RF-111C 6 Sqn. RAAF Base Amberley 88 - completed

[Navy Bird]

I never realised the HB kit had so many problems. Bummer. Great work fixing the splitter plates, though. I have the exact opposite problem on my F-111B conversion. The 1:72 scale Hasegawa F-111C has kinked splitters, but I need straight ones! Gotta love it...at least I have some straight splitters in the ancient Revell kit that might be able to be used. 

 

Cheers,

Bill

[trickyrich]

On 21/04/2017 at 1:43 PM, Antoine said:

Highly interesting!

An RF-111C would have been my choice too, but I've still to wait a few month before glueing sanding and airbrushing again.

By the way, how does HB F-111 compare to Academy's, when you think RF-111C?

 

to be honest, I really don't know, it could be any worse than the HB one. I didn't think the Academy one had the RF option? Having the weapons bay doors seperate really makes a difference when building the Recon door.

 

On 22/04/2017 at 8:30 AM, Navy Bird said:

I never realised the HB kit had so many problems. Bummer. Great work fixing the splitter plates, though. I have the exact opposite problem on my F-111B conversion. The 1:72 scale Hasegawa F-111C has kinked splitters, but I need straight ones! Gotta love it...at least I have some straight splitters in the ancient Revell kit that might be able to be used. 

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Mmm, it has so much promise but is let down in the details, they're all fairly minor but there are just so many of them. A couple of hours of real research would have solved them all. Some of them are really unforgivable! The splitter plates weren't hard to make just a bit time consuming, there were probably easier ways to do it that I chose. Straight ones should be a breeze. I'm really enjoying you build...as usual!

[snapper_city]

Watching with interest. Really wish I had the time and a kit to enter this STGB. Lovely A/C.

Edited April 24, 2017 by snapper_city

[SallysDad]

Yes, disappointing about the mistakes in this kit.

[trickyrich]

Well after almost 6 weeks at sea I’m back to the beast! I had hoped time would erase the bad memories of this build, or the nice modelling fairies would have come and waved their magic wands or sprinkled fairy resin dust all over to make everything good…….they didn't but the Dust Bunnies moved in!

 

Nah, it’s still the rotten piece of plastic rubbish made by Hobby Boss! Ok no time for more rants have way too much to do.

 

What’s below is about 3 days worth of work….on and off and in no particular order..

 

I received the new vacform canopy from Scaledown. Wow there is quite a bit of difference between to new one and the HB one, it really looks like HB got the entire cockpit shape wrong, I didn’t think it was that bad!!

 

So I built up new framework for the canopy to fit, I wanted to do as much with plastic and use as little filler as possible, though I did use a wee bit now.

 

I’ve changed my mind and decided to leave the canopy closed as it will save lots of time, I’ve nearly finish the interior of the canopy, plus I added some additional framing plus remembered to add the Standby Compass.

 

 

I’m really happy with the fit, I’ll probably spot glue it in place with CA glue then do the rest with epoxy.

 

 

Next up the cockpit itself. I ended up using Eduard's F-111A set is this is the closest to the one the Recon birds had. Eduard’s F-111C set is actually for…..well I don’t really know as there are quite a few things wrong with it!

 

It doesn’t look too bad when together.

 

 

Those seatbelts were a nightmare! There are over 16 bits of PE for each seat! I used some 240 grit wet & dry painted to represent the black sheepskin covers ours had.

 

 

When altogether it doesn’t look too bad at all. With the canopy on it should look nice and busy. Plus I need to remember to add all the “Remove before Flight” tags in the cockpit, “6 pins, 5 tags” if my memory is correct, plus a pin/collar for the speed brake and the nose gear pin. I may make the rest of the covers as well….will depend on time.

 

 

I was thinking about trying to tint the screen/canopy gold but not too sure how to do it……..I don’t really have the time…and not sure how it will go on a acetate canopy!  The RAAF F-111C’s of this era still had a mix on clear and gold tinted canopies, the gold ones were swapped out only when they needed to be replaced. It wasn’t unusual to see an aircraft with a mix of screens/canopies!

 

Ok some other small jobs were done, wheels painted….

