Earmarks are present to indicate late F-14As as well as F-14Bs and F-14Ds will be eventually released. Subtle details in the kit indicate further growth of the kit into other versions, but none of the extra parts for later Tomcats are present in the kit, so modelers need to be patient. The differences are just alternate pieces to use when building the weapons. The weapons can be build early weapons from the 19s, or later weapons from the 1990s up to the Tomcat's retirement. Options of the weapons allude to the earmarks I mentioned before. The kit has weapons in the box - Sparrow, Sidewinder, and Phoenix missiles. None of these are difficult to do, but earmarks of the kit show Tamiya is planning to release these in time (so, be patient). Other modifications are needed to make a late F-14A (NACA intakes over the gun and assorted ECM blisters). Modifications are needed to make the kit an early F-14A (needs a different "Beaver Tail"). These blocks amount to the heyday of the early Tomcat years where everything was in high-visibility colors. For those familiar with the Tomcat anatomy, the kit builds a late block 75 airframe up through about a block 100 airframe. The kit builds into a middle block F-14A. What I do want to mention are some points and details about the kit that are not presented in the kit reviews that I have seen. There are multiple reviews out on the Internet for anyone wanting the basic kit description. I am not going to go into a big review of the kit, here. I was amazed and excited by each place I had struggled so on the Hasegawa kit that I built. The engine intakes, the wheel wells, the cockpit - all are engineered to simplify construction without really losing any detailing. Tamiya has engineered the kit to eliminate all these pain points found in the Hasegawa kit. What particularly amazes me in the kit is all the places that the Hasegawa kits are "challenging". I have not bought every new kit to come out in the last few years, but this is easily one of the finest model kits I have ever built and feel "kit of the century" may not be an exaggeration. The kit is deserving of every accolade bestowed upon it. I got my kit from Squadron online, and it was my "current project" as soon as the package arrived at my house. Of course, I had to order a couple as soon as they hit the model sellers on the Internet. Everyone was pronouncing this the "kit of the century". The fever pitch grew as they released pictures of the test shots, then allowed select modelers to build the test shots. Tamiya excited all the jet-modeling geeks like myself earlier in 2016 when they announced they were doing a 1/48th scale Tomcat kit. They are well detailed and accurate, but they are a real challenge to build so I have not built many (only one to this date, actually). Hasegawa released their 1/48th scale Tomcat kits a very long time ago. Tamiya's 1/48 scale F-14A Tomcat is available online from Squadron for only $91.99!Įvery so often, a kit is released that I must acquire and build IMMEDIATELY.