Pappy

January 12

Noice!

Brings back memories of when I built that kit as a little tacker,

cheers,

Pappy

January 12

2 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Damn! That seat looks good. The pin lanyard makes all the difference, taking it into the 'best seat evah' category.

2 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

That’s one neat seat!

G'day fellas,

Firstly, thanks very much. I am glad I put the extra effort in now, it is definitely an improvement over the very vanilla kit seat and the pin lanyard adds a much needed splash of colour to the cockpit which is otherwise akin to the black hole of Calcutta!

cheers,

Pappy

January 12

G'day people,

I added some additional details like the seat head pad and pin bag then spent a pleasant morning painting up the seat

Pretty happy with the result. I will add the face curtain firing handle (try saying that three times real quick!) just before installation as it is likely to get knocked off in the meantime. The seat fits into the jet but there is a little maneuver that needs to be executed to get it into place but it does play nice with the kit

cheers,

Pappy

January 11

3 hours ago, Col. said:

The fully strapped seat will look grand in the detailed 'pit. Top job.

3 hours ago, Christer A said:

That fin/stab-job was terrific!

1 hour ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Straps = perfect.

Thanks gents, the effort was definitely worthwhile

G'day people,

Does anyone have any clear side drawings or pictures taken from side-on for the underwing pylons?

I want to build a Kosovo mission jet with LGBs like the one closest to the camera in this pic;

http://www.ffaa.net/aircraft/super-etendard/super-etendard_fr.htm

The outer pylons with the PHIMAT and Barracuda I will have to make. These look shorter than the EFT pylon. I cannot make out the details of the inner pylons that are loaded with GBU-12s but again these pylons look different to the EFT pylon which is longer and shaped differently

cheers,

Pappy

January 11

I have another request!

Does anyone have any clear side drawing or pictures taken from side on for the underwing pylons?

My kit (Heller/Airfix) only includes the External Fuel Tank (EFT) and Exocet specific pylons.

My WIP is here

I want to build a Kosovo mission jet with LGBs like the one closest to the camera in this pic;

The outer pylons with the PHIMAT and Barracuda I will have to make. These look shorter than the EFT pylon. I cannot make out the details of the inner pylons that are loaded with GBU-12s but again these pylons look different to the EFT pylon which is longer and shaped differently.

cheers,

Pappy

January 11

12 hours ago, Wings unlevel said:

I’ve read that Intruders crews used to say that, but then they made ‘Flight of the Intruder’!

Terrible movie but some great flying scenes.

On being informed they would be performing a SEAD mission:

Movie: "IRON HAND is my thing!"

Real life "YGBSM!!"

Pappy

January 11

G'day,

The NWW is reasonably clean but the MWW and airbrake bay were quite filthy. Also the MWW doors were typically closed with the gear extended but these also had a tendency to lag open slightly once hyd power was removed. This is just as well as these doors seem to be just a touch too small to meet in the fully closed position,

cheers,

Pappy

January 11

'Bout time you made a start

Pappy

January 11

G'day people,

I spent a little time prepping the bang seat. Initially I was going to tart up the kit seat

While poking around the spares box for other stuff I discovered that I had the correct seat in resin so decided to use this instead

This proved to be more fiddly than I anticipated as the harness is comprised of multiple PE harnesses that are threaded through buckles (which themselves need to be threaded onto harness straps which get folded over and then installed. I can see why people don't like PE but I had a ball!

cheers,

Pappy

January 10

1 hour ago, Col. said:

This kit may be a basic starting point but some aftermarket assistance and a good measure of talent is going to create a great model from it.

Yeah I think there is deffo a SUE in the box somewhere and I whinge a lot but it is coming together. I think with the Kinetic and KH releases these should be availabe as a cheaper option at the second hand tables for those that don't mind a little work,

cheers,

Pappy

January 10

G'day,

Lovely work, as you say the addition of some additional details add to the realism of the seat. I think in practice the shoulder harnesses were looped upwards and secured into holders on either side of the headbox.

Not sure if you are aware but the decal sheet includes some data stencils for the seat headbox which will really complete the seat. The decals appear in the painting section of the instructions,

cheers,

Pappy

January 10

On 12/18/2022 at 9:39 PM, _alfisti_ said:

On the fins you have to deal with the same issues as on the wings and tailplanes, the trailing edges are way too thick. ...and also no clear parts for the two little lights on the top, I will cut them off and use some clear sprue to rebuild them.

