On 12 December 2004, VF-103 Jolly Rogers made their last flight in the F14 Tomcat. I recreated the moment as they passed in formation over NAS Oceana in this 1/350 diorama. From then, VF-103 became VFA-103 and they fly the new F18F Super Hornet.

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I used the Trumpeter 1/350 Tomcat kit, which comes with six Tomcats. These aircraft are normally used on the 1/350 Trumpeter aircraft carriers.

Building these F14s was not very difficult, but I found several things necessary to improve. One of those things was to cut the air intakes open. This gives your 1/350 bird a much more realistic look. I also added a tail hook and stabilizer fins under the jet engines. The tail hooks are made from small electrical wire. The fins are just a piece of paper, easily cut to shape. The external fuel tanks were also not included in this kit, so I used some 1/72 sidewinder and sparrow missiles. The fins of the missiles were later used for the pylons. Also an IR sensor is added under the nose.

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Decals for the Black Aces squadron are included in this kit. I wanted to make Jolly Rogers F14's so I had to print decals by myself. For this job modelmaster white decal paper was used. You can just put it in your ink jet printer, and after a coat of clear, they are ready to use. Only the 'NAVY' decals are originally from the kit.

Robin

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