After finishing the electric work, I focused on detail
enhancement and modifications. I used Aries resin
undercarriage bays and exhaust nozzels, Eduard and
Dreammodel PE sets plenty of home-made
modifications. Since the F-14 is a variable sweep-wing
aircraft, there were wing glove sealing plates for both
wings to improve the aerodynamic characteristics.
Since all kits here regular styrene-plastic material, either
wings unfolded leave big gaps or wings have to be
folded which does not represent the vairable angles of
wings nor the sealing plates. I thought long and hard
and finally decided to use a very thin guage of sponge
wraped carefully in twill fabric. When the wings were
folded and they compressed the sponge, when they
were expanded the sponge automatically extends and
‘fills-up’ the gap as the actual aircraft. The fabric could
not be painted by airbrush because it would lose
elasticity. I taped these area and brushed with thinned
oil paints remaining flexible.
I found a suitable sized cell-phone camera lens for the
nose TCS camera, and in different angles you could see
different coloured polarized lights, something almost
impossible to achieve by other methods.
Lighting certainly adds another
dimension to the model.A suitably sized lens from an old mobile /
cell phone ads a touch of realism.Aires provided superb
detail to the wheel wells.Fine foam wrapped
in fabric provides
functioning sealing
panels without
unrealistic gaps.