Revell

1/100 F-14 Tomcat - Easy Kit

Kit Number 85-1365

Reviewed By Jim Pearsall, #2209 (and Noah)

MSRP: $8.00 USD

Thanks to Revell for providing this review kit.

When John Noack sent out a call for reviews, I volunteered to do this one, even though it’s called an “Easy Kit”.  I didn’t realize it was 1/100, but hey, I can build anything, right?  Well almost anything.  Well, mostly easy kits.  OK, OK, this one is at about my skill level. 

The Kit:

The box contains a plastic bag with 2 sprues.  No clear parts, no decals.  Everything is sort of pre-painted.  Also, no glue and no knife needed.

Assembly:

The gates where the sprues come into the parts are not particularly delicate.  In fact, they don’t reduce much in size.  (see above photo).  When I cut the nose cone (which was twisted and partially torn from the sprue) I also removed part of the red stripe.  Easily fixed with a bit of Testors ® Pla enamel (remember the little bottles?)

The rest of the assembly was strictly by the instructions.  The steps were clear and pretty unambiguous.  The only time I had any question was the vertical fins.  I forgot which was which.  A quick look at the box art straightened me out.

The fit was super!  There were small gaps between the fuselage top and bottom along the engine bays.  When the exhausts were installed, they acted as grip rings and closed the gaps.  The wings fit onto the pegs with a not too tight but firm fit.  The drop tank halves went together with a barely noticeable seam.  The Phoenix missiles fit into their slots nicely.  No extra force needed.  One note, the front and back missiles have different size tabs, and the fuselage has different size slots.  Voice of experience.

The pre-painted markings are OK.  The canopy is painted silver with a black frame.  The markings appear to be stenciled, and considering the size, they’re nicely done.  All but one.  Whoever designed the markings took a shortcut on the vertical stabs.

Then the landing gear.  These parts are best termed rudimentary.  There are just 3 legs.  No wheels, no extra struts.  They’re strong enough to hold the aircraft up, probably even if someone who weighs less than 75 pounds steps on it.

Overall Assessment:

This kit is not for someone with AMS.  Or anyone who demands the best in outline, realism, or scale. This may be the only F-14 kit on the market where the wings don’t swing.  But it has something really great going for it.  It’s EASY to build!  Anyone over the age of 6 who has access to a decent pair of nippers can build this kit in one sitting.  It took me about 35 minutes to assemble this kit, with the stops to check the vertical stabs and the Phoenixes, plus stopping to take some photos.

This would be a super kit for “Make and Take”.  It is very easy to assemble, the fit is great, even without glue.  The engineering is good enough that the parts friction fit tightly enough that they don’t fall off, but if a part is incorrectly assembled, it can be pulled off and reinstalled without damaging anything.

Any kid, even one who has never built a model can do a credible job with little or no help.  The idea of taking this kit home to the parents, and saying “I built this myself!” would be a great ego booster.  And could make her/him decide that it might be fun to try a more complicated model.

It would also be a great “parent & son/daughter” project.  Even the least mechanically inclined, inexperienced parent can be minimally helpful, and let their child succeed in doing this project.

ADDENDUM:

After I wrote the above review, I disassembled the F-14 (no glue, no decals, everything fit nicely, and it came apart as easily as it assembled) and I mailed it off to my 6-year old grandson, Noah.  If this kit is/was as easy to assemble as I thought, he should be able to do it with minimal help from Sean, his father.

Well, he did it.  Almost.  With the picture instructions, and a little help deciphering from Sean, Noah built the F-14 ALL BY HIMSELF.  But there was a problem.  He followed the instructions exactly, and when he laid the tomcat on its back to insert the drop tanks, missiles and landing gear, the vertical fins were installed.  When he pressed the underside parts in, it put pressure on the fins, and one of them bent.  It had to be glued back on by Sean.

Noah’s the one in the cap & gown.  That’s his little brother Ben in front.
Which teaches a valuable lesson… We shouldn’t always trust the reviewer to give us a true test of how difficult or easy a kit might be.  I had no problem assembling the F-14 because my hands are big enough to hold the plane while I attach the parts.  Noah isn’t that big.  Yet.

And the even more valuable lesson:  Anything that gets messed up can usually be fixed on a model.  So don’t be afraid to try it. You may have to spend some time fixing it, but it was a great experience.

Noah loves his tomcat because HE BUILT IT HIMSELF!

Thanks to John for sending me an inspirational kit.

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