1:48 F-14D Super Tomcat (for GWH kit)

The Tomcat at the peak of its powers

The letter D designates the strongest form of the carrier fighter with a variable-geometry wing. It replaced the troublesome engines of the original series with a pair of F110 powerplants, which finally gave the machine thrust to match its size and freed pilots from worries about a compressor stall during a sharp maneuver with the wing extended.

An APG-71 radar was seated in the nose and under it a twin housing with an optical and an infrared sensor for silent tracking of a target. The most striking change, though, was to the cabin: instead of a forest of needles, large-area screens were added to it. Only thirty-seven new examples were completed, another eighteen came about by converting older airframes, and in 2006 the type disappeared from American decks altogether.

The screens that cannot be painted

It is precisely with a digital cockpit that this kind of accessory makes the most sense. The symbols on the displays, the warning panels and the lettering of the side consoles are painted by hand only with great difficulty; here they are printed and supplemented with a three-dimensional surface. Multi-part safety belts with fittings, which take the place of the flat reliefs cast in plastic, tend to be included as well.

The recommended procedure is plain: spray, let it dry, degrease and only then lay the individual elements with tweezers. The model of the fighter is sold separately.

The wing turned automatically in flight according to speed, so the machine managed both a slow approach to a ship and supersonic flight. At long range the Phoenix missiles were aimed, threatening a target before the opposing crew had time to make it out.