F-111F Aardvark ***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

Hi,

 

Anybody who has seen my builds in the last few GB will know that I usually enter quite a few - so far there has only been one where I entered just a single plane, but this GB was beginning to look like it would be another. It is not that I don't have appropriate kits in my stash - Jaguar, Tornado GR1, and F3, F-14, F-15E, F-16, F/A-18, A-6E, EA-6B, C-130 and so on, but like quite a few people I am finding this protracted lockdown bad for my bank balance. I certainly won't be buying any more kits in the near future, but even getting appropriate Gulf War decs for the ones I have is either impossible or ruddy expensive. I was playing with the idea of entering my Italeri F-117A and still might, but looking at Pappy's build of his "Spark-Vark" reminded me that I bought a Hasegawa F-111 kit in the early 1990's, so as they kept their normal colour scheme I wondered if I might be able to use it. I dug it out and here it is-

In 1989 Hasegawa released a whole batch of Aardvarks, F-111A, FB-111A, Aussie F-111C, F-111E which I nearly bought, and this F-111D/F. It contains markings for one D and 2 F's, one of which is 72-1448 "Miss Liberty", a machine of the 48th TFW USAFE based at Lakenheath from delivery in July 1977 to its withdrawal for scrapping in 1996, except for operations during the Gulf War when I believe it was flown by their CO! Hasegawa do not give a date so it may have been modified a bit - I will need to check on that, but the markings should be OK (if the decs work), except for the mission/kill markings which I may be able to improvise - otherwise I will postulate that it has just arrive in theatre. Hasegawa provide 6 pylons for under the wings and include a couple of tanks, Sidewinders and 8 x Durandals, but I have plenty of options from their various weapons sets! It also has the AN/AVQ-26 Pave Tack electro-optical targeting pod for the bomb bay door as you can see on the box art, which was used for many things in the Gulf, including "Tank Plinking" and perhaps picking off an unlucky Il-76 (or was it perhaps a Baghdad-2 AEW version?) as it tried to take off, I seem to remember - as I have only just thought of this entry I still need to do some heavy research as the F-111 had a relatively complex and at times troubled development, but the final "F" model was pretty darned good!

 

So here I go again - hopefully I still have enough paint left over from my Vietnam GB builds!

 

Most of you will know quite a bit about the F-111 Aardvark, but others, like myself, have only a relatively basic knowledge so I am going to inflict another of my lectures on you, in this case mostly based on articles in Detail and Scale and by fellow BM member Tommy Thomason in the Naval Fighters series. I will try and keep it short but if anybody wants to either add extra information or correct any perceived mistakes please feel free, but please provide justification/evidence for the latter!

 

Over in the parallel Interceptors GB I have built a number of dedicated interceptor aircraft from the 1950's such as the Douglas A4D-1 Skyray, Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, EE Lightning and Su-9. However, by around 1960 the major air forces of the world were moving away from single purpose aircraft for reasons of both flexibility and cost. The USAF wanted a replacement strike aircraft to replace the F-105 and the USN wanted an all weather carrier based fleet defence fighter with a powerful radar and lots of long range AA missiles, and when in 1961 former systems analyst Robert Strange McNamara became Secretary of Defense in the new government of J.F. Kennedy after a spell as President of the Ford Motor Company, it seemed to him that the two requirements could be combined to save money in the TFX Tactical Fighter program! Whilst seemingly a good idea, it was with hindsight ahead of its time and rather impractical, resulting in what Tommy calls “7 years of conflict, disagreement, misunderstanding and frustration, leading to a conclusion that continues to be controversial”.

 

Since swept wings were first introduced, there has been a trade off between high speed at altitude and relatively poor low speed handling low down and so various designers such as Barnes Wallace had proposed the use of variable geometry – the so called swing wing. This offered the superior high speed and also gust resistance low and fast of the swept wing, together with the better handling and high lift of a straight wing at low speeds as in the case of carrier take off and landing, and the USN had ordered the F10F Jaguar from Grumman in 1949, but it suffered from serious problems, particularly from the tail design, and never entered service. As a result a request for proposals was issued on October 1st 1961 and of the 6 companies who responded, after 4 rounds of proposals and evaluation the service chiefs decided to award the contract to Boeing. However, at this point McNamara intervened, overrode the decision and awarded the contract to General Dynamics/Grumman because he apparently felt that their proposal was less risky than the Boeing one and had greater commonality between the USAAF and USN versions with cost saving benefits.

