ESCI/Ertl 1/72 F-14 A Tomcat and A plus

this are 2 very very rare kits now in the market, just as well. Kit is fully recessed lines, with the detail somewhat similar to that of academy. Fit wise though this maker is far lacking behind in terms of accuracy. The twin intake canals don't really go down well, and they are round in shape. which is extremely wrong. Next, the front fuselage/cockpit assembly becomes so fat and huge it dwarfs those of the hasegawa versions. The best thing about the wing sweep mechanism is that they provide a T shape spar to slot over the main wing pivots, this jams the whole thing up even further and has to be removed. Another sore point about the kit is that they provide Square shape pins for the fuel tanks, missile pylons and the Tarps pod.. Ugly. And the worse comes with the landing gear bay doors, which have huge ejector pin marks on the inner surfaces, and no hint of any raised details on them. Ad when this is all done you realise the canopy cannot sit on the kit's cockpit and buldges out, raising the height of the cat further.

The 'A Plus" boxing is the same kit as the 'A' there is no F-110 engine nozzles given. I repeat, it is an 'A'. So if you see the box art don't be fooled.

Decals wise they provide some good stuff. The 'A' boxing gives VF-103's original "Sluggers" marking with the arrowhead in grey and yellow, aboard Uss Saratoga. This is the only Sluggers decal without having to buy aftermarket. Also included in the A boxing is decals for Lo-Vis VF-2 abroad Uss Ranger with the skulls/stars in neutral grey. The 3rd set is a hi-vis diamondbacks VF-102 .

The 'A Plus" boxing gives VF-41 Black Aces decals abroad Uss Nimitz and has the markings for the aircraft that shot down Libyan Su-22s. But no Su-22 kill marking is given..The 2nd set is the VF-102 diamondbacks abroad Uss America during operation El Dorado Canyon against Libya. This is a Hi-vis scheme.

Decals are given for the cockpit, but the decals are not spectacular.

Building the kit:

this kit went together as normal, with light trimming and sanding needed for it to fit in places. Some puttying and sanding was involved at the front-rear fuselage joint and the wing glove region. The pitiful landing gear bays and doors was left as is.Another major headache is the square pylon pins, these need to be sanded down in order to fit into the sockets. Canopy couldn't be trim without risking throwing the thing away as it came moulded with the canopy railing, and sanding it would misshape the front fuselage even more.

Overall comments:

this is a average kit, not better than academy, but not as bad as airfix/heller. I would NOT recommend it to anyone, unless they just want to buy it for the decals. I'd rank it 3rd from bottom amongst 72 tomcat makers...