 

 

……exhaust cans painted, well started the process…..

 

 

….new ‘Dump Master” made and finished profiling the main U/c door/speed brake….just need to fill in the hole I made!!

 

 

I fitted the underside strakes (and a few other things as well) and found another HB screwup! They would have you believe that these strakes were vertical and needed to be fitted that way by the way the mounts are made! These need to be at right angles to the surface they’re fitted to, which when fitted correctly leave you with horrible gaps to fill!

 

 

I had originally planned to paint and finish the wings first…not really sure why! But with the need to pull my finger out I’m fitting them now. Boy she is a big beast!

 

 

OK now for what has been taking up the most time, the Recon door! I haven’t been really happy with this at all. While the shape and look are about right I felt it was just too deep and sat down to low and really stuck out underneath which is not right, but the fairing for the Pano cameras was right. It's not easy to see in this photo....

 

 

To fix this I either had to start again (no time) or modify what I already had. Sanding the base would take forever, so I cut the sides off it and cut a hole to match in the original kit weapons bay door. This allowed be to reduce the overall height,  while keeping the Pano camera fairing intact as this is correct. Plus I replaced a couple of panels on it as well while I was at it, they had become paper thin from sanding.

 

 

The shape is much better now and the side profile looks much better, I only reduced it by a couple of millimetres, but that’s all it needed.

 

 

I now just have to finish the shaping then I can cast the first blank. I’ll do all the final detailing on this cast before casting the final product. It will take time and will probably be the last bit to be fitted, but I have designed it this way. If I stuff it up she’ll become one of the Pave Tack birds I worked on!!

 

Hopefully things will progress a lot faster now, I still have to replace the drop tanks and either buy or makeup some intake covers.

 

[Hewy]

Good progress rich in such short time, love the sheep skin cover idea, very convincing,i shall remember that one, cockpit is looking ace, and i know how time consuming and mentally painfull fitting the vac canopy is,you've done a lovley job on it, hobby boss stencils are poor and are prone to silvering ,just somthing else thats poor to add to the looong list, peck on 

Glynn

[exdraken]

Nice and very valuable progress!

 

I LOVE the sandpaper sheep skin!!! Your seats look fantastic and well worth every effort!

Edited June 4, 2017 by exdraken

[modelling minion]

Great work Rich, she is really starting to take shape now.

Like the 2 comments above I love the idea of using sandpaper to represent the sheepskin cover on the seats it really is very effective.

The recce conversion is really nice work and really makes a difference.

[trickyrich]

Thanks, it was the only quick solution I could think of to replicate the sheep skin covers. Though I don't know how noticeable they'll be through the canopy!

 

ok again lots of stuff done but not an awful lot to show for it!

 

Most of the work again has been on the Recon door. I’m really close to finishing it, I completed the final shaping and just needs rubbing back a couple or places where I had to touch-up patches. Next I’ll undercoat and give it a final polish before I start casting.

 

 

The shape is almost there I think, unfortunately I don’t have the detailed drawings or photos on the bay to confirm. All the photos I have are either at distance or at odd angles. The one saving grace if I have stuffed it up is that I’ll be black so that will hide lots of sins!! 

 

 

As can be seen I have also fitted the intakes and of course the fit is on par with the rest of the model!! It took quite a bit of fiddling to get them sitting right (well as close as they’re going to get), and I need to do some filling in places.

 

 

The splitter plates look a bit odd at the moment but should look ok once I fit the supports.

 

 

I have cut holes in the fuselage for these, the plan is I’ll glue the supports to the plates. Once completely dry I’ll then pull the supports to their correct position which should do the same with the plates and glue them to the fuselage.

 

 

I think there’s still something not quite right with the intakes and I can’t quite work out what it is. HB got the splitter plate wrong by using a completely flat splitter plate and I think in doing so have managed to stuff up the shape of the intake. Not by much, but enough to make it not look right when you try to fit a correctly shaped splitter plate.

 

The intake flat surfaces are at 90° to each other, which I’m not 100% sure they are meant to be. Plus they are, on the model, parallel and perpendicular to the aircraft to the aircraft axis when looked at head on. In fact upper flat surface of the intake is parallel wing glove surface, and the lower vertical part on the intake then sits further away from the fuselage then it’s top section. If that all makes sense!!

