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1/72 F-111C, 1 Sqn RAAF and F-111D, 27 TFW


Andrew

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Hello fellow F-111 fans,

 

My contribution to this long-awaited GB is an F-111D, built from Hasegawa's F-111E boxing, in 1/72 of course. Markings will have to be from aftermarket sources, mainly to help render the different version, but also because the original kit decals for both my F-111E and F-111D/F boxings are sadly in a poor state. Other aftermarket bits and pieces I plan to incorporate are Eduard etch for the cockpit, Eduard canopy masks, a Master pitot and possibly a Pavla canopy.

 

Enough about the 'plan', here are some pictures:

 

33333076810_4299d9674e_b.jpgHasegawa F-111E by Andrew, on Flickr

 

33676458176_4d2a492717_b.jpgInstructions, etch, mask, canopy by Andrew, on Flickr

 

33676458186_5f369cf7cc_b.jpgMore sprues by Andrew, on Flickr

 

33333077000_055457f062_b.jpgWings, fuselage, canopy by Andrew, on Flickr

 

32903814193_26ec196334_b.jpgFwd fuselage, intakes by Andrew, on Flickr

 

I've (sort of) cleaned the bench and will make a start very soon - maybe tomorrow night, which is close enough to 1st of April for me...

 

cheers,

 

Andrew.

Edited by Andrew
Another build added to thread title
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Welcome aboard Andrew with the first D model of the build. 

 

The D wasn't that much of a success, from what I can gather it was overly complicated and tried too hard to be to be fully digital. They never really sorted out the bugs with them. But she is still an important part of the family and was in use until the early 90's.

 

Good luck with the build, I'm interested to see how she comes along. 

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Thanks Rich,

 

Hard as it is to not attempt an Australian Pig for this GB, the -D model appeals for reasons of peculiarity and certainly forms an interesting part of the whole F-111 story. I think that this version could still be found in 27 FW service into the '90s, even after more accomplished variants had been sent to Cannon. What a massive Wing (read logistical nightmare) that must have been...

 

Andrew.

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I've failed already...

 

As I was looking through the stash, trying to account for a stray wing piece found in the F-111E box, I came across this box, which is possibly where the wing should have been stored:

 

32960900994_7be5b3d3a1_c.jpgHasegawa F-111A by Andrew

 

No evidence of the balance of a set of 'short' wings, but plenty of bits for an F-111C. You can probably see where this is going...

 

33674682821_843ca01455_c.jpg2nd box contents by Andrew

 

Given that I'm building one F-111, I may as well build another. Okay, okay, but which one? Which one?

 

32992037683_dc144912a1_c.jpgF-111C scheme options by Andrew

 

32960900274_ecb6554105_c.jpgF-111C scheme options by Andrew

 

No help in making a decision, but at least reassuring that there are plenty of options. I think a jet in the grey scheme might win out here, possibly a 1 Sqn machine from around 2007.

 

33804889505_523c1bf2be_c.jpgF-111C aftermarket decal instructions by Andrew

 

33804889155_b3ca688aa1_c.jpgF-111C scheme decals by Andrew

 

Pics of two builds underway to follow.

 

cheers,

 

Andrew.

 

P.S. I think I'll be okay for references...

 

33765872176_6a4d992f87_c.jpgReferences by Andrew

 

 

Edited by Andrew
added pic of some books
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On 05/04/2017 at 10:34 AM, TrojanThunder said:

Oh, so you do build Andrew! :D

 

Oooh, that's a bit cheeky Ray. For your viewing astonishment, here are some recent completions...

 

Two of Eduard's lovely late Mk IX Spitfires, finished a month ago:

 

33852725755_245e4875cc_c.jpgP1000383 by Andrew

 

And finished very late last year, a trio of the Airfix Wildcats (F4F-4 and Mk. IV boxings):

 

33468269970_6800de8cdd_c.jpgP1000400 by Andrew

 

Good to hear from you though - hope you're well and not suffering from post-vacation blues.

 

I apologise to all for this major digression, but over the many years we've known each other, poor Ray has seen me finish the grand total of one project, so I just had to take this opportunity to remind him that it is at least possible that I can finish a kit for this Group Build. Who knows, I could surprise everyone and complete two!

