Tomcat FR.1

Grumman Tomcat FR.1

Academy, 1/48

After decades of determinedly but unsuccessfully trying to sell Parliament on the need to upgrade their seaborne fixed wing assets and the CVA-01 improved carrier, the Royal Navy had all but given up when to their shock in the mid-1970s, an unprecedented naval buildup program made its way through the government. It consisted, to the Navy’s surprise, of not one, but two large-deck carriers and a full complement of modern shipboard aircraft. Original plans called for a mostly Tornado based airwing, but delays in the IDS and ADV versions of the Panavia aircraft wouldn’t make the proposed SeaTornado CBV (Carrier Based Version) available in any reasonable amount of time. In the meantime, a lease-purchase agreement was reached with Grumman Aircraft Corporation for 58 F-14A Tomcats (Designated Tomcat FR.1) to fill out four shipborne squadrons (Two per carrier) of 12 aircraft each, and 10 for attrition and training. To eventually fit out the carriers with an all-English airwing, development of the SeaTornado (A What-If project in the near future) would continue as time and resources allowed. The Tomcats would team with Buccaneers performing the strike role, with the venerable aircraft being upgraded to extend their already long service life until the new SeaTornados would reach operational service.

Nearly beside itself with glee, The Royal Navy had the first carrier under construction as soon as was humanly possible and when the initial batch of Tomcats eventually arrived in-country, started training and conversion. 700sqdn, an original Phantom training squadron was re-activated to be the OCU to train and convert the eager aircrews. While 892sqdn remained on Ark Royal with their Phantoms, 767sqdn, another former Phantom unit, was re-formed and became the first to convert to type. When 767sqdn completed their training, the government decided, in a cost-saving move, to take Ark Royal out of commission. While this left England without a large-deck presence until the launch of the new carrier, it did free up 892sqdn to begin their conversion. The naval establishment was abuzz with anticipation as completion of the new carrier neared and feeling their oats, the Royal Navy christened the ship the H.M.S. Vindicator. This was considered by some to be a sneer at Parliament, the Navy’s dogged persistence regarding the modern carrier having finally been vindicated.

When 892sqdn turned in their Phantoms (Which were handed over to the RAF), they also dropped their famous “Omega” emblem, which is the last letter in the Greek alphabet and represented 892sqdn as the last operational Phantom squadron in the Royal Navy. When Vindicator passed its fleet readiness trials, 767 and 892 took their place on its deck and adopting the well-tuned tactics of the United States Navy, quickly proved they were up to the challenge of operating the Tomcat FR.1 and earned the admiration of their American allies. With the new ship and airwing off and running, the Royal Navy immediately made plans for the second carrier and two more Tomcat FR.1 squadrons. Things never looked better for the English Navy . . .

However, Parliament got the last laugh when a change in government brought a new attitude and an axe that spared no budget. Almost before they knew what was happening, the government cancelled the second carrier and the undelivered aircraft from Grumman. To its horror, the Navy found the Vindicator’s airwing itself the target of Parliament’s budget axe. By government mandate, 767sqdn was disembarked to eventually convert to the SeaTornado (When that would be, no one knew!). Some of their aircraft were handed over to 892sqdn (Giving them a shipboard complement of 15) and the rest were sent to the OCU. Eventually, the Tomcats would be backed up in the fighter role by the SeaTornado, which was to have a rudimentary air-to-air capability added to its already over-burdened and behind schedule development.

Once again, alone in the shipborne fighter role, 892sqdn resurrected its familiar “Omega” emblem, which it now wears as the last operational Tomcat squadron in the Royal Navy.

Tomcat FR.1 007/XT998:

Tomcat FR.1 007 proudly carries the 892sqdn “Omega” and ship-ID “V”, serving aboard the H.M.S. Vindicator in the fleet air defense and recon mission. It’s comparable to the F-14A of the U.S. Navy and carries the complete AWG-9/Phoenix system, although the AIM-54 is rarely carried since the Royal Navy wasn’t able to buy as many as they wanted and needs to preserve their meager stock. Thus, FAA Tomcats can typically be found carrying either 4 Sidewinder with 2 or 4 Sparrow, or 2 Sidewinder and 4 Sparrow as shown on this aircraft.

