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F-111C Vark RAAF , Academy upgrade 1/48


exdraken

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So, after some late decision on joining in , and after all the necessary content has arrived today, I am ready to present my share for this GB!

sorry for those who think we have enough C models already ;)  but, that is the one it will be! no chance of finishing the F model also in the stash with Paragon wings imho..... maybe large model STGBs should be extended a bit ;);)

 

F-111C Aardvark 

RAAF 

Academy 1/48

 -Cutting Edge seamless Tripple Plow I intakes

- Eduard seatbelts

- Eduard detail for the nozzle shrouds (for the HB kit actually)

- Montex masks

- Academy BRU rack with Mk-82 bombs (from the E model kit I just recieved for this purpose.... :banghead: )

 

the obligatory contents shot 

IMG_5553_1_1_zpszifpvk3b

 

 

 

and all spread out! quite a lot of plastic to be used within the next 2 months and a bit! :party:

IMG_5555_1_1_zpsnna6nyxm

 

 

the upgraded Academy C model Aardvark is quite good, especially the Cartograf printed decals (if you want to build a grey one that is ... :) )

IMG_5556_1_1_zpslzlnoale

 

soon some plastic to be cut!

 

still thinking of doing something to the nozzles themselves... but not sure yet if I really should invest more on this...Ozmods nozzles and better detailed BRU racks with bombs would amount to some 40- 50€ shipped from Down Under..... and questionable if they would arrive in time....

 

undecided on the decals yet ;)

 

Edited by exdraken
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Looks good and you look like you've went to a bit of trouble and expense to get all the bits together! You must have really wanted those BRU's!😂 

 

Looking forward to it.

 

Murray

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2 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Looks good and you look like you've went to a bit of trouble and expense to get all the bits together! You must have really wanted those BRU's!😂 

 

Looking forward to it.

 

Murray

cheers!

the BRUs... yes and no. Actually until recently I did not know that they were only included in the E modell, and the Italeri E/F....

as the Italeri one in not to be found anywhere, and I have e Afterburner decal sheet for the UH  aircraft as well....I thought why not.... maybe I sell it on again, lets see first how I like the Academy model!

The Hobbyboss kit is also not a real option for the BRUs as an alternative unfortunatley! lots of ordnance, of little use.... :(

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Welcome aboard, nice to have you along...and you can never have enough F-111C's!! :D

 

Yes these 1/48th scale beasties are big when all the sprue is spread out like that, just wait until you see how small she makes your Sukhoi look!!! 

 

I ma very jealous of those seamless intakes, I would have had a set if I could have found them. Even for me in Oz, those OzMod set are quite dear and I'm still planning to get a pair of the those drop tanks as well. Am too frightened to add up how much I've spent on my beast already!

 

Goods luck with the build, glad you could join the fun, looking forward to seeing a herd of C's in the gallery!! :thumbsup:

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On 20.4.2017 at 5:23 AM, trickyrich said:

Welcome aboard, nice to have you along...and you can never have enough F-111C's!! :D

 

Yes these 1/48th scale beasties are big when all the sprue is spread out like that, just wait until you see how small she makes your Sukhoi look!!! 

 

I ma very jealous of those seamless intakes, I would have had a set if I could have found them. Even for me in Oz, those OzMod set are quite dear and I'm still planning to get a pair of the those drop tanks as well. Am too frightened to add up how much I've spent on my beast already!

 

Goods luck with the build, glad you could join the fun, looking forward to seeing a herd of C's in the gallery!! :thumbsup:

thanks Rich!

the intakes I actually have for several years already, bought them second hand, just forgot about them... :(  what a nice surprise when opening the kit, and containing a metal pitot tube as well!

 

it is big, but my MiG-25 RB I am trying to finish is as well! about the same length actually :P (I did not start the Su-24 yet :( )

 

 

drop tanks would be nice as well, but as I understand it the y would not be sued operationally, and less so together with a Mk-82 bomb load... the Ozzies used them to get to Red Flag though when they retired their tankers a bit early ;)

there are 2 types of tanks available at Scaledown/Ozmods: for the FB/G and else.... would you now of any differences?

