Giorgio N Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 A not too serious post on a summer Friday morning... I'm in a bit of a dilemma regarding my next F-111 purchase... I have a couple of Hasegawa kits, an F and an FB-111 but I'd like to add another FB-111 to the stash. The reason is simply that I also have an F-111B conversion and I'd like to build both this and a standard FB-111. Now Hasegawa is soon to re-release their F-111G, that is an FB-111 in all but name. I've also found a couple of original FB boxes, with one at the moment coming at a relatively decent price.. My dilemma is this: even the cheaper FB-111 would cost me around £40 with delivery. A new F-111G box would likely cost me £45-50 if I find one from Japan. Not too bad prices for a kit that I've seen sold for much higher prices. The same £50 however would buy me a brand new Hobbyboss 1/48 FB-111 from a number of shops! Now what would be the best way to spend this money ? Both kits have pros and cons, and both attract me for various reasons: Hasegawa's is pretty accurate. I have other boxes so the model would look good with its brothers. A 1/72 F-111 comes at a manageable size. Detail is not the best in the cockpit but I have PE parts already. Hobbyboss's offering however is more detailed. The accuracy has been criticized but are the inaccuracies really that visible? A 1/48 F-111 is quite large (I know, I have a Monogram A) and at the moment I don't have all that room for models. I'm also not a big fan of the HB style of riveting. Still, the completed HB F-111s I've seen, including a few here, look impressive and the idea of a big FB with everything open is tempting. And at the same price I'd have much more plastic.... Of course I know that there are other options, the Academy 1/48 FB-111 for example can be found cheap enough. but I'd consider the £30 asked for the Academy kit not really worth it, as the level of detail is not really that good for a 1/48 aircraft kit. Academy rip-offs are even cheaper, and I could get one delivered for £ 20 or so.. same story though, little detail and all the fit problems that generally plague these kits. Any opinion ? Anyone who has built one or maybe even both who wants to comment ? I can't promise that I'll follow anyone's advice here, but will be good to talk of the pros and cons of the various kits, even if they are so different in size... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tempestfan Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Have fun and get yourself the old Revell kit before they deleted the B option. You‘ll have countless hours of fun building that retracting u/c alone... 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 Hi @tempestfan , I do have one of those kits ! 😃 I tried building it in the past, then got stuck for a number of reasons. I may pull it out of the box at some point just for fun... I also have another box issued after the B parts were removed, a late '80s box. I had bought this as I hoped to find the longer wings inside as I wanted to build... an FB-111 ! I remember trying to modify the intakes and other parts, until I realised that I couldn't find a good way to lengthen the wings. Maybe at some point I'll have to take this out of the box too... That landing gear was a nightmare ! Initially I tried to retain the retracting gear, then gave up and glued all parts in place. Ah the good days... 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT7567 Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Hasgawa's kit gives you nothing major to correct in the base kit, so I'd be inclined to stick wirh 1/72. It's a shame they aren't more widely available and affordable for all variants, but particularly the "long wing" FB/C/Gs. Would be fantastic to see a modern tooling from the likes of Revell AG. Heck, I'd be jazzed just to see Italeri update the ESCI tooling to include the long wings along with the late-model intakes AMT added for their F. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) I would go with the 1/72 Hasegawa FB-111. Espacially if you already have the Revell F-111 kit. It can lend you some parts to build the F-111B (afterburner cans, boattail etc.). I would say it depends on which one of the flying F-111B you are intended to build. It was an comparison build between the Revell F-111A and the Hasegawa F-111G (?) about 20 years ago. Think the Revell kit is the only one that have the correct afterburner cans for some of the F-111B's. I have an mould for an nose if you need one... Cheers / André Edited July 21, 2019 by Andre B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) Very easy! Needs to be 48th for the new Caracal decals, no? But if Hb or better the upgraded Academy F-111C, that is essentially your FB again, I would not be that sure.... depends a bit if you want detail OR accuracy! Maybe you could mix them? Hasegawa needs to upscale theirs... that is for sure! Edited July 20, 2019 by exdraken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I'd go with Hasegawa from what you say. The Hobby Boss has all the things you don't like, and size you'll have trouble dealing with, even though the thought of it is impressive. Perhaps the biggest plus of HB is that it gives all the hingy bits if you want to do extended wings, everything "hanging out". The cockpit glass is a mess. It is possible to fit the vac canopy shaped (more accurately) for the Academy, but it takes some serious "adjusting". Whether you'd consider this necessary I can't say, but for me the shapes and angles of HB's glass are unacceptable. If you want 1/48, I'd go for Academy, but you'll probably want to dress it up a bit, so add that to the cost of doing business. (The improved Aussie version does have some better parts, but you'll need some aftermarket to make a proper FB from it.) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 Thanks all for the many replies ! All interesting thoughts. On 7/19/2019 at 6:22 PM, Jordi said: As far as accuracy, Hasegawa definitely. I've read more on the HB kit and the list of inaccuracies seems to be longer than I remembered... I've never read such comments on any of the Hasegawa offerings. Not that Hasegawa never made mistakes, but their F-111 seem to be universally praised On 7/19/2019 at 10:20 PM, CT7567 said: Hasgawa's kit gives you nothing major to correct in the base kit, so I'd be inclined to stick wirh 1/72. It's a shame they aren't more widely available and affordable for all variants, but particularly the "long wing" FB/C/Gs. Would be fantastic to see a modern tooling from the likes of Revell AG. Heck, I'd be jazzed just to see Italeri update the ESCI tooling to include the long wings along with the late-model intakes AMT added for their F. True, they are great kits with a vry patchy availability. IIRC Hasegawa will reissue the G in RAAF markings this year, will be seen how many will be exported from Japan though. On 7/20/2019 at 8:02 AM, Andre B said: I would go with the 1/72 Hasegawa FB-111. Espacially if you already have the Revell F-111 kit. It can lend you some parts to build the F-111B (afterburner cans, boattail etc.). I would say it depends on which one of the flying F-111B you are intended to build. It was an comparison build between the Revell F-111A and the Hasegawa F-111G (?) about 20 years ago. Think the Revell kit is the only one that have the correct afterburner cans for some of the F-111B's. I have an mould for an nose if you need one... Cheers / André I have the Revell kit but I also have Pete Hangar's F-111B conversion set, that should include a more accurate resin nose. Yes, all F-111Bs were a bit different, the Naval Fighters book is IMHO a necessary source of info to tackle this subject. On 7/20/2019 at 9:43 PM, exdraken said: Very easy! Needs to be 48th for the new Caracal decals, no? But if Hb or better the upgraded Academy F-111C, that is essentially your FB again, I would not be that sure.... depends a bit if you want detail OR accuracy! Maybe you could mix them? Hasegawa needs to upscale theirs... that is for sure! I'd have liked to have both detail and accuracy... but I'm also not too much into complex kit-bashing these days. Now F-111C or FB-111... I was always under the impression that the FB was a better starting point for the F-111B but now I'm thinking that the F-111C may be even better, at least for some of these aircraft 22 hours ago, gingerbob said: I'd go with Hasegawa from what you say. The Hobby Boss has all the things you don't like, and size you'll have trouble dealing with, even though the thought of it is impressive. Perhaps the biggest plus of HB is that it gives all the hingy bits if you want to do extended wings, everything "hanging out". The cockpit glass is a mess. It is possible to fit the vac canopy shaped (more accurately) for the Academy, but it takes some serious "adjusting". Whether you'd consider this necessary I can't say, but for me the shapes and angles of HB's glass are unacceptable. If you want 1/48, I'd go for Academy, but you'll probably want to dress it up a bit, so add that to the cost of doing business. (The improved Aussie version does have some better parts, but you'll need some aftermarket to make a proper FB from it.) Yes, the HB would offer a lot of interesting bits.... but reading more I found that some of these are not right. I would love to build my FB with an open bomb bay, to have a scratchbuilt SRAM inside. HB gives this option but from what I understand they botched the bomb bay doors... if I have to scratcbuild the doors, then maybe I can just as well cut the bay on the Hasegawa kit ? It's a pity that HB got so many things wrong with this kit, as a 1/48 111 with all bits hanging down would make for an impressive sight... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 (edited) Anyway the matter has been resolved quicker than I expected... I found a Hasegawa FB on that certain online auction site, put a bid on it and in the end not only I was the highest bidder, I was the only one ! That is a bit strange for something so sought after as a Hasegawa F-111 of any variant. Total is as I expected to pay, around £40 delivered, that is twice what I paid for all other kits of the series I bought before but is probably a reasonable enough figure for this kind of kit today. Should I have gone for HB at a tenner more ? Hard to tell, the kit is being paid now, so no point worrying. Now I'll be able to build both the F-111B and the FB-111. The FB will be easy, just build the kit with the addition of an Eduard PE set for a few parts, maybe modify the instrument panel. And I'd like to open the bomb bay of course, not a very easy task. I don't think there's any aftermarket for this unfortunately so will be good old plasticard and modelling skills. The F-111B will be a bit more involved, as I'll have to select the aircraft that requires less modifications and extra parts. Here a great help will come from @Tailspin Turtle posts on his Tailhook Topics blog and, even more important, his book on the type in the Naval Fighters series. I'll also keep looking at @Navy Bird excellent build on this same forum, that is a true inspiration for anyone with an interest in the F-111B. None of these builds will start anytime soon, and I may actually build the F-111F first, this time OOB with just the Eduard parts... Thinking about it, maybe I should hunt down an F-111A as well.. Edited July 22, 2019 by Giorgio N 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 59 minutes ago, Giorgio N said: Thinking about it, maybe I should hunt down an F-111A as well.. C'mon. You know you want to. 😉 Cheers, Andre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 I was told that FBs generally had the bomb bay open while "waiting for something to do". Personally I prefer doors closed, since I like the aircraft (111, but meant as a generalization) not the "bombs". Besides, that saves a lot of extra modelling, and discourages annoying people like contest judges from picking up the model to see the stuff underneath! (I'm not big on displaying on a mirror base, either- I like my models to look like they're real aircraft waiting for me to hop in and go. I suppose I could do a tarmac display base with a strategically located puddle...) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, Hook said: C'mon. You know you want to. 😉 Cheers, Andre Fortunately for an A it's possible to find the Esci kit, that is not as good as the hasegawa one but is also way cheaper... 14 minutes ago, gingerbob said: I was told that FBs generally had the bomb bay open while "waiting for something to do". Personally I prefer doors closed, since I like the aircraft (111, but meant as a generalization) not the "bombs". Besides, that saves a lot of extra modelling, and discourages annoying people like contest judges from picking up the model to see the stuff underneath! (I'm not big on displaying on a mirror base, either- I like my models to look like they're real aircraft waiting for me to hop in and go. I suppose I could do a tarmac display base with a strategically located puddle...) If FBs had the bay open, then my plan would work well. I'm not generally a fan of open bays myself, I tend to like my models to have everything closed. With more than one kit in the stash however it makes sense to build them in different configurations. I like the idea of the puddle, would make for a very interesting and clever way to show what's underneath while retaining a good realistic setting 😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 6 minutes ago, Giorgio N said: Fortunately for an A it's possible to find the Esci kit, that is not as good as the hasegawa one but is also way cheaper... The Italeri repop may be even easier to find. I have both that one and an original Esci in the stash (as well as about 20 Hasegawa's in various flavors). Cheers, Andre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 1 hour ago, Giorgio N said: I like the idea of the puddle, would make for a very interesting and clever way to show what's underneath while retaining a good realistic setting 😃 We just need to be sure it isn't hydraulic fluid! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 My nose is based on the Esoteric resin nose (which fits the Hasegawa kit rather Good). I made the mould intended to build another F-111B one day. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/esoteric-models-nj-6-f-111b-aardvark--157904 I don't remember which nose was most accurate. But what I remember (it may be wrong) Pete's nose was based on the Revell nose and has some shape issues. And the wheels are copies of the Hasegawa wheels and not accurate for an F-111B... /André 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tailspin Turtle Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 2 hours ago, Andre B said: My nose is based on the Esoteric resin nose (which fits the Hasegawa kit rather Good). I made the mould intended to build another F-111B one day. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/esoteric-models-nj-6-f-111b-aardvark--157904 I don't remember which nose was most accurate. But what I remember (it may be wrong) Pete's nose was based on the Revell nose and has some shape issues. And the wheels are copies of the Hasegawa wheels and not accurate for an F-111B... /André Nobody has the F-111B nose exactly right, including Revell, because the lower portion of the conversion nose doesn’t extend far enough aft. Pete’s conversion is hard to find but the best part of it was the decal sheet. The Hasegawa kit main landing wheels can be converted to the high-pressure F-111B’s but note that the first few had Air Force hubs and tires. I’m not sure that I included all the F-111B posts that I’ve done as links in this post, but it’s a starting point: https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-complete-f-111b.html One of them shows the correct shape of the early nose and another, the later nose. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbob Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 There's a WiP running right now with some very good FB detail shots- link. (The subject is an Aussie bird, but there are FB specific shots, too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 On 7/22/2019 at 4:24 PM, Andre B said: My nose is based on the Esoteric resin nose (which fits the Hasegawa kit rather Good). I made the mould intended to build another F-111B one day. https://www.scalemates.com/kits/esoteric-models-nj-6-f-111b-aardvark--157904 I don't remember which nose was most accurate. But what I remember (it may be wrong) Pete's nose was based on the Revell nose and has some shape issues. And the wheels are copies of the Hasegawa wheels and not accurate for an F-111B... /André Hmm, sounds interesting ! If the exoteric nose is more accurate then I will gladly consider your very kind offer... 😃 23 hours ago, Tailspin Turtle said: Nobody has the F-111B nose exactly right, including Revell, because the lower portion of the conversion nose doesn’t extend far enough aft. Pete’s conversion is hard to find but the best part of it was the decal sheet. The Hasegawa kit main landing wheels can be converted to the high-pressure F-111B’s but note that the first few had Air Force hubs and tires. I’m not sure that I included all the F-111B posts that I’ve done as links in this post, but it’s a starting point: https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-complete-f-111b.html One of them shows the correct shape of the early nose and another, the later nose. So no B nose is accurate...which one do you think is best ? Or least worse.. may be enough for me. The matter of the landing gear of course complicates the build... as my kit is an FB-111 this will have the heavier gear, I have to see if any of the 5 prototypes had this one. 3 hours ago, gingerbob said: There's a WiP running right now with some very good FB detail shots- link. (The subject is an Aussie bird, but there are FB specific shots, too.) Wow, some seriously impressive detail shots in that thread, will sure be very useful ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 My experience is that the Esoteric nose fits rather well to the Hasegawa F-111 fuselage which gives you less work with sanding to get a smoth finish. I shell try to find My mould and make an nose. If it goes well I can post you it to you and you could choose which one you want to use to your F-111B. Cheers / André 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 Ah, the early F-111B nose! I used the one from Pete's Hangar, but it needed significant reshaping. I made two templates from the drawings on Tommy's site - one for the side view of the nose, and one for the plan view. What I ended up with matched those templates well. However, what I didn't make templates for was the cross-sectional shape of the nose, and this is where I think my model is not quite right. It looks OK, but I think it could be better. I made several copies of the Pete's Hangar nose in case I screwed up but luckily I didn't need them. I still have them around somewhere... My F-111B conversion used the Hasegawa F-111G. The bits from the old Revell kit, like the boat tail and the pointed section where the tailplanes attach, fit pretty good. Although I had decals for the Phoenix testing logo from both Pete's Hangar and Microscale, I didn't use either because they were both inaccurate. I can post photos if anyone is interested. I therefore made my own artwork in CorelDraw and printed decals on an inkjet printer. If anyone wants the artwork, I can send it to them. This logo was carried only on the planes used for Phoenix testing, 151971 and 151972. I also printed my own Bureau Numbers because those on the Pete's Hangar sheet were in the wrong font (specifically the "2") and the those on the Microscale sheet all broke apart in water (the sheet was pretty old). I can't wait to see what you do here, Giorgio! For 1:48 scale, there's always the old Aurora USN TFX kit. Or maybe not... Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 Giorgio, Hasegawa is re-releasing their 1/72 F-111G, if that version interests you- you might try HLJ to see the pricing/shipping to you. I have their EF-111A, F-111A. and their F-111D/F, but sold my FB-111 to a fellow modeler who just had to have one. My two choices would be a Desert Storm bunker buster and an EF-111A. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 On 7/23/2019 at 7:01 PM, Andre B said: My experience is that the Esoteric nose fits rather well to the Hasegawa F-111 fuselage which gives you less work with sanding to get a smoth finish. I shell try to find My mould and make an nose. If it goes well I can post you it to you and you could choose which one you want to use to your F-111B. Cheers / André Thanks Andrè ! Will get in touch with you soon. On 7/25/2019 at 11:32 PM, Navy Bird said: Ah, the early F-111B nose! I used the one from Pete's Hangar, but it needed significant reshaping. I made two templates from the drawings on Tommy's site - one for the side view of the nose, and one for the plan view. What I ended up with matched those templates well. However, what I didn't make templates for was the cross-sectional shape of the nose, and this is where I think my model is not quite right. It looks OK, but I think it could be better. I made several copies of the Pete's Hangar nose in case I screwed up but luckily I didn't need them. I still have them around somewhere... My F-111B conversion used the Hasegawa F-111G. The bits from the old Revell kit, like the boat tail and the pointed section where the tailplanes attach, fit pretty good. Although I had decals for the Phoenix testing logo from both Pete's Hangar and Microscale, I didn't use either because they were both inaccurate. I can post photos if anyone is interested. I therefore made my own artwork in CorelDraw and printed decals on an inkjet printer. If anyone wants the artwork, I can send it to them. This logo was carried only on the planes used for Phoenix testing, 151971 and 151972. I also printed my own Bureau Numbers because those on the Pete's Hangar sheet were in the wrong font (specifically the "2") and the those on the Microscale sheet all broke apart in water (the sheet was pretty old). I can't wait to see what you do here, Giorgio! For 1:48 scale, there's always the old Aurora USN TFX kit. Or maybe not... Cheers, Bill Thanks for all the information Bill, I will have to check your build again. Sounds that there will not be much I can use without modifications from the Pete's conversion... more than a bit disappointing ! I will sure be interested in the artwork for the logo, I could make my own but if you already have one... 😃. I've recently found a local printing shop who does custom decal printing, I'm putting together a first file to send them and throwing the Phoenix logo in the mix is not a bad idea. I will post a build here, but will not be too soon... I've got other stuff to complete first. That I should keep working on instead of wasting time around... On 7/26/2019 at 6:36 PM, 72modeler said: Giorgio, Hasegawa is re-releasing their 1/72 F-111G, if that version interests you- you might try HLJ to see the pricing/shipping to you. I have their EF-111A, F-111A. and their F-111D/F, but sold my FB-111 to a fellow modeler who just had to have one. My two choices would be a Desert Storm bunker buster and an EF-111A. Mike Thanks Mike, I'm aware of this. Now the G should have the same plastic parts of the FB, so would be perfectly suitable for the job. In the meantime I've found an FB, the box has yet to arrive but should be here this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre B Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 14 hours ago, Giorgio N said: Thanks Andrè ! Will get in touch with you soon. Hi Giorgio, I have a nose for you. It maybe need some filler, priming and wetsanding to get an smoth fit to the Hasegawa fuselage. I think you will find out which nose (Pete's or mine) you want to use for your F-111B build. Who knews, they are maybe more or less exactly the same? Send an PM with your adress and I will post the nose to you. I am missing the Phoenix Logo to mine F-111B. So if you are about making some new decals I am interested if you are able to make some extras. Cheers / André Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aardvark Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 On 7/19/2019 at 4:01 PM, tempestfan said: Have fun and get yourself the old Revell kit before they deleted the B option. You‘ll have countless hours of fun building that retracting u/c alone... ....old Revell and fun???😁 What You understand in fun???😁 That is REAL fun:😁 ......O.K.! O.K! not so fan, probably it sent to me shop selling BDSM toy's😁... or maybe it's straight from hell 😁...I do not know where they got my mailing address! 😶😁 They don’t like the old Revell ....... who doesn’t like the old Revell, he will build what is on the photo from my posting! 😉😁 B.R. Serge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hook Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 10 hours ago, Aardvark said: ....old Revell and fun???😁 What They don’t like the old Revell ....... who doesn’t like the old Revell, he will build what is on the photo from my posting! 😉😁 Medieval modelling at its finest! 😀 What brand is this? Cheers, Andre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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