G'day Daniel'

Some really great work going on here. One thing though, the nav light on the left fin is clear, the one on the right is red,

cheers,

Pappy

On 12/18/2022 at 9:39 PM, _alfisti_ said:

January 10

17 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

Is that resin in the cockpit accurate for the type or is it generic stuff from the spares box? Either way it looks good.

It is a SUE resin cockpit with some SUE PE ansd some scratch details thrown in for good measure,

cheers,

Pappy

January 10

18 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I love to watch the transformations you manage.

Cheers BMB

G:day people,

After the palaver that was the tail I decided to reward my self with some cockpit painting. In the words of Henry Ford, any colour as long as it is black!

I have also glued the fuselage together

The fit was a little iffy in spots, especially at the forward fuselage sides. The aft fuselage wasn't too bad

The main wing halves are trapped between the horizontally split fuselage. Now matter how I attempted to manipulate this assembly I was going to end up with a step at the wing root

Lots of filling and sanding ahead....

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

15 minutes ago, Shorty84 said:

A definitive yes. Both Anti-Radar and Television-Guided variants would have been carried. I've just re-read the 'Colour Conundrum' articles @Rabbit Leader mentioned above, which give the following info regarding planned armament:

Up to two WE177 (A or B ) internally

Four Martel missiles (Anti-Radar or TV or mixed) on the four inboard swivelling pylons. For TV guidance, a guidance pod would be carried on the centre pylon in the weapon bay

Up to thirty-four 1000lb high-explosive bombs (free-fall or retarded). Two could be carried internally, the remaining ones on up to eight wing pylons (four bombs on each pylon)

SNEB rocket pods

Lepus flares

Weapon release simulator type 105

Naval Air Staff Requirement 1197 Cluster bombs (500 or 1000lbs). This weapon requirement was eventually met by the BL755

The article also goes into detail regarding the planned config and colours. Regarding the planned config, basically everything was already covered in this thread, the only exceptions being:

the requirement to install three strike cameras. While no details seem to be available regarding the exact installation of the strike cameras, it is mentioned that they should be "fitted in a fairing under the nose"

the US refuelling system was to be retained

the trainer variant (TF-111K) would omit the roller map display in the cockpit, could not carry the Recce pack and could not carry the TV variant of the Martel missile.

Regarding colours, a short summary of the content:

External camouflage:

Dark Green BS 381C No.241/Dark Sea Gray BS 381C No.638 (Upper surface)

Light Aircraft Gray BS 381 No.627 or Medium Sea Gray BS 381C No.637 (lower surface), the latter being mentioned in a Loose Minute which informed General Dynamics about the camo colours

Internal colours (cockpit):

Specified both 'grey' (Dark Admiralty Grey BS 381C No.632) and 'light grey' (Light Admiralty Grey BS 381C No.637) for various components

Black for the glare shield

There are of course much more info in both parts of the article, if interested I could scan them and provide them to you @Lawzer and anyone else who's interested.

Cheers

Markus

+ 1 please

Pappy

January 9

7 hours ago, Lawzer said:

Sorry - I didn't know there was one......

Thank you all for the replies.

So, I'm now wondering if it may be better for my sanity to just do an F111A RAF whif demo aircraft!!!!!!

If I decide to proceed with this (either way) what would likely weapon load out be?

No need to apologise, this is the right place to ask all the 'dumb' questions.

An RAF demo is a soft option but if you just want to slap some RAF decals on an F-111A it is the easiest option. If it was a demo, the weapon load would likely be nothing. In the time frame that this was happening, graphic artists would create drawings in a prospective buyers colours but would not paint a demonstrator jet in the proposed colours unless a contract was signed.

If you just want an easy build of slapping some decals on the kit and calling it an F-111K, you need to remember that the F-111A began life without a PT pod which was developed later so for an initial bomb load you would be limited yo unguided bombs.