 

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 6, 2021 by PeterB

[Pappy]

Yessssssss!

 

Pappy

[theplasticsurgeon]

Hi Peter,  There are some great photos of Miss Liberty here on dstorm.eu.

She retained her identity markings,  probably with post war decorations added - so your idea of 'just arrived in theatre' sounds good.

 

I bought an built a Hasegawa FB-111A when this series was released, by far the best F-111s in 1/72.

A little surprising in fixed position wings - either fully forward or fully back only.  Compensated with wing-glove detail and drooped flaps+slats.

Oh to find another, at the right price!

[modelling minion]

Great to see another F-111 in the GB Pete, should help you get your models per GB count up to its usual very high place, showing us all up!

[PeterB]

2 hours ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

 

Oh to find another, at the right price!

Hi Tim,

 

Yes, they are getting rather expensive these days. I suspect I used some of my redundancy money back in 1990 to buy a whole batch of Hasegawa kits - this, the F-15 C and E, Tornado GR1 and F3, Jaguar and F-16C and probably the F-102 and F-106 - I hate to think how much that lot would cost now! I used the d.storm site to verify that this plane was actually there - very useful. Like you I might have preferred more wing sweep options though there comes with that the various problems of the slot in the fuselage, the glove etc. I probably could have got round the problem with the pylons though, as I have been experimenting with small magnets, my previous attempts on my old Revell F-111A to make pivots having been not very good.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 6, 2021 by PeterB

[theplasticsurgeon]

1 hour ago, PeterB said:

Yes, they are getting rather expensive these days. I suspect I used some of my redundancy money back in 1990 to buy a whole batch of Hasegawa kits - this, the F-15 C and E, Tornado GR1 and F3, Jaguar and F-16C and probably the F-102 and F-106 - I hate to think how much that lot would cost now! I used the d.storm site to verify that this plane was actually there - very useful. Like you I might have preferred more wing sweep options though there comes with that the various problems of the slot in the fuselage, the glove etc. I probably could have got round the problem with the pylons though, as I have been experimenting with small magnets, my previous attempts on my old Revell F-111A to make pivots having been not very good.

I've just looked on Ebay - VERY expensive. 

The old Revell F-111A - does this kit still contain part 35N please?   That's the short nose for the Navy version.  It's in the ancient Revell F-111 TFX kits, which is where this kit originates.

A what-if F-111B with leftover Vietnam era US Navy/Marines decals is on my list.

 

[Jabba]

A good choice of a very important aircraft during this conflict. Good luck with the build.

[Pappy]

 Sooooooooo, will your jet be carrying a GBU-28?

 

Pappy

[PeterB]

4 hours ago, theplasticsurgeon said:

I've just looked on Ebay - VERY expensive. 

The old Revell F-111A - does this kit still contain part 35N please?   That's the short nose for the Navy version.  It's in the ancient Revell F-111 TFX kits, which is where this kit originates.

A what-if F-111B with leftover Vietnam era US Navy/Marines decals is on my list.

 

1 hour ago, Pappy said:

 Sooooooooo, will your jet be carrying a GBU-28?

 

Pappy

Hi Tim,

 

It did when I bought it back in the late 1960's but I have lost it as I have moved house twice since then and at least two of my "spares boxes" did not make it down here - I know I kept the wing tips from the B as I think they went on the Revell kit at some point but I could be wrong - I suspect I was attempting to make a sort of FB-111A but did not realise the nose would also need further lengthening - well, I was pretty young back then! I read in a review somewhere that after a few years Revell re-boxed it without the F-111B parts - I guess the trick is to look for the box art showing both versions.

