USA, A OK! or America 46

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The commemorative three color scheme on the Tomcat in that last image is one that I do not recall seeing before.  What squadron is that from? 

Your modifications for the landing gear attachments is a great idea.  I hope it works and you have many flights around the hobby room. 

[Kerick]

Please keep us posted on this beauty.

[Old Wombat]

Ooh! That 'Cat looks ni-ice! 

[taiidantomcat]

The commemorative three color scheme on the Tomcat in that last image is one that I do not recall seeing before.  What squadron is that from? 

Your modifications for the landing gear attachments is a great idea.  I hope it works and you have many flights around the hobby room. 

Thank you  Can't wait to be cleared for takeoff

The Squadron is VF-211 Checkmates. 

I am not sure what to do about seats for the WWII backdated F-14

Should they be just classic WWII -era pilot seats or primitive, first generation-like ejection seats? 

I did some little checks in lego:



The goal is to have Santa bring me a 3d Printer, so Ejection seats may be more plentiful and in any type that I want soon.

I actually want to steer away from the F-14A GRU-7 ejection seats. Their cushions make me think of japanese aviators vests, so any spares are going to the Japanese models.



Some other random thoughts. I really try not to get bogged down in a back story. but one of the ideas I had with aircraft being designed around requirements is if this WWII F-14 was never intended to be super sonic, and how that would effect the design and weight etc. Another Idea I had was the Swing Wings that are meant for super sonic flight, could be just another folding method that carrier aircraft often incorporate to save room. So the wings would be "out" and locked all the time when flying, and only Swept for storage purposes.

I'm hoping in my next post I can kind of Quantify and show the various plans i have to mangle more Tomcats, but make it look nice and not just a list of future razor saw appointments.

[Kerick]

Happy 1 year anniversary since I started this thread! 

I want to leave everyone with something pretty to look at that fits the theme:



Thank you for looking.

That looks like a movie still for The Final Countdown, Part II. Excellent!

[taiidantomcat]

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum...

Sorry for the long absence. I was indeed working on things (I have photographic proof!) but a quick explanation and an update to follow as to the strange things (life really) that sometimes take place.

November 10th, 2025 was the USMC's 250th Birthday (Happy Birthday Marines) and i had a lot of fun. I couldn't sleep so I was laying on the couch drifting and then something strange hit me. I had missed something. the TV show Space Above and Beyond Turned 30 in September of 2025. I always liked this show. The show and the critiques have been debated on the forum elsewhere, but it always has a special place in my heart. It was one of those times where a piece of media or a book finds you at the ideal age that it is meant to and you always remember it fondly.

There is also another interesting aspect of the timing. I remember when the show had turned 20 as I took my wife on our first date since our first born baby had arrived. 20 years old seemed hard to believe back then and 30 seems even more difficult to believe now, 31 not far off now either.

its interesting that on that night I thought of that show, as it was what planted the seeds and got the wheels turning about joining the USMC someday. I suppose "signs" and dreams and things can be debated as to their relevancy, but this was pretty difficult to ignore, so i set about making a WWII style SA-43. I had this idea floating in my head for a while so I finally got the kick in the tail I needed to get going on it. As I learned more about the Pacific War, the notion of Space AAB's treating planets like islands, and space as the vastness of the pacific ocean seem to really fit, and the notion of harsh living in "alien" environments with very little to seperate one from survival or oblivion seems rather apt.










I used legos to get the general size and shape down, and then some 1/48 Graveyard P-47s I found on a lot on ebay a long time ago. their oblong egg shaped fuselage cross section seems like a good fit for the oblong shape from the show. It looks strange but it works. A little better than I thought it would. The down side was the P-47s were old and busted, no two seemed to really be from the same model company either, and most all of them were the "razorback" variants, but for these purposes the bubble type with the "straight back" from nose to tail would be best.

[Old Wombat]

The down side was the P-47s were old and busted, no two seemed to really be from the same model company either, and most all of them were the "razorback" variants, but for these purposes the bubble type with the "straight back" from nose to tail would be best.

The different manufacturers could be an issue, especially if their scalings are slightly different.

But, as to the razor-back vs straight-back thing, is it really such an issue? You have to fair them into the fuselage anyway. So, if the razor-back gets in the way, cut it off.