VF-154, or hopefully at least for Bombcats after VF-154.

[zed550]

the gbu 24 combination probably wont be changed for reasons i cant go into but i have found a picture of a vf154 jet in oif equipped with 1 gbu24 which as far as i can gather from dave is correct.they could only have one of the gbu24's on the forward pallets.
the best way of getting the pallets to fit is trim the pins down a bit as the holes in the fuselage dont always seem to be the same depth

[Dobber]

Zed, any idea when we may see some new Tomcats, like a B or D?

David, not sure about the filming dates either, but I too watched the movie the other day too and I couldn't find where I "thought" I had heard them say something about the colors of the birds. Don't know where I got that from.
I did notice the different schemes on the Tomcats though, like you mentioned. Some had the grey H stabs while others had the white. I didn't know that was when they were transitioning to the new colors. Well, till monday!!

Chris

[mustangdriver]

Did you guys know this little fun piece of trivia? During filming of the Final Coutdown, a T-6 "Zero" got too close to a Tomcat, and it actually blew a part off of the zero. I ditched in the ocean, and the pilot was unharmed.

[zed550]

a d model is planned but no dates as yet.all the releases will be available in japan first then the rest of the world will follow probably with some sort of a staggered release schedule ie one model a month or every two months this is what the uk distributer would like.if anyone does want the vf-84 launch model i would advise them to get one straight away as these sold out straight away in japan and i am not sure how many were available to the rest of the world.will email yoshi and ask if other launch versions are going to be done and if its possible to have both types of nosegear provided

[SKUNKY]

Originally Posted by mustangdriver

I ditched in the ocean, and the pilot was unharmed.

Good going, 'Stang!!...Glad you're okay.

[David Hingtgen]

Since the B model is going to be Grim Reapers demo, what will the D be? I'd certainly want the Bounty Hunters 2nd-to-last cruise CAG---that's the coolest Tomcat scheme in a long time, and best-looking D period. And Dragon totally screwed up theirs, no dual chinpod and bad colors--how hard is it to do USA-flag red/white/blue?

PS---2 GBU-24's is possible, just not the way Century shows it loaded. But still, it's a rare configuration that greatly limits what else you can put on the jet. GBU-12's or 16's would be much more common and useful--you can load them with almost anything in any combination. At least they provide Mk83's as well----they can also go anywhere.

PPS---I ended up shaving down the mounting pins for most weapons. Like Corgi planes---the hole and pin sizes are based on the actual mold, but when they get painted----too tight. So just shave off the paint on the mounting pins, and it's fine. The Century F-14 seemed to take a lot less work than any Corgi though.

Finally---I found that the forward Phoenix pallets have a distinct curve at the rear--they won't lie flat, and a big part of the reason is that the pins are only in the front half of the pallet, to fit the Sparrow mounts. I used the "heat with a lightbulb and bend" trick and fixed one perfectly, will do the other one tonight. Will post a write-up when I'm done.

Oh, found a paint error (as in, actually a mistake, not an accuracy thing)----the rear nosegear door for the extended gear is gull grey, instead of white. Will paint it white soon.

[mustangdriver]

I meant it ditched in the ocean, not me. I am fine.

[zed550]

gear door must have been a factory fault as both my 200 and 202 are white!