Up, up and away...

Tomcatters (VF-31) F-14 up and away from USS Theodore Roosevelt

Getting my feet wet with a scale modelling blog...

The title says it all.

I decided it was time to try blogging about my hobby and like my hobby, I hope it gets better over time.

When not working or being a Dad, I'm an aviation enthusiast and keen scale modeller. I think I've liked things with wings (and rotors) since my father first brought me to the airport.

Growing up in the '70s and watching old war movies with Dad (he liked history), I was drawn to the stories behind the great air battles that filled our screen on a Sunday afternoon - the Battle of Britain; the Dambusters; Tora Tora Tora; the Battle of Midway; Sink the Bismarck; the Bridges at Toko Ri......you get the picture. And when Airfix and Matchbox models entered my world in 1974, I could relive those battles and see up close the planes that filled my screen. Like many, the Spitfire and 109 were my first model kit choices but I was intrigued by carrier aviation - flying aircraft off (and landing on) a carrier was something cool when you're 7.

Soon, Wildcats and Hellcats, Zeros and Vals, Fireflys, Corsairs and Avengers were also on my hobby bench, flying around the garden, buzzing the family pet, getting holes poked in them with needles for battle damage (the planes, not our pet). I even think the Zero might have ended up getting some smoke damage from a candle!

From the above list, three names stand out as being iconic carrier aircraft from Grumman. And that brings me to the reason for this blog and how it links with my hobby.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of the last of Grumman's great line of carrier 'Cats' - the F-14 Tomcat.

And I'm going to spend most of next year building as many as I can in model form, in 1/72 scale.

I'll try to log all my builds here, along with some photos. And also maybe find some F-14 stories along the way to make it a bit more interesting.

Thanks for visiting.

Dermot