As the U.S. Navy’s previous generation air superiority fighter, the F-14 is
still held in high regard. Her radar and long range surpassed all other
fighters of the period and her variable-sweep wing maintained her
advantage in a dog fight. During the Cold War, her mission was to
intercept enemy bombers and protect U.S. carriers. After 2000 with
shifting priorities, F-14s started to add ground attack missions to the
portfolio. ‘Tomcat’ not only displayed performance, but also displayed
some beautiful markings from different squadrons. It became a
wonderful ‘landscape’ image on the decks of carriers. F-14Bs in VF-
squadron painted Jolly Roger on their vertical tails, which was inherited
from VF-17 in WWII, and became an almost spiritual symbol for the
crews. Desperate to build my own Tomcat, I used Hasegawa’s 1:48 F-
14B VF-103 Final Cruise kit released in 2005. This command aircraft
of VF 103 finished her final cruise and retired in 2005. I put my
heart and soul into this model to show my great respect to
this mighty warrior of aviation history.
tina meador
(Tina Meador)
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