 

Interesting idea Pappy but I think I will stick to more normal LGB - I have not decided yet. Are there any available in 1/72 on the aftermarket I wonder?

 

Pete

 

[Vultures1]

Great choice Pete.

 

SO should have picked up one of these when they first came out!  Just got to hope that Hobby 2000 re-pop the Hasegawa F-111s some time soon

[Pappy]

11 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Tim,

 

It did when I bought it back in the late 1960's but I have lost it as I have moved house twice since then and at least two of my "spares boxes" did not make it down here - I know I kept the wing tips from the B as I think they went on the Revell kit at some point but I could be wrong - I suspect I was attempting to make a sort of FB-111A but did not realise the nose would also need further lengthening - well, I was pretty young back then! I read in a review somewhere that after a few years Revell re-boxed it without the F-111B parts - I guess the trick is to look for the box art showing both versions.

 

Interesting idea Pappy but I think I will stick to more normal LGB - I have not decided yet. Are there any available in 1/72 on the aftermarket I wonder?

 

Pete

 

G'day Pete,

 

Apparently there are!

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/ozmods-sda72046-gbu-28-deep-throat-lgb--146525

 

Personally, I would make my own (they were only carried singly so you would only need to make one and only two were dropped operationally  (one missed!). The GBU-28 was based on old M110 SP barrels so I would use the aerofoil section  and CCG from a GBU-24 and a suitable length and diameter of tubing to represent the body. I am sure an internet search would produce the dimensions required. Then you Pig would be unique!

 

From memory, the bombs went from design to production in about a month and the filling was still warm when the bombs arrived in theatre!

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[PeterB]

Ok, ready to make a start so here is plastic.

And yes, there is a lot of it. That is partly due to alternative parts for the D version which I will not be using, and the fact that as I mentioned earlier Hasegawa released several versions at once so had to make the moulds on that basis, which means quite a few areas where the fit could potentially be a problem as they are sometimes not up to the standard of Tamiya. However I am reassured by Pappy's build of his EF version that it might fit pretty well - I hope!

 

One of the things you have to do before starting is think about the weapons loadout as you have to drill out the locating holes in the lower wing for the pylons. - there could be three on each wing as I will explain later, but I think I am only using the two inner ones on this build. I mentioned that the kit includes 8 of the US version of the French Durandal rocket propelled runway busting bombs (BLU-107/B), but according to the dStorm website the F did not use them in this conflict - only the E. I will therefore have to revert to the various Hasegawa weapon sets I have, I-IV in this case, love them or hate them. For many years the weapons in kits were always the poor relation, almost at times it seemed an afterthough - like me many of you will remember numerous kits provided with a poor rendition of the Bullpup air to ground "guided" missile which was not really very good and seldom used. Given the wide range of weapons that became available from about the 1960's onwards I guess it make sense to make seperate sets so you have a choice, and of course it increases the profits for the manufacturer as well, but it can be irritating (and expensive) for the modeller!

 

Anyway, here is a bit more of the background story.

Enter the F-111A from General Dynamics and the F-111B from their partners Grumman with a mass of experience in building planes for the USN. Both were large two seat, twin engined planes with swing wings – those on the F-111B being of greater span to help generate more lift when operating from carriers. The F-111A for the USAF had an enclosed bomb bay, but the naval F-111B used the bay to carry 2 long range Phoenix AA missiles, and it also had a shorter radar nose. To keep it brief, the B was too big and heavy and Grumman could not get the approach speed down enough to be used from carriers and so it failed to enter production, but Grumman did produce a somewhat smaller and lighter swing wing alternative with Phoenix missiles as the F-14 Tomcat. The F-111A entered service with the USAAF and was introduced, perhaps prematurely during the Vietnam War in 1968 with mixed results, as three failed to return from their missions, but this was later attributed to a problem with the wing pivot structure I believe and later missions proved highly successful going in fast and low using terrain following radar equipment.

