John the Yank Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 I have been waiting a long time to do this kit and now the time is right. The release of Cutting Edges seamless intakes is the final piece to the puzzle. I have squared the intakes and roughed them into the lower fuselage, a little CA to fill the seams and some blending and completion of the spike is all that remains. I cut out the shallow main WW and fabricated a proper size WW. I made templates from the Hasegawa 1/72 WW and upscaled the drawings to 1/48. The front, top, and rear of the WW is .030 sheet stock. The sides are .010 stock to allow for the curve of the intake tunnels. I still have to make the brace and detail the plumbing but the basic structure is in place. I've cut the lower portion of the wing root glove out, Paragon's slats and flaps are going on this baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 I've tried to work out what kit this is, and I'm blowed if I can... what is it John? Looks like some ambitious work, whatever it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 F-111 right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Yank Posted April 27, 2007 Author Share Posted April 27, 2007 Sorry, Academy 1/48 F-111. Going to be an E from RAF Upper Heyford, my old Alma Mata! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 Sorry, Academy 1/48 F-111. Going to be an E from RAF Upper Heyford, my old Alma Mata! Cool - it's in the thread title now... I like the F-111... it looks a bit evil. Even though it played a part in the downfall of the TSR.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Nice work so far John very tidy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilfgr2 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Er you go John, some of your old birds out in tucson. Went there last year, one was in the Pima museum and the rest out on the field at the AMMARC centre. Used to remember seeing them fly over here in the UK and went to the last show at UH. Cheers, Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Going to be an E from RAF Upper Heyford, my old Alma Mata! How's your hearing? For me those beasts were the loudest things in the sky back in the 80s - real window rattlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Yank Posted May 5, 2007 Author Share Posted May 5, 2007 Made some progress in the MLG WW, not as busy as the real thing but when the MLG is set and the speed brake/MLG door is in place it should look the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Very nice work in the wheel bay John - the last pic shows it off best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 It does look good... can't wait to see it painted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Yank Posted June 9, 2007 Author Share Posted June 9, 2007 Here are the latest from the build. Slow going but progress is made, the Verlinden detail set is a neat addition and paints up nicely and is a drop fit. I only had to scrape the kits mounting ridges and glue in some plastic for the resin tub to rest on. Don't forget to reinforce the forward/rear fuselage joint, a little sheet stock is cheap insurance. Gluing a thin strip to the upper forward fuselage will eliminate any steps, as a test fit shows a little pressure while the glue sets should yield a smooth butt join. No putty so far but some CA to level the joins and fix stray rescribes. The wings are tedious, cutting and fitting the resin inserts, the blending it all in. Use the Hasegawa wing as a guide. I cut off the little flap covers over the upper screw drives and made new ones out of sheet stock to match the resin flaps. A nice thing about scratching the main well is: I now have the extra surface area to solidly glue the wing's interconnecting swing gear to, they will attach solidly to the roof of the main well. I do not anticipate any putty, only some CA to smooth the joints and any stray scribe marks. The problem I'm contemplating now is whether to attach the flaps solidly now or wait until I lay down the cammo. One gentleman on ARC used piano wire to simulate the screw drives and that is a good idea because of the fragile nature of the resin flap tracks. Anyhow I have to paint the fan faces and should be able to close her up this weekend. JTY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 It's been a while, but it looks like you've been really busy. Good looking cockpit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
model_madness Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Spanking pit there John! Love the detail, makes me dribble like a baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil @ Flory Models Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Great job John, Great detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skii Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 That really is astonishing work John, this is going to be a showstopper ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Gotta agree with the chaps there John. You're making great progress on what looks like a difficult conversion/upgrade. Keep those pics coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 I was wondering how you were getting on the other day. Nice to see you've been busy, and I like your work. As for the screw drives - piano wire will definitely add some strength. If you want to portray the threads, you may wind some copper wire around the steel core, though this means you will need to go down on the diameter on the piano wire. Still, it will be much stronger than just the resin... Jens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nev Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Real nice work on those wheel wells and cockpit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 11, 2007 Share Posted June 11, 2007 Nice work so far John. Can't for the life of me figure out why we don't see more F-111s being built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Yank Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 Last couple of weeks were slow going, after CA'ing the flap & slat inserts and cleaning up the flaps & slats I discovered the slots in the slat inserts did not match the slat tracks. I had to fill the slots with .050 stock and CA and sand smooth. Re-file new slots to match the tracks which were made from .030 I channel. This was done after straightening the warping of the slats. Do this 2X and you can see where 10 evenings disappear. The flaps were a drop fit, no problems. Here are the wings finished, primed, and waiting to be glued to the lower fuselage. Don't forget to add some stiffeners from sprue runners to the lower fuselage, there is a lot of empty space in the rear fuselage and another one on the inside joint between the front and rear fuselage join, once again cheap insurance. Also, glue the kit wing gap inserts flush, they will give extra area to secure the top rear fuselage and add a solid surface to CA the PE wing seals to. I added the louvres to the vents on the upper rear fuselage from individual strip, that was a PITA. I believe Eduard made a PE set that had the louvres, but it is out of production. All things considered it will start to look like a Vaark after this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentalguru Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 HAve you ever checked those wings against drawings? look awfully "dumpy?" its late and mu contcts are annoying me Imagine if Hssegawa did one of these... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 That's some construction work in there John! The louvres may have tested your patience but look well worth the effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Hello again John! Wondered where you'd got to That's some very VERY good super-detailing there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiSteve Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Great looking work John. The scratch building looks sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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