 

 

 

so some proof that I did something today:

 

IMG_5567_1_1_zpsnlceiinc

 

the new, upgraded cockpit parts look good oob!

same goes for the new front landing gear bay and leg

IMG_5591_1_1_zpsqecv74nc

 

 

the nozzles/shrouds would also have benefitted a lot by a similar  upgrade :(

 

no depth ...

IMG_5575_1_1_zps4waqfsfq

 

:(:(

lets see wht the Eduard PE does for this... (wrong kit, I know.....) 

how many petals do the shrouds actually have on the real plane? (not F-111F)?? 

 

 

 cheers, and thanks everybody!

 

starting to enjoy this :)

 

Edited by exdraken
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today I worked a bit on the cockpit as it has to be done early on. will be finally closed as soon as possible!!! pictures later.

and I wondered how the Cutting Edge intakes would fit! I've never used and CE stuff until now! 

 

so, the instrctions are a badly copied piece of paper, bit the neccessary stebs to be done are quite easily understood.

IMG_5609_1_1_zpsky421z8p

 

the intakes are made up of several parts. the main one in white resin, that will ease painting enormously!

IMG_5619_1_1_zpsxt2ivuyl

 

not the best photo, but the best I could get tonight :)

 

IMG_5620_1_1_zpsvvtfwtx4

 

the marked area has to be cut in order to slide in the intakes.

 

and some minutes later:

IMG_5622_1_1_zpsq25tlmis

 

only some sanding and fitting was necessary. (the edges of the undercarriage bay needed to be rounded a bit  e.g. )

 

IMG_5625_1_1_zpsibal9jx2

 

fit is good, no glue yet!

IMG_5626_1_1_zpsla9wl3pe

 

more soon!

 

 

Edited by exdraken
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I do like those intakes, am very jealous! Plus they got the splitter plates shape right as well! The only thing missing is the vortex generators near the mouth of the intakes....maybe not the easiest to reproduce. Even without them the intake is a huge improvement over the kit one.

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On 21/04/2017 at 5:21 AM, exdraken said:

 

 but as I understand it the y would not be sued operationally, and less so together with a Mk-82 bomb load... the Ozzies used them to get to Red Flag though when they retired their tankers a bit early ;)

there are 2 types of tanks available at Scaledown/Ozmods: for the FB/G and else.... would you now of any differences?

 

 

 

 

The jugs were only ever fitted for long trips like deployments stateside (Red Flag, Alaska) or Butterworth (Malaysia) and Singers, otherwise they were not usually fitted.

 

The RAAF's tankers were Boeing 707's modified to carry a pod under each wing fitted with a hose and drogue system. This enabled training to be carried out with RAAF F/a-18A/B's and other US Navy designs but since the F-111 originated from a USAF specification, the F-111 required an in-flight refuelling probe system so the B707 was incompatible

 

Egggsellent choice of kit BTW!

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

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3 hours ago, Pappy said:

 

The jugs were only ever fitted for long trips like deployments stateside (Red Flag, Alaska) or Butterworth (Malaysia) and Singers, otherwise they were not usually fitted.

 

The RAAF's tankers were Boeing 707's modified to carry a pod under each wing fitted with a hose and drogue system. ...., the F-111 required an in-flight refuelling probe system so the B707 was incompatible

Thanks Pappy, that clears it ip! No tanks then! ;)

Seems that I had something slighty wrong remembered regarding the tanker.

Strange choibce of not having your main attack plane refuelable...by the way, the A330 has a boom now,no? :devil:

How would the F-111B have made it? Hose and drogue? Or both?

 

 

Kit is great so far! I really like the upgraded parts! Strange Academy never released the rest of the family with those.....

Edited by exdraken
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3 hours ago, exdraken said:

Thanks Pappy, that clears it ip! No tanks then! ;)

Seems that I had something slighty wrong remembered regarding the tanker.

Strange choibce of not having your main attack plane refuelable...by the way, the A330 has a boom now,no? :devil:

How would the F-111B have made it? Hose and drogue? Or both?

 

 

Kit is great so far! I really like the upgraded parts! Strange Academy never released the rest of the family with those.....