 

Before going on to briefly explain the various later versions, I should perhaps describe the original F-111A. It was a large aircraft with a crew of 2 seated side by side in a cockpit that was part of an escape capsule, which incorporated part of the wing to provide stability during descent or so I seem to remember reading somewhere. The first few were powered by P&W TF30-P-1 turbofan engines but most had the later TF30-P-3 which each generated 12000lb thrust dry and 18500lb with reheat, this being the first military use of the more fuel efficient turbofan AFAIK. The build in bomb bay was intended to carry a nuclear weapon, but depending on which book you read it could carry 2 x M117 750lb bombs or 2x2000lb. It could also mount a Vulcan 20mm cannon pod, though I gather that was not used very often. The wings swept between 16º and 72.5° and each had 2 pivoting pylons. Again sources differ but most say that a further fixed pylon could be mounted outboard (Putnam's US Military Aircraft book says 2 moving and 2 fixed pylons on each wing, but I think that is a typo, or else confusion with the FB-111A). The fixed pylons were mounted with a “toe-in” of 10° when the wings were fully forward, and so in line with the airflow when the wing was slightly swept back. It seems these were used to carry extra fuel drop tanks and I suspect they would be jettisoned complete with the pylon when the wing had to be swept fully back. More to follow!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Pappy]

G'day Pete,

 

The long span F-111s (F-111C, FB-111A/F-111G) definitely had four hardpoints per wing, I am unsure about the rests of the family but since the longer wingtips consisted of a 'kit' that was added to expand the wing, I would imagine that all four  hardpoints were present. The two inner stations  (3, 4, 5, 6) were swivelling pylons and could be used for stores or fuel. The outer two stations on each wing (1, 2, 7, 😎 were fixed and toed in such that they were parallel when the wings were swept back to the best cruise position (23 degrees), so on take-off and landing would be pointed inwards by 23 degrees. As such, these pylons were typically only ever used for ferry flights to additional carry external fuel tanks. The pylons were a different design (and hence appearance) and on the FB-111A/F-111G the lower section of the fixed pylons could be jettisoned to reduce drag and weight. There is a well know pic of an F-111C loaded with eight BRU's holding 6 x MK.82s i.e.  24 bombs. Although this was physically possible, this was not a realistic load. RAAF F-111Cs had their outer stations (1,8) were de-activated following AUP.

 

The F-111A/C were originally designed with a version of the M61A1 installed, however on RAAF F-1111Cs, this was removed and replaced with the AN/ASQ-26  PAVE TACK system to allow the aircraft to designate LGBs

[PeterB]

Hi Pappy,

 

Thanks for that info. I suppose I could scratch build a GBU-28, but frankly I am not inclined to do so - as I said before I would prefer not to have to buy any more decs so this will probably be as it was very early in the deployment, with the usual load of CBU or GBU weapons. Actually I may be turning into a fairly boring modeller as I prefer normal run of the mill planes to ones with fancy markings or one off loads - in other words a normal "in service" plane. As a general rule I do not particularly like "special one off versions" or "What If's" though I may well break that rule with my TSR-2 when I finally build it - my wife bought me a rather nice painting of one as it might have been in service in perhaps the late 1980's, and I have the decs and fittings to do it, though I intend to use tiny magnets to enable me to vary the load from the early proposed tanks etc to a version as in the painting with Tornado type tanks, Sidewinders, ECM and targeting pods. Having seen and touched one of the surviving prototypes in 1970 I suppose I have a thing about that machine and feel it deserved a better fate, so a "doomed" anti-flash white prototype as per the kit does not entirely appeal to me! In the absence of any appropriate GB this year I might just make a start on it soon!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 8, 2021 by PeterB

[Pappy]

Pete, it is your model, build it anyway you like

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

[Anatol Pigwa]

 

On 06/02/2021 at 11:01, theplasticsurgeon said:

Oh to find another, at the right price!

 

Hobby 2000 is supposed to releade the F-111 D/F as well as as F-111F Desert Storm Hasegawa repop at some poin this year hopefully.

Now if only someone made some nice GBU-15 and GBU-28 in the OTS.

