Ghostbase Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Started this 1/48th HobbyBoss F-111A Aardvark December just over a year ago, this is easily the largest and most complex kit I have tried to this point. Why the F-111? I have always had a soft spot for 'McNamara's Folly' which started her life as an expensive failure but once she settled into service no other aircraft could carry out her mission of precision airstrikes over long ranges in all-weather conditions. I have happy memories of seeing F-111s based at Upper Heyford and Lakenheath on display at UK airshows, and sadder memories post 1996 of seeing rows of 'Varks bleaching in the sun at the David-Monthan 'boneyard' in Arizona. So, the kit. This was one of MJW Models special offers and with P&P included I think cost around £34 - superb value for a kit that builds to 18 inches long and 16 wide and, better still, it can be built with just about everything 'open, dangling and drooping'! I have built one HobbyBoss kit to date - an A-7A Corsair - and I am aware that there can be some accuracy issues. I can also confirm that the instructions often have to be treated with some caution. Fortunately I had several BM'ers willing to offer expert advice (which I sometimes ignored) and this overcame most of the problems. Here she is: The kit gives two colour options and I decided to go for 63-9770 which was the fifth F-111A built and wore the early white/grey scheme with nice large USAF markings, I think some of the very early FB-111A aircraft wore this scheme as well (though probably not into active service). I have tried to depict her as a typical F-111A at rest although the spoilers would not still be raised. I have shown the nosecone as separate from the aircraft, in reality it would hinge to one side but that was exceeding my patience so I took the easy way out. All paints were Humbrol enamels, decals from the kit. I still need to give a final spray with Klear. What to put on the weapons pylons was a problem as 63-9770 was used for development work and specifically the fitting of a gun in the weapons bay. In the end I wimped out and added MERs on the inner pylons (totally inaccurate for the time period) and AIM-9 adaptors for the middle pylons, both these came from the kit which contains one of HobbyBosses generic weapons sprues. One thing I did enjoy doing was building the forward avionics bays with the access doors open and also the radar; it looks a bit clunky here but the model looks good to me and I want to do more of this in the future. I did use part of an Eduard self-adhesive F-111A interior set in the cockpit and the extra detail really helped. Looks like the nose gear door is about to drop off! That's about it. Any mistakes or inaccuracies are mine but I have enjoyed putting this together in fits and starts and I do have an impressive model to squeeze into the display cabinet (another good reason for leaving the nosecone off!). Finally, many thanks to all who kindly commented, offered advice, or tried to raise my morale during the build! Michael 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary West Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Nice to see her finished and great to see a 111 in one of its rarer schemes - 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNoAF Aerobatic Team Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Superb work! I love it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 That's a cracking build! Definitely a lovely addition to any ones collection. Well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBart Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Looks great in that colour scheme, nice build. BlackBart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Wow ! I was expecting to see an S.E.A Camo`d one, but that looks great ! Cool too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 very nice and congrats to finishing you model! :) very pleasant for the eye in that rare paint scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thanks for all the positive comments I did forget to mention one thing, if you do decide to put one of these HB kits together then do take a look at Fotios Rouch's very detailed build article on Cybermodeler Online here http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/builds/hb/build_hb_80348.shtml I referred to this several times when I got stuck! Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Holy Poo !! - Wasn't expecting that !!, just fantastic. Ian. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Av8fan Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Very nice work. I like the paint scheme Not often do we see the early scheme. keep up the great work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
link1987 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 wow, that bird is really large, hope you can actually display it, cracking build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 superb work, looks great very nice job on the paint and detail, very nice clean build.... great work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 That is a really impressive piece of work, well worth the time and effort 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Nice work in getting this one finished, I know that the kit normally gets a right bashing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Nice work in getting this one finished, I know that the kit normally gets a right bashing! Thanks. What I have enjoyed about building this kit is that I have done so with pre-warning regards some of the issues contained within it and having to make considered decisions about how I move forward with it. I have never really had to do that before now and it has been good to stop and listen to BM experts and then make decisions about what I want. One of the weakest areas of the kit was the