Tomcat "Catapult shot" - callsign 'Bullet 100' - F-14D of VF2, USS Constellation

I can't believe I haven't blogged in so long..hasn't stopped me building though.

CAG Tomcat of VF-2  USS Constellation preparing for launch (Wikimedia commons)

Of all the 1/72 Tomcats I've built lately, this along with the Airfix kit has probably been the most rewarding. This is the standard Revell 1/72 F-14D Tomcat that I first started two or three years ago..

At the time, I thought that converting it to a catapult launching Tomcat would be easy.





But the more I worked on it, the less enthusiasm I had and this build stalled on my shelf of doom....

Fast forward a couple of years to late last year and I thought she deserved
better treatment than this! So with renewed enthusiasm, I set about bringing
her back to life.

Cutting out the kit wing bladders (wings swept back mode)

Wing forward swept bladders added..

Modified wing sealing bladders (from a Hasegawa kit)

Decals on the tails and the modified kit wings.

Weathering the wings - step 1

step 2

Step 3 - done

And here she is all finished....really happy how she turned out, considering the state I had left it in.

Kit: 04195 Revell 1/72 F-14D Tomcat

Paints: All brush painted - Revell Aqua Colour acrylics, Future, Flory Models wash, W&N Matt Varnish

Decals: From Hobby Boss F-14D kit for BuNo163894 VF-2 Bounty Hunters, CAG jet USS Constellation

Extras:

Hasegawa - pilots, wing sweep bladders, BOL rails, Lantirn pod and weapons

Hobby Boss - catapult nose gear

Wing slats/flaps - kits' own and scratchbuilt

The real a/c was delivered to the US Navy in 1990 and served with a couple of squadrons before transferring to VF-2 squadron aboard USS Constellation in the late 90s. In 2001, the plane became the CAG jet with the callsign 'Bullet 100' and dropped over 55 bombs during operations in Iraq in 2003. The big stripe markings apparently are called 'Langley Stripes', in honour of when this squadron served in the 1920s aboard the USS Langley, the first American aircraft carrier.