 

This photo sort of shows what I mean, it’s the best I could find and is only being used to highlight a point.

 

 

It’s just another annoying little thing to add to the list of things not right with this model.

 

I added the Remove before Flight tags the to the cockpit, they are a wee bit too large but don’t look that bad.

 

 

I now just have to figure out how to add the cord (will be using lead wire) that runs between them all!!!

 

[Arniec]

Nice progress on the cockpit. At least yours is moving on in the build. Mine is still on hold, but I hope to do some work tomorrow.

Need to get this one moving.

 

Cheers,

[Muzz]

Your certainly making up some of your lost time Rich, love the cockpit and a very neat job on the canopy.

 

Muzz

[AdrianMF]

Lots of lovely detail going in here! I love the cockpit with its RBF tags. The HB kit certainly has a list of issues to deal with but you seem to be winning.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[trickyrich]

5 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Lots of lovely detail going in here! I love the cockpit with its RBF tags. The HB kit certainly has a list of issues to deal with but you seem to be winning.

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

thanks.......I may be winning but not without a lot of bashing of head against a wall!!

 

I have suddenly worked out what this build is! It’s like one of those old cars you really love but everyone knows are a piece of crap, and of course they end up being a huge money pit! As much as you know it’s really a piece of crap you just can’t help spending more money on it in the hope it will turn out ok…..our at least get you back home without breaking down!

 

….and gosh this thing keeps breaking down!

 

Ok the more money bit…….

 

……mmm well ok before that......these two distractions showed up while I was away, the gun thingy, well it has wheels and a big gun….what can I say I just love it!!!!!      

 

 

…and this one…..well it came with the Bombcat conversion kit and the whole thing was cheaper than I could have bought the conversion kit for!! So I had to buy it…and the cockpit set and some appropriate decals as well! 

 

 

Unfortunately I’ve started work on one of them already….as if I needed another distraction! I won’t say which one but a WIP will be up for it very shortly! 

 

Oh and the money pit bit…

 

“two of these are not like the other!”

 

 

Right back to the action, time to fit the escape module.

 

First off why oh why do they insist to make this a separate item on these models??? Know ones going to build it separate and have it on display separately, the majority of people know the F-111 had an escape module! All they’ve managed to is create further fit issues on a model, which in this case which had enough issues already!

 

I had hoped adding more braces would have helped but they didn’t really.

 

 

The escape module fitted in a fashion but there were quite a few fit issues and I needed to use CA cement to hold things in place. A bit of filler and some stretched sprue and we have this.

 

 

While the overall shape is nearly there I have this lip, or odd shape where the front of the canopy meets the fuselage, it’s not right!

 

 

It should be more of a continuous line to the fuselage following the canopy. The front and rear of the escape module are hard up against the fuselage plastic and the top part of the rear section of the fuselage is in its correct position, so I really don’t know how you were meant to not have gaps at the base of the escape module. Plus that awkward shape at the front of the canopy….unless it was less so with the original canopy!

 

 

I have since attacked this section with the sanding stick, it looks better but still not 100%, but I really can’t be bothered wasting more time on this.

 

I’ve done quite a bit more painting on all the smaller bits, photos later. Plus I had a awesome idea for the intake and exhaust covers! I came across it while I was restocking on my casting suppliers, more on this the next update.

 

Ok the last bit is the recon bay…casting time!

 

Well I finally have gotten to a stage where I’m happy with this, so time to move to the next step.

 

 

First I had to add some bracing, because there is so much filler used I found as it dried it caused the door to bow. I needed to add some heavy duty bracing!!

 

 

Next the fun bit casting! All happy in the custom made mould…

 

 

…next add the “Pinkie”……

 

 

…a short time later add some resin mix, and an even shorty time!!

