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1:72 Hasegawa Grumman/General Dynamics F-111B Conversion "Beta Tomcat"


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17 hours ago, Winenut said:

I don't know Bill............looks to me like eight! :winkgrin:

 

Ha! Mine's a little smaller than the other ones, and doesn't make nearly as much noise, try as I may.    :)

 

13 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Absolutely and completely beautiful Bill, just superb!

 

Really enjoyed watching it come together in the w.i.p. thread and seeing it finished & photographed so well is the icing on  the cake!

 

Thanks, Keith. I'm still trying to improve my photography. I'm not entirely happy with the colour rendition compared to the model - I set the white balance manually using a Kodak white target and that works better than letting the camera decide for itself. But it's still not exactly right. Close enough for what we do, but it still bugs me.

 

12 hours ago, Graeme H said:

Followed this all the way, and with the amount of work you put into it, came out a real treat, one doesn't see F-111B's much in model form, and I doubt there will ever be a better model than this :penguin:

 

Thanks for the compliment. Having built this, I know where I screwed up, so I know it can be improved. We really do need a modern, accurate conversion kit.

 

12 hours ago, Dazey said:

That's a fantastic F-111. I really like the look of the shorter-nosed version (although I also have fond memories of very different looking RAAF F-111s going overhead).

 

Yeah, especially when they dump the fuel and light it on fire with the afterburners - I always thought that was very impressive!   

 

11 hours ago, Giorgio N said:

Another of your masterpieces Bill ! It's a fantastic model and the build thread will remain as one of the definitive guides on how to build this aircraft. Well done !

 

Thanks, Giorgio! I had a lot of fun building it, even with all of that "life" stuff that got in the way this summer.

 

6 hours ago, giemme said:

Super smooth, super clean, superb! :worthy:  :clap:  :clap:  Can you actually improve perfection? Looks like you can!

 

Thanks, Giorgio! I always leave at least one mistake in each model because, well, only God is perfect. I left several boo-boos in this one - I think I got the profile of the nose pretty good from the side view, but in cross-section it's still too square. I made several copies of the resin nose, so I can get it right next time!    :)

 

5 hours ago, Paul A H said:

Now who needs 1:48 when you can build as well as this? Absolutely superb :) 

 

I think as my eyesight fails with age, I'll skip right over 1:48 and go straight to 1:32. What do you think?    :)

 

4 hours ago, David H said:

A truly amazing build Bill. All subsequent F-111B models will be judged against this one.

 

Are you planning to sand some flat spots on the tyres? The plane sits sorta tail high compared to photos. You did put the smaller F-111B wheels on right?

 

Not trying to be critical here; just asking.

 

Thanks, David. I'm not a big fan of flat spots on the tyres because I always tend to overdo it and then they look, well, flat - under inflated. I did not put the smaller F-111B wheels on since 151972 was known to be shod with F-111A wheels at times.

 

The resin wheels that came with the Pete's Hangar conversion set are virtual duplicates of those in the Hasegawa kit - I suspect that's how they were made. I looked through my spares box, and I couldn't find any tyres that were the right size. Those in the old Revell kit are closer, but they're really lame. So I've put an item on my to-do list to find, buy, or make some that combine the right size tyre with the correct rim. Someday.

 

 

Thanks everyone for their wonderful comments - I really appreciate them. You make me want to continue with this hobby!    :)  :)  :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Outstanding end to a great project Bill,what a beautiful looking aircraft  it was and many year's before the Fencer which it remind's me of.I seem to

remember way back Revell boxing a navy F111 but I think they jumped the gun as it was a standard "A" .

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1 hour ago, stevej60 said:

Outstanding end to a great project Bill,what a beautiful looking aircraft  it was and many year's before the Fencer which it remind's me of.I seem to

remember way back Revell boxing a navy F111 but I think they jumped the gun as it was a standard "A" .

