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ESCI 1/72 F-111A 'Combat Lancer'


Smudge

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Ok, time to make some kind of a start.

 

I plan to build an 'A, one of the very first in service, and one of the first detachment of six to deploy to South East Asia, Thailand, on the F-111's combat debut over the hostile skies of Vietnam as part of operation 'Combat Lancer' in 1968.

 

I'll be using the Italeri boxing of the ESCI '111. This has the detachment fin flash on the decal sheet.

 

20170403_134705.jpg

 

 

358a1d70-86f1-4d1c-9299-a9092c77f724.jpg

 

Not sure which a/c to build just yet, but probably one of the survivors. Some were later converted to Sparkvarks and served in Gulf War One, so they will be on the shortlist.

 

Cheers. 

 

(ignore the Bf-109G-10 lurking on the bench. I have a few WWII fighters to finish off, but I can make a start on some small Aardvark bits :pipe:)

Edited by Smudge
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Were off.

 

A start on the cockpit tub, which seems quite adequate. Although I will be interested to see how it compares to the Hasegawa kits and some of the resin and etch builds.

 

Also, the nose wheel gear bay and leg. The leg was a bit 'flashy' and had a lot of seams which needed a bit of a clean up.

 

20170405_210946.jpg

 

That all went quite well, so I thought I would have a fiddle with the swing wings. I was worried about the fit, but it all seems nice and rigid, no flapping. Just needs a bit of care to get it all lined up.

 

20170405_211057.jpg

 

 

20170405_211202.jpg

 

The only thing I have found so far, that I am not all that happy with is the rendition of the upper fuselage vents, which to my eye don't quite capture the detail of the original.

 

20170405_211113.jpg

 

Should look a bit more like this.

 

Duxford%2002-17%20328.jpg

 

Might have to break out some plastic card strips.

 

I wonder what the Hasegawa ones look like? 

 

Thanks for looking, Aardvark fans :-) 

 

 

 

 

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welcome aboard and nice to see an early operational version as well.

 

She's not a bad looking model by the looks of it as well, the panel lines are not that heavy. Those vent could be sorted out by knocking some sheet plastic card with grills scribed into it.

 

Well good luck with your , again it's nice to see one of the early F-111 schemes, look forward to seeing her in the gallery.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Well, sorry to report not much progress on the -111. I have tried to have a bit of a push, and here are some of the results.

 

Keeping it simple in the cockpit. Just a bit of painting and the kit decals.

 

20170620_201914.jpg

 

20170620_201924.jpg

 

I'm not a fan of decal seat belts, but I thought I'd give it a go.

 

20170620_202019.jpg

 

Hmmmm..........

 

As discussed elsewhere, the fit of parts at the rear end does leave a little to be desired. The main problem with the rear fuselage tail section is the profile across the top. It is flat, but the rear fuselage is curved.

 

  20170620_202222.jpg

 

Some filler will probably help blend it all together.

 

The fit of the 'cans' is also slightly disappointing. The fuselage extensions on the outside of the cans will need to be fettled and filed to accept them comfortably. ESCI have put a small cutout on the can, but this doesn't fully solve the problem.

 

534a63fa-0322-4b9b-a84d-db9fb2dcc759.jpg

 

Not insurmountable issues, just a bit of a niggle.

 

The other parts look good so far.

 

20170620_202439.jpg

 

That's it for now.

 

Thank's for looking.

 

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your progress may be slow but you are getting there, keep it up.

 

One thing you may need to check though is the main gear, something doesn't quite look right there.

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Hi Rich,

...eeeer, ah yes. :blush: I think you have a point re the main gear. In my defence, I couldn't really work out from the instructions what it was supposed to look like. :unsure:

 

20170626_224309.jpg

 

Now I know, it seems obvious!

 

20170627_083735.jpg

 

Unfortunately I did a really good job of sticking all the bits together in the wrong place, which made it rather difficult to get them apart again. So the re assembly is not quite as neat as I would have liked. But at least all the bits are now round the right way,......I hope :rolleyes: 

 

Sadly, this has put me even further behind. What with one thing and another I just haven't been able to give this one much time, or any other modeling to be honest.

 

Still, it's all good fun :)

 

 

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thats ok, you would be the first person to glue something around the way! Been there done that and I agree the instruction can be very vague in a lot of cases.

 

AS long as it has some strength to it that all that matters as it is reasonably hidden.

 

Don't worry about it too much if you can't make the finish deadline, a lot of other builds are struggling to make it as well, It will be hit or miss for me I know!

 

But glad to here you're still enjoying the build, that's really all that matters. You'll get there in the end, I'm enjoying your build, so press on.

 

 

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