Dragon Models Ltd

1/144 Air Refueling with the Grumman KA-6D & F-14A

Kit Number: 4595

Reviewed by  John R. Lee, IPMS# 11172

MSRP: $10.60 The kit comes in a top opening box - great for holding the parts as you work on the model or models in this case. The model of the Grumman KA-6D is the same model issued in at least two previous incarnations of the A-6E Intruder in 1990 and 1993. I also have two previous releases of the F-14A from 1994 and 1998. One of the main differences in the packaging is that the canopies are wrapped to help protect them from getting scratched up by being loose in the box, great going Dragon. The F-14A comprises of 53 medium Gray parts with ten parts not used and one clear part. The KA-6D has 46 medium Gray parts with five parts not used and one clear part. I only counted the parts shown on the parts layout on the plans. For some reason the KA-6D came with ten bombs that also come with the A-6E Intruders - some extra parts for the spares box. The canopies for both models are a little cloudy, so I will dip them in future to help clear them up. The cockpits that come with both kits have pilots that look like mummies. I painted them up the best that I could and they don't look too bad under the canopy.

The canopies for both kits ended up being a bit small. The F-14 is too shallow and the KA-6D a little narrow. For the F-14 I built up the cockpit edge with sheet plastic to raise the rear of the canopy. I sanded the sheet plastic making it thinner at the front with the end result being that the rear end of the canopy lined up with the top of the fuselage and eliminated the step between the canopy and the fuselage. There were several places that required a little filler, both Squadron and Mr. Surfacer. The placement of the wing glove missile pylons were a little confusing but with the help of the Aeroguide #17 I was able to correctly place both the pylons and the gear doors. I saw that most of the pictures in my books when the aircraft is sitting on the ground are not loaded up with weapons so that is the way I finished this model. I added a nose probe made from .020Ø brass rod. I painted it with the recommended colors in Testors Model Master paints. There being no color FS number for the top of the F-14 just H337/337 but the Squadron catalogue for Gunze says 337 is FS35327 a Grayish Blue but the Federal Standards paint chips have no listing for a 35327. I think maybe they transposed the numbers and it should be 35237 Gray Blue. I used MM #1721 Medium Gray. Maybe I'm wrong but it looks good. After the colors were applied I gave it a couple of coats of MM clear gloss and put on the decals. It is nice in that several of the decals have spares. After the decals dried I washed off the excess setting fluids and gave the model a coat of MM Flat and the F-14 was done. The decals were great for both aircraft but the tail marking for the F-14 should be I believe be black and not red but this I couldn't verify.

The KA-6D, which is the A-6E, kit with an extra sprue of the refueling equipment to turn it into a refueling tanker was next. It comes with two buddy refueling pods and only one auxiliary fuel tank plus all those nice bombs and a couple of good looking MERs. I thought about how I was going to configure the tanker and decided to 'borrow' the auxiliary fuel tanks from the other A-6 kits and one from an EA-6B Wild Weasel kit so that I could really load it up and utilize all of the pylons. Most everything fit well with only minor need for filler. I again used an Aeroguide book #15 in this case for reference. When it came to putting the wings on the left one was ok but the right one drooped way too much so I put some .005 sheet plastic under the front and .010 under the rear of the wing which bought the right wing up equal to the left wing. Now it was on to the painting Gloss White and flat gray with a couple of coats of clear gloss for the decals and again some of the decals came with spares. After they dried overnight I washed off the excess setting fluid and masked off the upper surface Gloss White areas and gave the Gray clear flat coat. Again the decals were easy to apply. I now have another F-14 and A KA-6D for my display case. One thing about the serial number provided for the KA-6D. It was applied to the second KA-6 build -- a modified A-6 that may have never issued to a line unit. Thanks to IPMS and Dragon Models (www.dragon-models.com) for the kit(s), a great addition to my model shelf.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.