The F-111 used dedicated BRU-3A/As that were rated for high speed release (very early F-111As used the six position MERs while waiting for delivery of the BRUs) and TERs were never used. Being an American designed platform they were designed to release the US MK.80 series bombs which the UK did not use. This doesn't mean UK pattern bombs would not fit as the hook spacing was NATO standard 14" and 30" so the UK would need to do its own clearance and weapon separation trials to verify (The RAAF did this anyway despite ussng the MK.80 series bombs) they would play nice.

Stores could also be suspended beneath each pylon singly without the MER.

I think the only 1/48 kit that includes these is the Academy F-111E (HB just provide MERs one of the multitude of errors that this kit has)

Missiles, as mentioned already Martel as well as the nuke (in the bay). Your kit includes the (poorly shaped) gun fairing which was a feature of the F-111A/C. The gun sytem was later removed and rthe space was used for the PT pod (or the recce pallet in the case of the RAAF RF-111C), again this is a WHIF so you draw on F-4K?Bucc and Tornado as inspiration but this is the reason why I suggest an F-111K later in its career when the mature pltform would have a lot more interesting options of LGB/GPS weapons

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

2 minutes ago, ElectroSoldier said:

Its not a build thread so no.

Agreed, plus there were two airframes started and there was a contract in place for purchase of the F=111K, which was later cancelled.

The discussion is also related in a roundabout way to the TSR.2 programme

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

32 minutes ago, Bobby No Mac said:

I do like the A6 family, but didn't realise that there was a coupe EA-6 before the Prowler. Every day's a school day!

Well they didn't make may and the EA role is one of those important but unsung roles. They did operate into the 90s when they were all retired. I wouldn't mind another kit to do an all over grey version

11 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I'd happily build and paint a cockpit like that just as long as I didn't have to do the rest of the aeroplane. That one is rather finely done.

Ta, I was happy with the result as well!

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

7 minutes ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

It's the short swept back wings that put me in mind of the penguin. From a modelling point of view I agree that the four seater is the best - the cockpits are so big, complex and visible - lovely!

Ahh gotcha. I agree, the Prowler's cockpit is lovely and complex. I started the kinetic kit a while back, I must get back to it one day....

January 9

1 hour ago, Bertie McBoatface said:

I like that box art. The intruder from the side looks fabulous. Unfortunately from any other angle it's a cross between a penguin and a tadpole. Good choice for a build though - nicely complex

G'day BMB,

Like Hasegawa, Fujimi also had great box art in the 80s.

I prefer the EA-6A to the standard A-6 family, the extended nose balances out the long tapered fuselage which seems to end a little too abruptly otherwise. The EA-6B (the 'family wagon') looked even better and was the logical developkent of the EA role. I can see the tadpole, resemblance, not so sure about the penguin,

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

G'day people,

I have been working on the stabs. The Heller/ Airfix design team decided it would be a good idea to slot the two part stab assembly (which includes an aft bullet fairing that is part of the fin) inside the fin proper. The stab parts fit is crap and the fit of that assembly into the fin is no better, Also, a small portion of stab is moulded as part of the fin along with the moveable scuff plates. I am sure someone thought that this would be a good idea to assist in aligning the stabs but at rest, the stabs droop TE down so unless you want to depict the jet manned this will need to be corrected which is a lot of extra work.

I would really like to meet the person that designed this part so I could punch them in the face :angry:

First up, the aft bullet fairing was glued into the fin and bogged up,

This is what is looks like after sanding

Meanwhile, the stabs were separated and cleaned up including replacing the 'missing' portion at the root. I glued in a section of plastic strip and sanded to section

The last task was to scratch up some replacement scuff plates. These were simply knocked up from some plastic sheet based on tracing the outline of the plates before they were sanded off the fin.

Now I have a new set of parts which will allow me to position however I want

Phew, I need a lie down,

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

G'day people,

Still with the wings, The EA-6A also was unique in having three wing fences per wing. Fujimi have done their homework here and provide the additional wing fences which jave now been added along with rescribing the panel line detail lost during the process of removing the wing speed brake external actuator fairings

Whilst all that was going on, I have managed to get the external stores together and painted

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

12 hours ago, Lawzer said:

All, I’ve purchased this from @jhutchi :

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/zhengdefu-df-327-general-dynamics-fb-111a--966719

I quite fancy doing it as an RAF whif “K”.

a quick look on Wikipedia would suggest the kit is a good staring point (seemingly the strengthened MLG). Now I’m not really bothered at 100% accuracy as the K never actually flew but for the F111 aficionados is there anything else I would need to do?

