[TopHat]

Anybody up for a Ford versus Chevy thread?

[SKUNKY]

That would be about the same as trash vs. rubbish

[Louie]

ABCDEFG won't you come and enjoy collecting these cool little models with me.

Good points all, this is probably a healthy but endless debate. Phantom was originally asking about build quality and structure(molding). He was not asking about paint and markings but the thread steered hard in those directions. The planes are both very nice and if I loved the F-14 that much and wasn't so cheap I would get a Century F-14. I don't so I probably won't. Let's not get our feelings hurt or get too political. It is sad these longer threads eventually start to deteriorate into tit for tats. Objectivity is difficult enough and none of us is an expert on the F-14 are we? This hobby was alot more fun a year ago before some serious rivet counting started to occur on a frequent basis taking the joy away from the less discriminating modern jet collectors including myself. It does get pretty intense IMHO and may cause sales to drop and before long the offerings will start to shrink or possibly disappear. The movie Top Gun was chock full of innacurracies but had someone sat next to me and pointed them all out would I have enjoyed it as much or even wanted to buy the vhs tape?

[mustangdriver]

I did not mean for that to get crazy, I fell that there are historic airframes to be done. I hope no one took offense.

[STARMAN 352ND]

Originally Posted by Louie

none of us is an expert on the F-14 are we?

Well i have great knowlege on the F-14A because i was around them alot during the time my father was in the the service...Now my bro is a expert because he flew them and now flys the F-18's.
All in all we are different type of collectors.Some don't care about the little things and some do.
To me it's just a hobby i enjoy and i'm happy with what i have...
Plus i have bought from many of you guys Louie,Mustang,HWorth and others
and that what makes this hobby fun.
Now let's not talk about Ford or chevy that will never end....

[RJLee]

I apologize for being crabby. I read some of the hyperbole toward the end of the thread about Phantom's new Witty as being unkind. I do think that there is a subtle but important difference in tone between "this F-14 has too few rivets" and "even an idiot can see that this F-14 has too few rivets," but that's probably a matter of expressive style rather than any ill intent.

Enough of that. I received the Century VF-154 NF101 today, and she is a beauty. The new external stores come with their unique pylons/adapters molded on, so they plug beautifully into the existing weapons stations without creating an excess of fiddly parts. The result -- a scruffy, low-viz, LANTIRN'd and LGB'd wartime Bombcat at the twilight of its career -- is mean-looking and really stands apart. Pictures to follow.

[Panther10]

Just out of curiosity, do the weapons of the FOV F-14 fit on the Century F-14?

[RJLee]

Originally Posted by Panther10

Just out of curiosity, do the weapons of the FOV F-14 fit on the Century F-14?

I don't think so, unfortunately. The distance between the pins on the Phoenix pallets of the FOV is about 2mm more than on the Century, so the bombs and Phoenix missiles won't be interchangeable. The LANTIRN pod has a unique pin-and-slot arrangement on the Century VF-154 that has no analog on the FOV. It's possible that the Sidewinders and Sparrows might fit, however (haven't tried it, as there really isn't a shortage of either missile with these kits).

This is too bad, as the Century comes with 2 LGBs, 2 JDAMs, and 4 Mk 83s. I was hoping to put a pair of Mk 83 dumb bombs on the LANTIRN-less FOV VF-154 to configure it as an armed TARPS airplane.

[PappyB]

Originally Posted by RJLee

I apologize for being crabby. I read some of the hyperbole toward the end of the thread about Phantom's new Witty as being unkind. I do think that there is a subtle but important difference in tone between "this F-14 has too few rivets" and "even an idiot can see that this F-14 has too few rivets," but that's probably a matter of expressive style rather than any ill intent.

Enough of that. I received the Century VF-154 NF101 today, and she is a beauty. The new external stores come with their unique pylons/adapters molded on, so they plug beautifully into the existing weapons stations without creating an excess of fiddly parts. The result -- a scruffy, low-viz, LANTIRN'd and LGB'd wartime Bombcat at the twilight of its career -- is mean-looking and really stands apart. Pictures to follow.

Is the only difference between 154 nf100 and nf101 that 101 has the launch configuration? Looking at the pics on TFM they're both show with swept wings

(As you can see, I'm getting slowly pulled into the Century Wings party... though I think I'll opt for the first Jolly Rogers in launch config... though I do like the gritty look of the 154s... )

[RJLee]

Originally Posted by PappyB

Is the only difference between 154 nf100 and nf101 that 101 has the launch configuration? Looking at the pics on TFM they're both show with swept wings

I believe that the only difference between NF100 and NF101 are the markings (I don't have NF100, so it's possible that there is some variation in the external stores). Neither is in launch configuration; to date, the "kneeling" configuration is unique to the VF-84 AJ202.