 

[Anatol Pigwa]

@PeterB, as for the loadout you have quite a few options since you apparently own the Weapons set II, which includes the GBU-15, GBU-12 and GBU-10 (The F-111F was predominantly a smart bomb truck). Also one of these sets includes the ALQ-131 ECM pod which was ubitiquous during dstorm on these aircraft. For the GBU-15 a Data Pod would be necessary though if you intend to be 100% accurate. Therefore a GBU-10/12 loadout might be a more cost effective measure.

[PeterB]

Thanks Anatol,

 

I am currently in the process of modyfing the AN/ALQ-131 pod from the Hasegawa Weapons sets as there is not one provided in the kit.  Apparently these things were of a modular construction so there were several assembly versions used. The Haegawa one is a 3 band "deep" pod I believe, and they even went up to 5 Band pods which were much longer, but the 'Vark seems to have carried the so called "shallow" version which I guess is the 2 Band one, with the lower module removed. I know Eduard do make both deep and shallow versions, but I have just cut the bottom off, filled the body with Milliput and sanded it flat.

 

Next I needed to cut off the bit that sticks down in the middle off the waste piece and glue it back on

And here it is - still needs a little work. Hasegawa provide a small "pylon" for it between the ventral fins but because of the location it is impossible to tell what colour it was actually painted when I look at pics - White, Gray and OD seem possible, or maybe even black to match the underside of the plane. It certainly looks like a dark colour so unless anybody knows differently I will go for OD.

 

As to the bombs themselves I must admit I have never really studied LGB in detail. Looking at the loadout info on the dStorm website, it seems the F mostly carried GBU-10 which as I understand it were the 2000lb version, though they did at times carry GBU-12 500lb ones which would no doubt be big enough to "plink" a tank but were they on Triple or multiple ejector launchers? If not just 4x500lb seems a rather minimal load for such a large plane! I am a little surprised to see no mention of the 1000lb GBU-16 being used - the RAF seem to have used their equivalent the CPU-123/B on the Buccaneers and perhaps the Tornados. I guess it depends on the type of target!

 

I bought 2 of the Hasegawa guided bomb weapons sets so started off with 4 GBU-10 and 8 GBU-12 but have used some. I still have enough GBU-12 but only 2 GBU-10. However I also have a couple of Italeri weapons sets which include 2 of each, though perhaps not as accurate as the Hasegawa ones? Of course, if I am going to mount LGB then my idea of modelling it as just arrived in theatre will probably go out of the window as I see the loadout listed no longer includes shoulder mounted AIM-9 so must have been a bit later on? I will have to look at making some mission markings I guess.

 

Any info on the subject will be welcomed.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 8, 2021 by PeterB

[Vultures1]

8 hours ago, Anatol Pigwa said:

 

 

Hobby 2000 is supposed to releade the F-111 D/F as well as as F-111F Desert Storm Hasegawa repop at some poin this year hopefully.

 

 

Thanks Anatol.  I'll make sure I don't miss out this time round 🙂

[Vultures1]

7 hours ago, PeterB said:

Thanks Anatol,

 

I am currently in the process of modyfing the AN/ALQ-131 pod from the Hasegawa Weapons sets as there is not one provided in the kit.  Apparently these things were of a modular construction so there were several assembly versions used. The Haegawa one is a 3 band "deep" pod I believe, and they even went up to 5 Band pods which were much longer, but the 'Vark seems to have carried the so called "shallow" version which I guess is the 2 Band one, with the lower module removed. I know Eduard do make both deep and shallow versions, but I have just cut the bottom off, filled the body with Milliput and sanded it flat.

 

Next I needed to cut off the bit that sticks down in the middle off the waste piece and glue it back on

And here it is - still needs a little work. Hasegawa provide a small "pylon" for it between the ventral fins but because of the location it is impossible to tell what colour it was actually painted when I look at pics - White, Gray and OD seem possible, or maybe even black to match the underside of the plane. It certainly looks like a dark colour so unless anybody knows differently I will go for OD.

