Jabba Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Wow another week another GB. For this GB I will be building F-111E 68-0050 which was the first aircraft of the 20 TFW to undergo AMP upgrades. It was also the only Aardvark in the 20 TFW inventory to receive the new single tone camouflage of FS 36118 Gunship Grey, including the radome. For this build I will be using the Hasegawa kit and the markings are from Wolfpak decals. I ill have photos in the next week. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Nice choice Jabba - it makes for an interesting comparison with other 20th TFW jets and is also a little odd-looking with the grey radome. Looking forward to your build. Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Welcome aboard Jabba and the scheme you've chosen sounds quite interesting. I had to go look this one up as I hadn't heard of this scheme before, is does look different! Good luck with the build, it'll be great to have an F-111 in a more unusual colour scheme, look forward to seeing her in the gallery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Jabba, you beat me to it as it was the one I was going to do. Might have to go with an Australian anniversary scheme then. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 3, 2017 Author Share Posted April 3, 2017 I have a slight delay in starting this one at the moment as my SWMBO will not let me go into the loft to get it out until my back is a bit better, which will hopefully be at the weekend ( She is very caring really). I do however have a picture of the markings. As this is an AMP aircraft one of the main differences was the instrument panel where some F-16 MDPs were fitted, but I cannot find any pictures of these even through Google. If anyone has any pointers I will be very happy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 I don't know if this is of any help? AMP Cockpits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Looking forward to seeing this one. Couldn't you give the missus a leg up into the loft? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 7 hours ago, Smudge said: Looking forward to seeing this one. Couldn't you give the missus a leg up into the loft? I could do, but then she might find out how much is actually up there and I don't she will like what she sees. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Good thinking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 mmm a very scary thought that SWMBO might find the stash!! Not something easily explained away....though pressies help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 3 hours ago, trickyrich said: mmm a very scary thought that SWMBO might find the stash!! Not something easily explained away....though pressies help! Actually SWMBO is not that bad as she roughly lets or tells me to buy what I like, but I just don't that she realises just how much there really is in the loft. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 8, 2017 Author Share Posted April 8, 2017 Thanks for the link on the cockpits Rich, although they do not show an E one I think I will try and go with something similar to the F one. The kit instrument panel is a decal so I think that it will be a bit of cut and shunting with some bits off an F-16 decal sheet. Anyway I defied SWMBO and went into the loft the other night o rescue this kit from the stash, and yes now my back is hurting again. I will never learn. The kit. And some reading material. So the start will begin. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Sorry to hear about your back still playing up Jabba and I was sorry you couldn't make Cosford. Excellent selection of reference material there, I had completely forgotten that Airdoc did one on USAFE F-111's. I look forward to seeing your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 mmm hopefully you haven't aggravated your back too badly, I know the feeling! Those are some nice reference books you have there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 12, 2017 Author Share Posted April 12, 2017 Although my back is still hurting (been about 3 weeks now), modelling is still going ahead. I have started to put the cockpit, U/C bays and the wings together. With the wings I have gone with the option of the flaps and slats not being deployed and wings folded. This is not an option in the kit instructions, although it does show the wings folded on the front page, and it is a simple conversion having done twice before. A bit of filler is still required. The main reason is space either at home or when on the Gulf War S.I.G display stand, although the splash of red colour would have contrasted well with the overall grey scheme. I will hopefully get the decals onto the Instrument panel in the next day or so after sorting out the F-16 MDPs. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 A small update, in that I have modified the decals for the instrument panel (Bottom right hand corner) to represent an AMP version. Although it might not be technically correct it will do for me (or for government work as the saying goes) as I don't think that it will be seen that well once the canopy is fitted. I will hopefully build up the cockpit in the coming week. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 Good stuff jabba, your government work is quality Glynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 21, 2017 Author Share Posted April 21, 2017 All the major parts are now built up and ready to be fixed together. For some reason the rear part was a real pain in the backside and I had to progressively glue it together from the rear with superglue. I am sure that this has not happened on other Hasegawa F-111s that I have built before, but somehow the top half did not really match up with the bottom half all along its length. The cockpit is not fully furnished yet, but that will happen over the next day or so. As I have mentioned on someone else's build I found the main U/C bay seemed to fit where it wanted to and I had several attempts to get the intakes placed in the correct position. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 Hi Jabba, I started out as you with the rear but saw it was creating problems at the front, so l de-welded it with Tamiya extra thin and have now started from the front and working towards the rear. I too am going to do swept back wings because of space issues, any tips ? Looking good so far. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 22, 2017 Author Share Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) 23 hours ago, Robert said: Hi Jabba, I started out as you with the rear but saw it was creating problems at the front, so l de-welded it with Tamiya extra thin and have now started from the front and working towards the rear. I too am going to do swept back wings because of space issues, any tips ? Looking good so far. Robert I have found a slight gap in the upper fuselage when I glued the front to the back last night, and the hole for the drooping part of the wing glove area does not quite match up, but I can live with this and a piece of plasti card will fix the gap. With the wings first I glued the two halves of the wings together, then cut off the mounts for the slats. For the flaps I cut off the first row of flap system in between their associated runner. I then cut down this runner close to what is left of the flap system and test fitted to its wing and kept adjusting until I got the flap to fit flushly. I will be cutting the wing in the fuselage for the wing to fold into a bit later. It does sound difficult but taken slowly it is rather simple, mind you this is the third time that I have done this. Edited April 22, 2017 by Jabba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 25, 2017 Author Share Posted April 25, 2017 I now have the front and rear parts together, plus I have filled some of the gaps with plasti card as I think in some of the areas it would be better than just filler, and it will also give the filler something to take hold of rather than sinking into the gap and having to apply more filler. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 Coming along nicely. I've been thinking of sweeping the wings back on my F-111B conversion, simply because I think the aircraft looks sleeker that way. But then I see all the work Hasegawa did to drop the flaps and slats - and then I have second thoughts. How well do the flaps and slats fit if you choose to put them up? And take care of your back whatever you do - I've had nine back surgeries and my back still gives me grief. I wish I had taken better care of my it when I was a lad... Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 30, 2017 Author Share Posted April 30, 2017 The slats and flaps fit very well when all the extras are removed, but do take your time getting them to fit snuggly. I don't think that the photos that I have taken show this too well, I will try again in the next day or so. Thanks for the advice about the back, hopefully my chiropractor will sort it soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted May 4, 2017 Author Share Posted May 4, 2017 Not much has happened, but I have now sanded down the fuselage parts. I have also added the intakes, with one side fitting perfectly and the other side fitted using Hans method of removing attaching points so that it fitted much better. Hopefully in the next day or so I shall start to make the cuts in the fuselage for the folded back wings. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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