ESCI – 9054 – F-14A Tomcat

Description:

ESCI tooled for first time the F-14 Tomcat in 1988, when already there was some other decent kits depicting F-14s, and chose an early version A as the subject for their kit, tooled already under the ESCI/Ertl time. The kit was reissued in 1992 with a different box but same content.

The kit consists of around 85 plastic parts, 4 x AIM-54 Phoenix missiles, 2 x AIM-7 Sparrows and 2 x AIM-9 Sidewinders are the payload included, as well as two external fuel tanks. They don’t look bad except for the Sidewinders. Kit include canopy split in two parts, but has no detail to built it as open, kit is clearly design as to build with a closed canopy, though a skilled modeler could work on it. Cockpit detail is average of the time, you will not find anything very good, either bad, and seats are quite decently tooled.

Both releases under ESCI/Ertl included a decal sheet with two early F-14s markings, for VF-103 Jolly Rogers and VF-2 Bounty Hunters.

In general terms, ESCI did a good job tooling their F-14. It’s a nice kit to build if you find it by a decent price.

The kit was later issued under AMT/Ertl and finally under AMT brand in 2013 and 2014. In 2020, Italeri, who has available their own F-14 kit (later variants), issued the ESCI one as Italeri – 1414 – F-14A TOMCAT.