1:72 F-14 Tomcat ECS heat exchanger exhaust grills

The real subject

The F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-based fighter with a variable-geometry wing and a crew of two. On the fuselage it has the outlets of the air conditioning system heat exchanger, covered with grilles. They are small areas, but on a model they catch the eye, because they are drawn out by shadow and tend to be dirty.

What the set contains

Finished replacement parts that take the place of the heat exchanger outlet grilles on a model in 1:72 scale. Kits tend to solve these places with shallow engraving or roughly suggested relief, because fine texture cannot be held in ordinary part production. The replacement part has relief that is three-dimensional and deeper, so that after painting and a light soiling it looks like a real grille, not like a drawing on the surface.

Building and painting tips

The parts are not polystyrene and plastic cement does not hold on them; use cyanoacrylate glue. Cut the excess material off with a sharp blade a little way from the part and sand the remainder down; do not touch the part itself with the blade. Sand the original place on the kit flat and seat the part so that it is flush with the surface of the fuselage. Wash and degrease the elements before painting. The grilles come into their own when a dark wash is run over them after painting and draws itself into the recesses.

Who it is for

The set is for modelers who build the Tomcat in 1:72 scale and want to improve the details on the fuselage without major changes to the build.

• replacement grilles for the heat exchanger outlet
• 1:72 scale; the subject is the F-14 Tomcat
• three-dimensional relief instead of shallow engraving on the kit
• bonding with cyanoacrylate glue
• wash and degrease before painting

The aircraft kit, paints and glue are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.