 

The Revell TFX kit (circa 1966) had parts for both the F-111A and the F-111B:

 

IMG_1265

 

I used the razor edge boat tail and the pointed "speed bumps" (the portion of the fuselage that the tailplanes attach to) from the Revell kit. I elected not to use their short F-111B nose as it is has some shape errors. It turns out that the Pete's Hangar resin conversion nose had similar problems. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not entirely happy with the nose as I modified it for my model, but perhaps it will grow on me!    :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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11 hours ago, Winenut said:

<snip>

Bill.....you need to paint this bit black lol:winkgrin:

 

Good catch, thanks. It seems this IR pod went through some different paint schemes, not only on 151972 but also on the other F-111B prototypes. Here are some examples on 151972:

 

0004

 

top slope

 

F-111B 151972 Hughes Test

 

Obviously, the second photo is before the aircraft had the Phoenix Missile Testing markings applied, and looks quite new in the photo. I'm pretty sure it's 151972 based on the original file name. Photos 1 & 3 above show the configuration (with one missile on-board) that I was going for. If I squint enough, I can almost make myself believe there is something on the tip of the IR pod. It looks like the bigger mistake was relying on the resin part from Pete's Hangar - the pylon that supports the IR pod does not extend back far enough, although this is partially hidden by the antenna blade in the same vicinity. Gotta love it.    :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I agree with your wife and kids.    :)

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6 hours ago, Screech said:

Holy Mother to the Tomcat?  Can I say that Bill?

 

It's fair to say that Grumman took a lot of what they learned on the F-111B program and applied it to the F-14. The F-111B production program was terminated in mid-'68 and the F-14 contract was awarded in early '69. The F-111B monograph written by @Tailspin Turtle covers this history in depth, and I highly recommend getting a copy if you don't already have one (I think it's out of print though). Alternately, read all of his blog entries here:

 

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-complete-f-111b.html

 

Phoenix missile testing, using 151972, 152714, and 152715, continued well past the F-111B program termination. I believe that 151972 also made the last flight by an F-111B sometime in late 1971. A couple of the F-111B prototypes may still survive in scrapyards, etc. but I'm not current on this. Tommy would know better.

 

By the way, 152714 and 152715 were the first two pre-production aircraft and incorporated many changes including a longer nose. Not as long as the F-111A, but longer than the nose on 151972. Personally, I like the shorter nose myself. Here are photos of each, as I don't think they came up during my build:

 

152714 resamp

 

152715 resamp

 

Actual production aircraft would have been different still.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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11 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Good catch, thanks. It seems this IR pod went through some different paint schemes, not only on 151972 but also on the other F-111B prototypes. Here are some examples on 151972:

 

PS. I agree with your wife and kids.    :)

LOL Bill!  :lol:

 

I am sincerely lucky that they appreciate my somewhat dry and often warped sense of Australian humour ;)

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

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Next up is a much simpler tribute project - the NASA F-104N flown by Joe Walker. I'll use the Italeri F-104G kit, the CMK resin cockpit, RESkit resin tyres, and the decal sheet from Rocketeer. 1:72, of course, and the WIP will be in the current F-104 Group Build.

For those who don't know, Joe Walker flew P-38s during WWII, and became a civilian research test pilot afterwards. He flew the X-1, X-1A, X-1E, D-558-I, D-558-II, X-3, X-4, X-5, and X-15. Two of his X-15 flights exceeded 100 miles altitude, making him the first US civilian in space (NASA posthumously gave him his astronaut wings in 2005). He unfortunately lost his life in 1966 in the mid-air collision between his F-104N chase plane and the XB-70 bomber. Walker and Scott Crossfield were the two test pilots that I admired most when I was growing up. The X-plane program at Edwards during the 50s & 60s seemed magical to a young lad...

 

Cheers,

Bill

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52 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Next up is a much simpler tribute project - the NASA F-104N flown by Joe Walker. I'll use the Italeri F-104G kit, the CMK resin cockpit, RESkit resin tyres, and the decal sheet from Rocketeer

 

Cheers,

Bill

Can't wait Bill.

 

You just saved me the trouble of asking what the next build was going to be!

 

Cheers

 

Bruce

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Bill,

 

Words fail me! Everything the others have said about what you have done goes double for me. What an incredible display of craftsmanship! You actually made the ugliest F-111 into a beautiful airplane. Well done, sir!

Mike

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On 11/16/2017 at 7:31 AM, Navy Bird said:

Yeah, especially when they dump the fuel and light it on fire with the afterburners - I always thought that was very impressive!   

Actually, the dump and burn they did for special occasions was one of the things I was thinking of.

 

Regards,

David

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