 

Normal programming will be resumed in a very short while.

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20 hours ago, Andrew said:

I apologise to all for this major digression, but over the many years we've known each other, poor Ray has seen me finish the grand total of one project, so I just had to take this opportunity to remind him that it is at least possible that I can finish a kit for this Group Build. Who knows, I could surprise everyone and complete two!

 

 

I'll hold you too that!!!   Plus I have the encouragement tool ready as well!:whip:

 

Well done on those distractions, they're beautifully finished!

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Some rare and interesting decals there Andrew, good luck with the build, my last one was an FB-111 back when it was first released, and I had forgotten how complicated the mouldings were, I have no real idea, but there must be at least 15 different sprues over the Hasegawa boxings, so can fully understand losing a wing is not that difficult.

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Finally, something to show...

 

Work starts, naturally enough, with the undercarriage. Okay, maybe not that natural, but a few questions about the Hasegawa kit's impressive depiction of the Pig's undercarriage have been bothering me - such as, what does it look like when assembled and how well does it go together, would there be any need to add any extra detail to what was already there, and what to do about the seam that runs the length of the nosewheel bay roof? An early attempt to correct this seam (by removing said roof once the halves had been joined together) was a stunning victory for the spares box. I quickly decided the solution to the seam problem was to glue some plasticard cunningly shaped like the bay roof over the seam and pretend as though it was exactly as Mr Hasegawa intended. I know that I won't look in there again! The other questions have been resolved by simply gluing most of it and painting everything that stayed still long enough (thus ignoring any question of additional detail - clearly too late to do anything about it now). Voila!

 

Primification done (a mix of some Stynylrez tones) and painting of gloss white underway:

 

34096324536_fa156a1994_c.jpgundercarriage primed by Andrew

 

Gloss white applied:

 

34136837345_81cb694daf_c.jpgundercarriage white by Andrew

 

Wash applied (second bite of the cherry for the wash; the first was a little wayward in its coverage):

 

33294185564_ef15b68314_c.jpgundercarriage post-wash by Andrew

 

Detail painting is yet to be done, but at least I got some major steps in the process out of the way.

 

Next challenge was the intakes. Of course.

 

Once I'd got the two different sets of intake bits off the sprue and correctly dry-assembled them (they're actually held together by tape and blu-tac) I made more whitely paintness (or off-white in this case) over the bits. Prepare to be snow-blinded (or its equivalent):

 

34096324286_fa505e2392_c.jpgintakes by Andrew

 

34136837085_82d168349c_c.jpgintakes and compressors by Andrew

 

I hope you've enjoyed my Update in White. The next instalment might just possibly entail some new exciting shades such as grey and black, so prepare to be amazed astounded underwhelmed when I return with more thrilling tales of adventures in Dullsville.

 

cheers and thanks for looking,

 

Andrew.

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That's a nice little production line you have going there, looking very nice what you have done. Don't be afraid to knock off some of the gloss of the white parts, over time they lost their gloss finish and became a little more semi-gloss in appearance.

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6 hours ago, TrojanThunder said:

Nice to see a start Andrew, I might get mine started soon.

 

Thanks Ray, it was nice to finally make a start; I just wish I'd started when the GB was first mooted - there would have been no discernible difference in progress.... What will be even nicer is when I finish both these kits (yes, they will both be finished - the uncertainty lies with when). Good luck with your project.

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Hello all,

 

I've started some more conventional work by moving on to the cockpits, including the addition of photoetch from the Eduard set. I think the etch represents a substantial improvement over the decals that Hasegawa provides and will add a lot to the appearance of the kit's cockpit, especially if building the kit with open canopies (yes, I will be cutting clear plastic with near-reckless abandon - or perhaps more correctly with fear and trepidation - to depict them open on both kits in this GB). While the fit of the etch was nice and the overall placement was straightforward, I still struggled with some of the smaller pieces; the throttles proved particularly tricky to get right and then keep right. I'm not going to fret (boom tish!) over the inaccuracy of the panel I've used on the F-111C (supposedly for the F-111F) - any modification to accurately render an upgraded F-111C instrument panel was more effort than I could be bothered with at this stage. Anyway, the etch looks nice this evening under a coat of cockpit grey and I think the cockpits will look good once all the detail has been painted (see how blind optimism is getting me through...).