 

As to the bombs themselves I must admit I have never really studied LGB in detail. Looking at the loadout info on the dStorm website, it seems the F mostly carried GBU-10 which as I understand it were the 2000lb version, though they did at times carry GBU-12 500lb ones which would no doubt be big enough to "plink" a tank but were they on Triple or multiple ejector launchers? If not just 4x500lb seems a rather minimal load for such a large plane! I am a little surprised to see no mention of the 1000lb GBU-16 being used - the RAF seem to have used their equivalent the CPU-123/B on the Buccaneers and perhaps the Tornados. I guess it depends on the type of target!

 

I bought 2 of the Hasegawa guided bomb weapons sets so started off with 4 GBU-10 and 8 GBU-12 but have used some. I still have enough GBU-12 but only 2 GBU-10. However I also have a couple of Italeri weapons sets which include 2 of each, though perhaps not as accurate as the Hasegawa ones? Of course, if I am going to mount LGB then my idea of modelling it as just arrived in theatre will probably go out of the window as I see the loadout listed no longer includes shoulder mounted AIM-9 so must have been a bit later on? I will have to look at making some mission markings I guess.

 

Any info on the subject will be welcomed.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Pete

 

Check out this invaluable link for Desert Storm weapon loads: https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/loadout/f-111.html

 

LGBs were parent-mounted on the F-111 pylons ie one per pylon only: GBU-10, GBU-12 or GBU-24.  IIRC the GBU-16 was used by USN only and not USAF

 

Chris

[PeterB]

Thanks Chris,

 

Actually I have been using that site for some time, but no worries as every other reply I get on this GB some days refers me to it! I have a pretty good idea of what type of weapons were loaded but in some instances am a bit unclear about the weapons themselves and how they were mounted. Things under wings (and the fuselage) tend to be in shade and are often none too clear on photos! Fortunately we have the late General Norman Schwarzkopf 's speedy weapon loading aquaintance Enzo and others on hand for queries on RAF weapons🙂!

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 8, 2021 by PeterB

[Pappy]

_{F-111s employed BRU-3 racks to carry up to six 500lb class stores, so up to three GBU-12 per rack (due to the length) could be carried per rack..}

_{The 2000lb GBU10/24 was suspended directly beneath the pylon, one per pylon.}

_{F-111s did not use TER/MER. The Hasegawa kits include the BRU-3 racks (unlike the HB kit which supplies MER/TER)}

 

 

_Pappy

[PeterB]

Thanks Pappy,

 

They are presumably the racks Hasegawa provide for their US version of the Durandal? On the dstorm website he shows multiple loads of iron bombs on racks for the F-111 eg left, bottom and right front etc, but just says GBU-12 singular. During the Gulf War do you happen to know if they were indeed carrying more than 1 bomb per rack, and if so would be on both the inners and how they were split - eg front left and right and rear bottom or whatever? Mind you, I think I only have 8 Hasegawa GBU-12 and 4 Italeri anyway so I might do better just having 2 per rack! The loading diagram Hasegawa include with the kit does not show GBU-12 for some reason, but does show up to 6 Mk 82 on what they describe as MER.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited February 8, 2021 by PeterB

[Pappy]

Pete,

 

The racks shown in the instructions with the  Durandals  are the BRU-3A/A racks. I don't know how they loaded their GBU-12s but as Chris stated,  if only a single one was carried I would suggest the directly beneath the wing pylon as the suspension units within the pylons  had both the 14" and 30" hook spacing to accommodate either 500 or 2000lb stores.

 

To load three GBU-12s, I would have two forward (fwd outer shoulder and bottom) with the third on the aft inner shoulder position.

Although you could install 6 x 500lb Mk82 class bombs per rack it was also common to use a 'slant four' load (inner fwd / aft shoulder positions empty) when the racks were carried on STN 4/5 to ensure there was enough clearance between the fuselage and bombs upon release

 

 

Pappy

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Pappy

[Benner]

As Chris said, GBU-12s were loaded in a singular fashion, directly to the pylon.  A F-111F would be loaded with 4 on a tank-plinking sortie.

 

If you decide to use the BRU with unguided bombs, all stations on the BRU would have a bomb.