[zed550]

ok dont want to have a fallout out with our resident tomcat expert but your complaints/comments have now appeared to gone out of control.
the prepro picture's are just that,a century casting showing you what the sundowners versions markings shall look like.
it is not and i repeat not the finished model/version.
these pictures were kindly sent to me by yoshi just after he had made this mockup.he has been very kind to allow me to post these for you to see along with any info before the general market as seen them.
unfortunately the decision as now been made that any prepro shots will now not be allowed to be posted on this forum as yoshi feels some of the comments will hurt the positive feedback and aclaim that century have built up in the last few months.
yoshi knows the f-14 very well and i am sure nothing is not researched by him before he commits to the final product.
sometimes unfortunately compromises have to be made due to cost,production,etc
i am sorry to have to make this post but i feel i owe it to yoshi and century wings for the good work,vision, generosity and help they have shown to me in the short time they have been in the diecast market.
remember this is a hobby and should remain so.

[flyXwire]

Originally Posted by zed550

ok dont want to have a fallout out with our resident tomcat expert but your complaints/comments have now appeared to gone out of control.
the prepro picture's are just that,a century casting showing you what the sundowners versions markings shall look like.
it is not and i repeat not the finished model/version.
these pictures were kindly sent to me by yoshi just after he had made this mockup.he has been very kind to allow me to post these for you to see along with any info before the general market as seen them.
unfortunately the decision as now been made that any prepro shots will now not be allowed to be posted on this forum as yoshi feels some of the comments will hurt the positive feedback and aclaim that century have built up in the last few months.
yoshi knows the f-14 very well and i am sure nothing is not researched by him before he commits to the final product.
sometimes unfortunately compromises have to be made due to cost,production,etc
i am sorry to have to make this post but i feel i owe it to yoshi and century wings for the good work,vision, generosity and help they have shown to me in the short time they have been in the diecast market.
remember this is a hobby and should remain so.

Thank you, zed550. I am continueally scratching my head with this constant whinning of errors I just try to ignore it. I'm sick of it!

[mustangdriver]

So is Miss Molly the one that they are going to make? I would love to see that one with that cool nose art.

[STARMAN 352ND]

To:Zed550 & Mr.Yoshi
Well don't worry Mr Yoshi we have more faith in you with your F-14 Tomcats then you will ever know..
To date you and Century Wings has put out the best F-14 on the market today....many others and i in the aviation
world are very thankfull for it..I know this because my brother flew the F-14's for years before moving over to the F-18 and his fellow Sqn pilots love the Tomcats you have done.
You should be proud of the great workmanship you have done..
We look forward to many more great fighters from Century Wings in the future.
Thanks for making a product that we can enjoy.
JP

[TopHat]

Originally Posted by David Hingtgen

I'm just pointing it out as early as possible----the sooner something is spotted, the more likely there's time to fix it. Sometimes they seem to fix things the next week----other times a pointed-out error still makes it through, 6 months later. We know Century does have a correct forward fuselage mold for this model, we just need to make sure they use it, and not the one they used for the pre-production sample.

Agreed!

[zed550]

thanks for your comments guys
i am sure yoshi will feel alot better once he has seen your comments
we cant have everything perfect in this world but some people will try damn hard.
by the way which sqn was he flying with?
does anyone look at the tomcat-sunset forum?

[David Hingtgen]

In all the years I've been at diecast forums, I have yet to see a company stop putting up sample pics because someone pointed out an error-----but I have seen many errors fixed prior to production because people pointed them out on early samples.

If the model had been very inaccurate (i.e. looking like a Dragon or Witty), I would have immediately assumed it was a simple mock-up to test the paint scheme using whatever F-14 parts they had laying around, and that the final version would have been as accurate as all of Century's other releases. But since it was already very accurate with only a single issue I could see----I pointed out the one thing that would have made it just right.

I think that says a lot----that even a *paint-test sample* from Century is much more accurate than Dragon and Witty's final releases. I mean, this is the first time even on a sample that I've seen anything on a Century to even talk about, mold-wise. If it ended up being just like the pics posted---it'd still be the most accurate VF-111 diecast model ever.

A big part of it is that the "it's nearly finished" comment accompanying the pictures had me very worried that my absolute favorite scheme/plane was going to end up being just like in the photos---and an opportunity to have it finally done right after all these years would be lost if I didn't speak up about the gun vents. If it had said "we're months from production, this is just a paint test"----that wouldn't have had me worried, as I've seen how good Century is at getting the physical (and paint) differences correct. But when something is introduced as "near final" and there's an error with my single most-wanted release....

Personally, I think pulling all future sample pics based on one comment about one error from one pic of one release is a bit much. Do all the months of praise of their other releases count for nothing? All the pics I uploaded showing what they did right that Witty and Dragon didn't? I don't know of any company that's ever pulled all their "advertising" based on their first ever negative comment of a pre-production sample.

[mustangdriver]

I don't think it is a big deal. Most won't care, and the few that do like yourself(not that there is anything wrong with that) by voicing what you did might get it changed. You did it tastefully, and did not bash them. They make a sweet F-14 and maybe it will be changed, maybe not.

[David Hingtgen]

Oh, I forgot to answer your question-----it is the plane that is Miss Molly, but it is one year prior to it getting the Miss Molly markings. So it won't have the nose art. It'd be nice if they did Miss Molly as well, as Dragon didn't do a very good job on their version. Miss Molly has different crew names, besides the nose art.

And for those who want some low-vis planes, check this out----the low-vis version of the 1981 scheme----1981 is easily spotted by having a unique sunburst.

[mustangdriver]

I wonder if there is any way to get them to add the Miss Molly markings or is there a decal sheet that I can buy?