bomb bay, the positioning of the AN/ALQ87 pods within the bay, and the bomb bay doors. I decided to accept some inaccuracies however managed to achieve an end result which still look good to a non-expert (hopefully!). This build was much delayed by my starting the newly released Kitty Hawk 1/48 McDonnell F-101A/C Voodoo last July and, good grief, what a challenge! All of a sudden the HB 'Vark was a doddle, it really was! So what would I do differently? Well I do have several 1/48th 'Varks in the stash - a HobbyBoss EF-111A 'Sparkvark', the Academy F-111C, FB-111A and the EF-111A, and even the ancient Monogram F-111A. At this point I could convert the HB EF-111A into another F-111A using the tail fin of the old Monogram kit. Or I could build her 'as is' and convert the Academy EF-111A into an F-111A instead. I would paint and mark her as a 366th TFW bird out of Mountain Home AFB, ID. The other major change is that I would seriously look at using more Eduard Etch detailing sets, especially the avionics, engine and interior sets, they really do add a level of detail to a kit like this. Finally, I must learn to apply washes and to be comfortable in doing so, I think that a wash would really have added to this build. Again, thanks for the positive comments, I really do feel that I have gone up a step in my scale modelling 'career'. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stesca Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Excellent, like this very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Great looking F-111, and its good to see one in that scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Very nice, looks good in that scheme! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Very sharp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the MDman Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 This is an exceptional built! It encourages me to pick my F-111A from the stash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiya64 Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Outstanding work, great detail. Looks great in the early colour scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K'Tesh Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 (edited) Very nice Vark! Some small problems though... Where's the sway braces? Whenever a munition, fuel tank, or ECM pod is carried by any of the pylons (or in the bay) it was braced into position by the sway braces that were part of the MAU-12 racks that is holding it to the aircraft. Oh, the missile rail should be mounted to the outboard side of the pylon, and not the underside of it (unless this is some kind of early test bed version), and the TER is also suspect. I was a weapons troop, and I supported the F-111E Aardvarks and EF-111A Ravens (Sparkvarks) of the 20th TFS and 42nd ECS stationed at RAF Upper Heyford from July 1988 to Sept 1990. Edited June 9, 2016 by K'Tesh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostbase Posted June 18, 2016 Author Share Posted June 18, 2016 Very nice Vark! Some small problems though... Where's the sway braces? Whenever a munition, fuel tank, or ECM pod is carried by any of the pylons (or in the bay) it was braced into position by the sway braces that were part of the MAU-12 racks that is holding it to the aircraft. Oh, the missile rail should be mounted to the outboard side of the pylon, and not the underside of it (unless this is some kind of early test bed version), and the TER is also suspect. I was a weapons troop, and I supported the F-111E Aardvarks and EF-111A Ravens (Sparkvarks) of the 20th TFS and 42nd ECS stationed at RAF Upper Heyford from July 1988 to Sept 1990. Thanks for the critique K'Tesh and funnily enough is really helpful this long after I completed this kit. I got myself into a bad patch of 'get-it-finished-now-itis' and quite a few of the small but important details that you have pointed out let the build down which is a shame as the F-111 was an impressive aircraft and, despite the known faults with the kit, does build into a really good looking model. Sway braces? Yep, they were in the kit and I should have added them. In fact I still can :-) Thanks for the point about the missile rail. I am looking again at the kit instructions and they are totally unhelpful regards the loading and positioning of the missiles, munitions and ECM pods and I do remember that there was a lot of constructive comment in the build thread. Again I could put it right... The TER is totally suspect for such an early aircraft and I understand that the early 'Varks had a unique BRU-3A/A bomb release unit which was more aerodynamic. I did consult Jim Rotramel's excellent F-111 Weapon Loads page on the F-111 Net website and was aware of this, I was pointed towards OzMods who produce several resin weapons sets for the F-111 which include the BRU's however at the time I was reluctant to work with resin or pay out for these. I understand that 63-9770 was a development aircraft and was used to test the M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling gun and the electronic warfare systems, whether she actually ever carried a full weapons load I don't know. This is probably the nearest I have got to a 'proper' display model, she does need to be varnished at some time to seal the decals and it would not take too much time to make the changes you suggest. I believe there is going to be an F-111 group build here next year and I am already signed up :-) Good to know you were over here back in the late 80's, it was a very sad day when the last 'Varks left our skies. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdonnell Posted June 18, 2016 Share Posted June 18, 2016 Hello,Michael - A fabulous looking build of a fabulous subject.I love it! All the best,Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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