This has been a rather long series of articles about these two models and it is now time for me to give you my final thoughts. But first let’s recap the different parts:
PART 1: Unboxing
PART 2: Cockpits
PART 3: Intake and exhausts
PART 4: Wings
PART 5: Weapons
PART 6: Finishing Tamiya’s
PART 7: Finishing AMK’s
PART 8: Conclusions
Here is one picture of each finished model:
I think we can all agree that they both look like Tomcats and therefore fulfil already their primary goal.
As you probably all remember there was some heated debate regarding these two models as they were “competing” against each other. Lots of things were said about the models by people who did not see the plastic, let alone build both.
My own conclusion is that all these guys were wrong. These debates were useless and all the statements I read in these 300 pages long forum topic were completely sterile. And that is probably the most important conclusion of this series:
Make your own mind and don’t be influenced by Nay Sayers.
Both kits are imho gorgeous and both fit perfectly in the modelling scene, each at different levels.
Both kits have flaws and none of them is the perfect kit. But as I showed above, they both look like pretty decent reproduction of Tomcats.
Now you know there is one I enjoyed building more than the other one. Yes, I did enjoy building the AMK Tomcat more than the Tamiya one. The reasons lie probably in my experience and my expectations. I will try to explain that.
But with that in mind I can tell you that I consider AMK to be a better Tomcat offering than Tamiya’s.
My interest in models is hardly based on the quality of the kits, it is more what I can achieve with the kits. The challenges kits offer are always accepted and overcome. To be really honest there are only 2 kits that I never finished in my 40 years of modelling (An Italeri C-130 in 1/48 where I wanted to add engines and light when I was 18 year old and a Revell 1/32 Mig-21 of the Indian airforce) So I hardly abandon a model before completion. Flaws are corrected and I usually don’t start a new model until the current one is finished.
Therefore I am buying a kit not because of it’s brand or quality or flaws, I am buying a kit because I like the model and I have a plan to display it. This is very important in understanding my preference here.
Tamiya kit is very simple to build and offers no real challenge. It’s perfectly suited for the modeller who wants a great Tomcat model with a minimum of work. It is therefore perfectly suited for beginners or advanced modellers needing a break from complicated projects.
The advanced modeller willing to dig a bit deeper with the model will soon realise that his display options are quite limited. Indeed Tamiya offers only a clean wing with slats and flaps up and spoiler retracted. There is also no option to deploy the speedbrakes or to set the intakes in a supersonic position. The display options are thus very limited because of these choices. You can make a parked or taxiing tomcat but you cannot make it on catapult launch or approach, In supersonic flight you cannot display the intake ramps properly and in-flight subsonic the F-14 usually have slats deployed which you can’t do either.
I never understood why Tamiya made those choices. IMHO they made a mistake and the simple fact that they are now releasing another kit with most (but not all) of these shortcoming addressed is ample proof that they realised their mistake.
There is another dimension about building Tamiya kits. You know way before starting that the quality will be flawless and this kit is not different. the engineering side is perfect and the kit is very easy to build. This may often leads us to skip some dry fit normally mandatory before gluing. It’s accepted for a Tamiya kit but if you get that sloppy with another brand, you may pay it dearly.
So yes the Tamiya was a great build for me but if I am honest it was a bit boring.
AMK on the other hand does not have the reputation Tamiya has and clearly they screwed up the launch of the kit. It was a real communication fiasco. Tamiya is a much more mature company, just look at how they proceeded from announce the kit to its release.
But regardless of the number of years it took for the AMK kit to hit the market, they delivered a model full of promises with many refreshing options and novelties. A real true new Tomcat model. (As opposed to Tamiya which was a blow down of their old 1/32 model made with modern technologies if you ask me)
The sliding cockpit in the one piece forward fuselage, the one piece weapons, the multiple possibilities with the wings, stabs, intake positions made all display scenes possible except for one detail: no pilots supplied !!
Quality wise I found AMK F-14 to be very good as well. Just like Tamiya’s the kit was painted in sub-assemblies which is always a testimony to fit quality. But you cannot make the same shortcuts building a Tamiya’s kit. Dry fit is mandatory if you want to avoid putty!
The two main critics about the AMK kit were the angle of the air refuel door and the so called wrong back end curves.
I quite never understood the latter. To my eyes there is nothing critical there from comparing both finished models.
To me these critics were just a storm in a glass of water.
The AAR door is wrong, no doubts about that. But it is very easily corrected if desired (I did not). It is much more visible (and harder to correct) if you want to showcase a F-14 without the door as it was often removed from line birds in the late operational career of the Tomcat.
Some more nitpicks (good or bad) for each models:
- Tamiya supplies pilot but to be honest these are not very good.
AMK on the other hand provides no pilot at all which is a real omission from their multi purpose philosophy. - AMK does not feature moving wings but rather three set positions (max sweep, min sweep and parked)
They also provide both clean and dirty wings.
Tamiya features clean moving wings only but position is more or less locked when the bladder are placed. - Overall fit quality is great. Tamiya is actually splendid, AMK is good enough with one or two bigger issue(s).
- None of the kits provide the thermal coating required on USN weapons.
- Landing gear details are great on both sides, Tamiya does not offer the kneeling option of the nose gear (logical since there is no dirty wings offered).
- Speed brakes (and Spoilers) can be set opened or closed on the AMK kit, not on the Tamiya which is only closed.
- Easy 1 position intake for Tamiya. Overly complicated multiple intake positions for AMK
- Cockpits are great on both, I feel the F-14D AMK seats may be better replaced with resin. The early Tamiya seats are perfectly fine. Both cockpit are well detailed and fit is great. One small note for a rather visible omission from Tamiya. There is no canopy release handle and that one is quite a flash in the cockpit.
- Both kits offers clear transparencies but both need to be sanded to remove lines. AMK offers another canopy with plastic frame but this does not suit a closed canopy as it is too long to fit.
Tamiya Windscreen is greatly designed to avoid the usual junctions in that area. - Weapon wise, Tamiya requires more work and instructions are more confusing regarding Sparrows mainly. That said AMK instructions does not give much guidance about the long or short nose cone of the Sparrows either.
To conclude I think Tamiya did not take any risk, took the easy route and delivered a great kit as usual, fitting the masses and benefiting from past experience of their previous Tomcat models.
AMK on the other hand took huge risks and introduced many novelties, offered many display possibility for the modellers and really provided a brand new Tomcat experience in 1/48. It was a gusty move and they need to be commended for that.
With that in mind, I have no problem agreeing to their initial statement that they would release the best Tomcat model ever in 1/48. Sure it is not perfect but as far as I am concerned they did succeed to deliver the best one can get.
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