 

The KC-30 has both systems, but only the wing mounted pods are used at the moment as both the F/A-18A/B and F/A-18F/E?A-18G's use the USN hose and drogue systems. I think the F-35A's will need to probe. The B707 tanker mods were only designed to provide a training capability as they were not built as dedicated tankers (KC-135).

 

Note that if you did want to fit jugs, you will need to scratch up some new pylons as the pylons for stations# 1,2, 7 and 8 were different in size and shape and did not pivot. They were fixed at 26 degrees, so with wings forward, the jugs would be pointing inwards giving the jet a pigeon toed stance. I can think of more interesting things to load to am F-111 than jugs, and all the kit jugs are too short in any case.

 

Station 1 and 8 were never used apart from the one 'famous' photo of an F-111 loaded with 4 BRU's on each side with 6 Mk.82's fitted to each rack which someone always produces as proof that the outer two stations could be loaded. It was not an authorised load.

 

My guess is that F-111B would have used a hose and basket system so that it would be compatible with all the other embarked Navy assets, probably using an extendable probe not unlike the Su-24 uses.

 

Pappy

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About 87 (or 88 I don't quite remember) there was an in house project at 6 Sqn, looking into the viability and if it was at all possible to fit a refuelling probe on an F-111. A couple of our young engineers and Systech FSGT's were involved in the project. One of or F-111's was in the hanger for a while they tried to figure out how and where to fit it, plus how to plumb it all up. They made a mock probe out of cardboard and plastic from memory, and taped it onto the nose, forward of the cockpit and off to the right. Just above the RH avionics door panel. The first we knew of it was when one of the SysTech FSgt's came into our donger (hut) looking for tape to make the mockup (he was an Ex Instrument fitter). Of course it was out then even though it was all meant to be hush hush, but there was a never ending trail of curious LAC's and CPLs wondering into the hanger for a look, we could stay but the LAC's were yelled at to get out...it didn't stop them though! :D

 

She actually looked quite good, I don't know if there were any photos taken or not, there's bound to be some paperwork somewhere lost in the defence department bureaucracy. The project sort of fizzled out, probably due to the plumbing issues, it would have been a nightmare! I'm sure one of the engineering officers was at that time a FO Millet, if it's the same person then I think he's a Wing Commander now (or was, he may have left).

 

There were lots of interesting little projects going on around that time. Got to see the test footage of some of the Harpoon test launches. Watch one of our F-111's (A8-131) land without the nose wheel down. Of course 1 SQN had to go one better sometime later and do it without any wheels down, awesome landing job thought!

 

The F-111C with all the bombs on all the stations.....they moved it into the position they wanted then loaded her up. They were too scared to tow here with that load fitted! 

 

Sorry if I hijacked your thread a wee bit! :whistle:  look a dancing penguin!! :penguin:

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8 hours ago, trickyrich said:

Sorry if I hijacked your thread a wee bit! :whistle:  look a dancing penguin!! :penguin:

 

Hijacked???? seriously ;):penguin:

that is what these GB are about, no? lots of people with new and interesting info and stories!

you have to read though all threads to get them all! :devil:

 

just to put the  perspective back on topic:whistle:

IMG_5605_1_1_zps0kicm90m.jpg

do not call my MiG tiny!

I guess with pitot tube it is even longer!

(will not discuss span here, as that is  a bit unfair ;) ....)

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IMG_5606_1_1_zpsa4d7vgbr.jpg

 

 

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I've got a resin RA-5 (and a resin MiG-31) that's about the same size, and I want a Su-24 to go with them......where are they all going to go! (plus 2 more Su-17/22's to go as well!!)

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worked a bit on the interiors:

the upgraded parts can be painted up very nicely, but not too much detail will be seen when the canopy is closed (I hope at least!)

 

IMG_5754_1_1_zpsuhahxsx8

 

IMG_5756_1_1_zpsgnat9z5p

 

the seats remain very bare, so I use the belts dedicated to the HB kit instead

 

IMG_5763_1_1_zpsiaf51pbz

 

 

concerning the seats, the RAAF ones where covered in black sheep whool, so they differ form USAF seat in that respect. 

Probably more comfortable like that! - or the Aussis wanted to promote their home grown products ;);)

 

IMG_5766_1_1_zpsisuh8jml

 

 

 

 

cockpit looks busy, no?