Also any suggestions on colour scheme and also period correct rounders etc (I have little enough idea about ww2 rounders let alone more modern ones )?

cheers

Ian

As I stated previously, this is a very poor copy of the Academy kit.

The decal sheet is worthless and should be burned but a few additional points,

1. The external fuel tanks are the wrong length, if you want something pretty close see if you can find the external tank provided in the old Monogram A-10 kit. The gas bags were not generally used unless the jet was conducting a ferry flight. F-111s had phenomenal internal range and would have been supplemented with IFR tankers if required operationally.

2. The outermost 'fixed' pylons were a different shape to the inner two swiveling pylons. The kit provides six identical pylons When employed, the fixed pylons were isntalled at angle that resulted in them pointing inwards with the wings at forward sweep (16 degrees) so that they would be pointing paralell to the fuselage at the 26 degress wing sweep (best cruise) angle. with the result that the external tank installed would be pigeon toed relative to the other tanks. The huge drag this created means that F-111s rarely used this option operationally. The wings would have to be locjed out at 26 degrees.

2a. The kit features a 'working, pylon swivel mech. It sorta works, not for vey long and not very well. My advice would be to not bother with it, make a model instead of a toy. Pick a wing sweep setting and stick with that. Any angle other than fully forward will result in a gap where wings tuck into the fuselage. The Jet is surprisingly big in 1/48 so it makes sense to tuck the wings back but you will need to come up with your own solution for the overwing seals.

3. The u/c configuraton depicted in the instrauctions is for very early F-111As. The heavy duty u/c that was destined for the F-111K was similar to the FB-111A (and also adopted for the RAAF F/RF-111Cs), t9o correct it you will need toreduce the rear door in size and make sure it hangs down almost vertically rather than extending behind horizontally as shown. The tyres would also be wider with different hubs as this was a feature of the heavy duty tyres.

I agree with others regarding the grey/green/ ightgrey as an initial scheme, especially if you want to be boring/predictable. You could also entertain an all over anti-flash white scheme (think TSR.2) for jets tasked with delivering instant sunshine. The camo scheme would have progressed to a 'wraparound' style and eventuallu an all over grey as the aircraft coninued in servicce. Don't forget the ARTF 'desert pink' scheme for Op Granby..

Most people focus on how the jet would look at the introduction to service but I think it would be more interesting to see how it would have evolved and matured in RAF sercice Although originally designed to have short wings, the longer wing toips could be added as a kit. The four F-111A attrition replacement jets delivered to the RAAF were modified this way but flew in RAAF livery for a short time with their original shorter wings. The wingtip extensions allowed for greater range so this may have been an option during an ugrade programme for your WHIF along with later engines, additional sensors (your kit does not include the PT pod) and weapons

Your WHIF after all, be creative!

cheers,

Pappy

January 9

8 hours ago, f111guru said:

This I would enjoy watching the WIP. The only images I have are the ones produced by General Dynamics of the mock-up. I also may have an artists image somewhere.

Is the kit a re-release from the old Academy kit? I have one of the F-111E kits but other than that I'm unfamiliar with the company.. Nice thing about the academy kit it gives both styles of intakes and with the C model has the rounded nose weapons pylons. Sp what ever direction you go I would like to see a work in progress.

All The Best,

Ron VanDerwarker

It is a (very, very crude) unlicenced copy of the Academy kit. Moulding is generally quite poor, a bit like when you photoocopy a photocopy and the decals are laughable (seriously have a read of the stencilsP) and it is probably best avoided

Pappy

January 9

G'day,

My understanding of the aux intake doors is that they operate automatically with aerodynamic force and that they are nornally held shut by spring pressure and overcome the spring pressure to supply additional air to the engines at low forward speed.

With the engine(s) operating at start-up, taxi and take-off, the suction inside the intake overcomes the spring pressure (negative pressure reltive to the outside of the intake) and the doors open. As the jet gains speed during take-off, the pressure inside the duct starts to equalise with the outside and the doors shut. The reverse would happen as the jet approaches to land and slows down. The doors could also open in flight if the jet was executing a slow passs for the camera for example,

cheers,

Pappy.

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