1:72 Diecast Metal F-14A Tomcatters Fighter Model - US Navy VF-31 Aircraft

Got this for Christmas and it's my favorite model ever! Super detailed, the wings feel solid and move nicely- it's great! Very hefty and feels solid. The needle on the nose does tend to fall out easily, but if you don't mess with it it's not an issue. Great model!

Overall I am pleased with this model. Up to now I have had 1/100 scale versions, but I wanted to go with something a little bit bigger as I’ve loved the Tomcat since I was a kid, and my search lead me to this item.

The detailing is by far the most impressive component of this model. I went with the VF-31 “Tomcatters” livery, and it looks fantastic. The detailing goes beyond just the Felix cartoon cat and the “USS Forrestal” on the vertical stabilizers. Some of the more impressive points to mention are the fine print on the Phoenix missiles, the Felix cat silhouettes on the external fuel tanks, and the names of the pilots along the canopy. The decals towards the nose of the plane are so small and still mostly legible. The “Bureau Number” found towards the back, before the engines, is accurate of the VF-31 squadron as well, #161858 was issued to the Tomcatters in the mid-80s, just very impressive detailing.

The quality of the accessories is good for the most part. While delicate, I didn’t feel like the missiles were brittle, but I handled them with care nonetheless. One Phoenix missile was sort of loose-fitting on the rail, but blue sticky tack was an easy remedy to help it stay. The tack would be easy to take out if I ever wanted to remove it again. While the missile pylons fit into their ports, I was concerned they could easily become loose. These attach under each wing and hold the Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles. I made the decision to super glue the pylons into place which didn’t really bother me as I can’t imagine wanting to take those off, and I can still remove the individual missiles from them. The landing gears attached well to mine, but the front wheels are a little misaligned so they do not roll very well, small gripe that might be particular to my item.
The stand is fine, not much to write about there except I kind of wish the pegs could be rotated or swiveled to pose the aircraft in place.

As far as features go, the wings can be swept back and out which is a must for models of this aircraft in my opinion. The canopy also opens. You can remove the missiles and the external tanks. The horizontal stabilizers can swivel up and down which is nice, one of them is slightly loose compared to the other on mine which I may try to remedy, but for now I have left it alone.

I do have a few complaints...

The biggest one is I wish the landing gears could be stowed away with closed panels or that they could be removed and the panels closed, but they are permanently open. There are two reasons that this becomes an issue – one for logical display and one for the build of the model itself. The “variable-sweep wings” are perhaps the most distinctive feature on the Tomcat so naturally you may want to display it flying with the wings swept back, but this function was mainly engaged for supersonic flight in which case the landing gears would not be down for flight at those speeds. Knowing this, it’s hard for me to display it on the stand with wings swept back and gears down. Now, most Tomcats on display have the wings swept back so you could rest the model flat on the gears with the wings in this position and that would make sense, but the model is very heavy on the back end and will easily tilt back on the horizontal stabilizers unless the wings are swept out. The pilots are not very detailed at all and are rather flat-faced, that being said at least the helmets are painted. I wish there was a little more “textural” detail to the cockpit, but there are some very small decals on the dash and side panels which is better than nothing. My last complaint is that mine was missing the “pitot tube”. This is the needle-like structure on the nose of the plane which can be easily identified in the stock images. I looked in the box and around the area where I opened it to make sure it wasn’t misplaced somewhere, but I did not see it. As a stand-in I clipped a small piece of a paperclip to insert into the nose cone as a quick-fix.

So overall it’s a very nice model. Not the most affordable but there is some nice quality here for the price. If you are an avid lover of this aircraft, you’ll likely enjoy it if you can get past the permanently-open landing gear panels.