 

 

 

 

Edited by exdraken
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Cracking job in the pit werner,we'reprobably at the same stage now after I've been sidetracked with the blasted canopy, it'll be the kitty hawk su17 for me not hobbyboss ;)

Glynn

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very nice job on the cockpit! Yeap our aircraft had sheepskin seats, or flight crews were delicate creatures and didn't like hard seats or sweaty bottoms! :D

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On 1.5.2017 at 10:18 PM, Hewy said:

Cracking job in the pit werner,we'reprobably at the same stage now after I've been sidetracked with the blasted canopy, it'll be the kitty hawk su17 for me not hobbyboss ;)

Glynn

compared to some others here I am definitely not a frontrunner.... 

I guess the gallery will soon have its first entries! a good month after start... :clap2:

 

so on to this build:

intakes glued in, no major problems here :)

IMG_5769_1_1_zpsnvrqxqwz

 

IMG_5770_1_1_zpskarib07v

 

 

engine faces painted as well with a white center hub? at least I found a foto online showing this, and it adds detail :)

engine faces could be a bit cleaner, but this is quite old resin, so lets say it is ok ;)

IMG_5767_1_1_zpsgpysrca6

 

IMG_5772_1_1_zpsm2wwu20z

 

 

some preparation for the ominous joint:

IMG_5774_1_1_zpsavnux4am.jpg

 

 

and something has to be done to this nozzles and shrouds.... anybody nows how many petals these shrouds actually have? I counted 18 on an F-111C.... HB / Eduard provide 12 outer and ~14 inner petal details....... 

IMG_5776_1_1_zpsov0gkann

 

 

 

IMG_5777_1_1_zpsujwotqyf

 

no glue yet, but it gets more interesting like this...

IMG_5779_1_1_zpsyrxfgb58

 

 

the coming 2 weeks will be a bit weak modelling wise, but will hopefully recharge the quite empty batteries ;) 

 

thanks for looking, 

cheers, Werner

 

 

Edited by exdraken
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That etch  looks to fit a treat werner and good job on those intakes , best of luck,, mines gone belly up,i have to strip it back to bare plastic, that hataka paint is beyond any use what so ever ,ive binned 2 packs,one for this build and a soviet ww2 set that i had lined up for a 1/32 yak 3 build later in the year, never on this earth have i used any thing like it ....:swear: ,so technically your in front,,in concentrating on the sukhoi for some light relief till i know how to strip the 111,i don't want to lose it now ive put too much in ,cheers 

Glynn 

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On 4/24/2017 at 3:28 AM, exdraken said:

How would the F-111B have made it? Hose and drogue? Or both?

 

Not all F-111B prototype or pre-production aircraft had the probe installed. For those that did, it was a hose and drogue system. This photo is from Tailhook Topics:

 

refuel.jpg

Photo credit: Ray Geminski

 

The probe swiveled and then rotated down for stowage. You can read all about it here:

 

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/01/f-111b-inflight-refueling-probe.html

 

Cheers,

Bill

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On 04/05/2017 at 5:28 AM, exdraken said:

 

and something has to be done to this nozzles and shrouds.... anybody nows how many petals these shrouds actually have? I counted 18 on an F-111C.... HB / Eduard provide 12 outer and ~14 inner petal details....... 

IMG_5776_1_1_zpsov0gkann.jpg

 

 

IMG_5777_1_1_zpsujwotqyf.jpg

no glue yet, but it gets more interesting like this...

IMG_5779_1_1_zpsyrxfgb58.jpg

 

 

Nice work on the intakes Werner, and those tabs are probably a good idea!

 

Be careful with the PE parts for the tail cap, Eduard sort of followed HB's lead on this so the stuffed it up as well! The PE detail for the outside of the can itself is wrong, that detail is only seen on the tail cans for the F model who's tail can was different to all the others. The outer petal count is wrong as well, they don't don't supply enough! 

 

Those 10 small bits on the lower RHS (#2), well there should be 12 of them, what I plan to do is hide the one that is missing on each engine by having it facing the inside.

 

The actually inside of the can is different to the PE bit, but that really doesn't matter too much, it adds detail that's missing....no one will ever count the ribbing inside!

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