 

33469568073_d245373028_c.jpgCockpits primed by Andrew

 

34239048106_93cf390c55_c.jpgcockpits grey by Andrew

 

In what is a huge victory for timeliness, I remembered just as I was about to apply the cockpit grey paint that I had to remove plastic from the aft edge of the cockpit opening if I wanted to depict open canopies. Here they are, with absolutely nothing for comparison - apologies.

 

34239047756_705ffa2183_c.jpgfwd fuselage grey by Andrew

 

I've also started to work on an aspect of the F-111C that has perplexed me for some time - how to accurately portray the cradle and mount of the AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack pod. What Hasegawa provides is more of an 'inflight' pose for the pod, which although not unheard of, is hardly representative of a Pig when shut down. I want to alter the way the head and turret lie, plus the cradle in which the pod sits, but not too much else (read the forward end of the pod); I think this will be sufficient work for me as it is. Hopefully by the end it will look something like this.

 

Here are some shots of the two weapons bay doors/fairings, top one is for the F-111D (with gun fairing) and lower one for the F-111C. There are two Pave Tack pods in the picture because I think I'm going to need both to render a stowed designator turret and head; some surgery will definitely be required:

 

33469568373_05dafc910c_c.jpgPave Tack and bomb bays by Andrew

 

I've cut away part of the cradle in preparation for 'rotating' the head of the pod away into its stowed position - a layer of plastic strips have been added to the edges of the cutout on the underside to add depth; once I've settled on the necessary amount I'll add a 'ceiling' (or is it a 'floor' - I'm easily confused) to enclose the recess.

 

33469567713_7094738cb4_c.jpgPave Tack cradle by Andrew

 

33895666960_b1ac21b691_c.jpgPave Tack cradle i by Andrew

 

Here's a photo of the real thing taken from an awkward angle to hopefully illustrate what I've been droning on about:

 

34149478241_34b32de4ca_c.jpgPave Tack cradle rear port aft by Andrew

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Andrew.

 

 

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Wow that last photo is one I could have done with when I did what you are doing several years ago. As I did not see what you can all I did when I fitted the Pave Tack pod as it would be one the ground, was to remove the seeker head from the rest of the body and the shave the side that rested against the bomb bay until I could fit it back to the rest of the body. As I said although not technically correct it does not look to bad. I do wish you all the best with this conversion as there are no aftermarket pods at rest on the market at the moment. I know that I looked at the Aviation Workshop one when it came out, with the man behind the desk saying that it was for an aircraft on the ground, but it was just the same as what came with the kit so not what I was looking for.

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Thanks Jabba - I too rue the absence of a decent aftermarket replacement for the kit's pod; if I could avoid having to do the work required to depict a pod with the head stowed, then I would! Your solution sounds very clever though and I bet it was much more convincing than what the kit provides. I don't recall if I ever saw the Aviation Workshop offering, but had I found what you did, then I would have left it exactly where I found it too.

 

While I'm dreaming of extra aftermarket bits for the Pig, I'd love a new weapons bay fairing with the other side of the Pave Tack cradle (a neat shape with rounded outline - seen here on this F-111C [Airliners.net photo]) in order to represent an F-111F carrying an ECM pod in the forward location, the odd GBU-15 and its datalink pod, much like this one. Okay, truth be told, it shouldn't be too hard to make the fairing (probably easier than what I'm currently attempting), so I'll just be quiet and get back to work.

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Andrew,

 

Nice work on the Pave Tack pod.  I've seen a lot of F-111 builds, but have not seen that modification before.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

 

Mark

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1 hour ago, Mark Turk said:

...  I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out....

 

Ha, me too! In all seriousness though, thanks very much for your interest.

 

Andrew.

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Nice work Andrew, that mod to the cradle looks pretty straight forward and will look nice. I can't remember what that area looked like, that detail photo is great! 

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