 

 

The first cast is actually quite good, the surface finish and shape is perfect. I have bubbles in the door hinges, well they’re actually missing, plus a couple in the front, so I know what I need to do. I’ll recast and try to remove those before it sets this tie. Then I can start to scribe some panel detail, there’s not much there and add the ADD-5 IP Line Scanner opening and fairing mount (the actual fairing is just some plastic card I’ll add later). Then I can make the final moulding and cast the completed door!

 

 

All said and done I’m close to having her ready for painting. All the filling and sanding is completed, I just need to do the re-scribing bit. Everything else is pretty much done and read as well, the Recon door will be the last thing to be done. The decals still worry me a bit as I’ll have to custom do the serial numbers, I have ones for the nose wheel flipper doors but the ones on the tail are the reverse colour to the camouflage they one. Those will be the hard ones, but after the rest of the build……..

[Woodziee]

Outstanding job on the Reece Pack. I have two resin ones in 1:72 for the Hasegawa F-111 kit.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Woodziee

[exdraken]

fantastic work!
 

really looks the part!

[mirageiv]

Another level Rich, amazing scratch building for the recon bay and the cockpit looks the real deal!

[trickyrich]

Thanks guys

 

Woodizee, I have one of these as well, I used it to help get the sizing (well tried to) and shape right for the scaled up version.

 

Well back to the grind that build has become!

 

There have been lots and lots of distractions with other builds starting, so progress has been slow. I’ve had some successes and a complete and utter fail!

 

I had a few bubbles with the first mould mainly around the door hinges, in some cases they were missing. So I poured a couple more to see if I could get a better result, but no, these hinges are too small and for my basic casting setup so I can’t get rid of all the small bubbles.

 

 

So I went back to the original and made some changes to it. I increased the hinge depth and flattened the sides out with card, this should help keep the bubbles at bay!

 

 

The next pour was a success!!! Other then me breaking a small piece off one corner it was a success!

 

 

Having the hinges a bit thicker and the side straight helped. Once I’ve finished with the last part I’ll clean up the sides before the final moulding.

 

 

So she’s now all really for the final bit of work, I need to scribe in the ¼ door (got to make sure I do it on the port side! Add the round panel at the rear for the Survey camera (was never fitted), then mark out the opening and fairing position for the ADD-5 IR Line Scanner camera (that’s in front of the Pano cameras fairing).

 

 

Not too much to do there, hopefully I can get it done today ready for the final casting. I haven’t test fitted it, but I know the original fits perfectly so nothing to worry about there.

 

In between this and other projects, I started cleaning up the drop tanks and fitting their tail fins. There was a bit of a pylon shoe on them that I though should have been removed! Hmmm but now I think I shouldn’t have! Guess I’ll have to remake that….but they do look good fitted though!

 

 

…and my utter failure….I tried to make the intake and exhaust cover, we had big soft ones, from modeling clay, thought that would be easy. Once made they needed to be “baked” in the oven…and that’s where it all went wrong! I got the temperature wrong and I really cooked them and the came out looking like burnt jellybeans! It really made my wife’s day though, she was giggling about it for ages, some much for sympathy!

 

 

 

 

[Hewy]

Really nice work going on here rich ,believe me i know what it takes to get to this stage ,itook the front lip of the canopy edge  down a little on mine too, good work on the recon door aswell

Glynn

[trickyrich]

Just a wee update.

 

I spent today finishing off the Recon door….well that was the plan!

 

I had just finished scribing all the details in and had just started work on the fairing for the IR Line scanner. I wasn’t quite sure how this went, to be honest I don’t even remember it being on the door when I was working on them! I finally found the only good photos I have of the Recon door and to my horror discovered I had made quite a few mistakes!!!!!

 

Ok forgetting about the IR fairing these are the issues;

 

·      Pano fairing should be angular in shape not smooth with soft edges and shorty in length

 

·      The body work around the still cameras should be flat

 

·      There is no front non-opening panel, the door actually finish at the rear of the nose wheel flipper doors

 

·      The opening for the Video cameras should be right up at the front of the door, now just behind the flipper doors

 

·      The opening for the IR scanner and the fairing should be on the same level

 

·      The only panel line visible is the ¼ door and survey camera blanking cover

 

So out with the files and sanding sticks and start correcting! The one nice thing is I’m now working with a solid piece of resin so shaping is a breeze.