Aircraft 007 is assigned to Commander Alan “Bond, James” Bond, with Francis “M” McCallen as his navigator/radar operator. McCallan’s callsign had previously been “Big Mac”, but in typical British humor, his squadron mates ruled a name change when he came aboard and was assigned to 007 since, as one squadron wag put it, he’s the one always telling Bond what to do. 007 is shown when it made a brief visit to the United States to Langley AFB, as well as flying astern of the H.M.S. Invincible during joint-operation maneuvers.

The Kit:

The kit is the 1/48 Academy F-14A Tomcat. It’s not exactly an easy build, as I describe in my kit review, but it does make up into a good looking Tomcat. I painted it in a “What-If” scheme similar to Royal Navy Phantoms, but with the blue lighter to accommodate a high altitude mission profile. I looked for an out of the can color to suit my choice and came across some Krylon colors that would work. The uppersurface blue is Krylon’s Colonial Blue, which I find ironic, an American plane in English service painted with a “Colonial” blue. In retrospect, the blue is very similar to the intermediate blue of the WWII U.S. Navy tri-color scheme so I probably could have used that with the same result. I wanted an off-white for the undersides to allow the white missiles to show up and selected Krylon’s Ivory White. Again in retrospect, the light gray of the U.S.A.F. Southeast Asia scheme might have been a better choice . . . oh well. While not made for plastic models, the paint did work, to a degree. If not careful, it can go on thick (Which it did in a few spots) and there were a couple of small areas where the paint crinkled, but I was able to sand those down and repaint (If I were to use Krylon again, which I may, I’d probably lay down a primer base coat, or even consider emptying the can into a bottle and then airbrushing).

Construction went pretty much according to instructions (More details in the review) with a few exceptions. Painting aircraft with swing wings presents some challenges (Especially if you plan on moving the wings) so I painted the wings prior to construction. I masked them in household foil to protect them while I worked and painted the rest of the kit. Since the wing glove vanes are only extended during supersonic flight (And are removed from later Tomcats), I cut off the gear portions and glued them in the closed position.

The paint scheme dictated that the forward fuselage be painted in the upper blue before attaching the intakes, so I painted the model (Both upper and lower colors) forward first, then rear later, after attaching the intakes (Which I painted separately too). This made for some interesting masking (Usually with foil) but the colors matched perfectly. In my opinion, the wing glove pylons don’t line up correctly (Again, details in the kit review), so I clipped off the forward locating pin and glued them on with a more correct alignment.

I wanted the cleaner look of a Phoenix-less airframe so went with the standard Sidewinder/Sparrow arrangement on the wing glove pylons with two Sparrow in the under fuselage slots. Everything is out of the box except decals, which are a combination of airframe stencils and marking from Hasegawa’s F-14, and Royal Navy marking from Almark’s decal sheet for FAA Phantoms. The red tail flash is painted on, and the “Omega” emblems are decals from the Almark sheet. To get the flash correct, I scanned and printed the decal sheet, cut out the emblem, and used it to layout what would be painted red with the emblem reaching the edge. The white of the Almark decals wasn’t opaque enough, but luckily the sheet had an extra set of emblems so with two layers of decals, they prevent the red from showing through. Almark’s sheet had aircraft number 007 so being a fan of the James Bond movies, it was too good to pass up, and I made up (literally) the serial number (XT998) from numbers from the same sheet. Stripes on the missiles are from Hasegawa’s Weapons Set C. My cat knocked a paint jar onto the model (Cat attacks cat! Stop the presses!) which broke off the nose probe, so I substituted the tip of a straight pin, which actually looks much better.

I tried something new and dusted the inside of the gear wells with dark pastel chalk, brushing it in and then rinsing with water. The effect was pretty good, and although it may need some refinement, I think the technique has potential. All hydraulic struts are covered in Bare-Metal’s Ultra-Bright foil, which really gives a good impression of chromed metal, much better than paint. For more details on the kit and its construction, see the kit review.

Page created October 29, 2002.