 

So this is now where I’m at, sorry it’s not that easy to see with the white resin, plus I’m still learning how to use my new wee camera so have a few focusing issues in Macro.

 

 

Where the video camera opening is/was, I had to add plastic card to extend the flat area in front of the Pano cameras. The Pano camera fairing is now more angular, I may still have to do a wee bit of shaping here.

 

 

The whole door is a wee bit more angular, it may be easier to see once I paint it. The test fitting went well, I still have to remove some material right at the front to get it to fit properly. But I won’t do this until the door is completed and I’ve cast it, there’s a too great a risk of bubbles if I make this section too thin.

 

 

The whole thing will sit much flusher to the fuselage when done and for the first time looks like the photos. I’ve got just a tiny bit of sanding and polishing to do, then a light coat of Mr Surface 1200 and it’s done….finally!    Well after one final look at the reference photos.

 

Once I’ve managed to produce a good cast I’ll fit the door and do the final profiling, then it’ll be very close to painting time!! 

[modelling minion]

Great work Rich, your attention to detail on the recon door is commendable and it is going to look really good.

[trickyrich]

thanks for that

 

No rest for the wicked here, time is running out and I have to get a move on.

 

Yes the door is done!

 

I did the final bits of work to it this morning, to make the new hole for the Video cameras I basically cup a slot out from the front for it and then fitted a small piece of plastic to fill the gap at the front. I then made a small fairing where the main IP fairing will go, fixed up another couple of spots and she wa done.

 

I then made the mould and cast the first production piece, the areas I was worried about with bubbles were perfect. I did have a couple of bubbles on the Pano fairing buy they are nothing to worry about, I was just in a rush.

 

 

So now with a good mould I can continue on. I decided to use the master on the model and it only require about 10 minutes of work fitting it and she was done. The small taps on the door aren’t actually the hinges, the real hinge positions are moulded on the fuselage, so the old ones were filled. Every thing was then given a final sanding to get the door and fuselage profiles to match and it’s finished!

 

 

I’m super happy with the look of it, it looks about right when compared to photos, accuracy wise, maybe 90%? It’s close enough for me and when painted black with the rest of the underside a lot of the details of the shape will be lost.

 

 

Ok with that task done lots of other little jobs were completed.

 

I did some detailing work on the tail cans, they sort of look ok, think I need to do more work here.

 

 

I tried to add some thin sealer lines to this piece, on the real thing these are quite noticeable on a lot on the joins on this section.

 

 

The radome is painted, by a sheer mistake the other day (I mistakenly added some semi-Gloss black to Flat black for paint another project) I came up with the perfect paint for it. The radomes are fibreglass and are painted/covered with a black “paint/rubbery” material. They don’t have a flat black or semi-gloss finish, sort of something in between and they really do look like this.  Talk about a fluke!

 

 

Plus lots of other bits have been painted and just about finished.

 

 

The nose gear has all it’s PE bits added, I just need to paint these and add the landing lights. As can be seen in other photos only the lower support is fitted, this saves me from damaging the rest of it.

 

 

Now for the first time I can get a good look at her…..and her wonky nose gear, BluTac can’t handle the weight!

 

 

 

 

She really does look like an F-111 now! The Recon doors proportions are just right as well which is a huge relief!  All thinks going right I will with luck start painting her tomorrow!!! Though the only thing I’m not too sure on is whether to glue on the rudder now or later, as I have to done quite a bit of masking once its painted. I need to redo or in this case replace the 6 Sqn flash as the decal is the wrong colour plus I have to do the 2-tone serial number, not looking forward to that!!

 

 

[exdraken]

That llok all very nice!

The painting won't be a real problem for you I suppose!

[trickyrich]

thanks, and speaking of painting......

 

 

just a sneak peek! Plus to go with the rest of the model, the HB painting instructions is wrong!

[TonyTiger66]

That looks great Rich.

 

You've really got the colours on well. The work on the door is amazing.

 

Great stuff  

 

Best regards

TonyT

[modelling minion]

Nice job on the painting Rich it looks great, not like Hobby Boss to get the instructions wrong!