Revell 1/72 F-111B 151970

[David Womby]

 

This is 151970 on the day she was rolled out on 11 May 1965 at the Grumman factory on Long Island.  She was the first prototype of the F-111B that was intended to be the US Navy's premier carrierborne fighter but never made it.  The F-111B was cancelled on 10 July 1968 after 7 prototypes had flown.

 

 

This is the old Revell TFX kit.    It's not bad for its age and comes complete with parts to build an F-111A or B.  It has moveable wings, a removable ejection capsule and  fully working retractable undercarriage and wheel well doors.   Its shape is generally considered good except for the nose of the B variant.   I tried to correct its appearance by removing about 1.5mm between the front edge of the windshield and the radome.   It's still not right and looks a tad short but I think it's better than as Revell intended.   I also added the arrestor hook and its mounting as Revell missed that off.  The undercarriage really works but the nosewheel doors do not hang vertically as they should.   The nosewheel operation is pretty simple but this video shows how the complex  main undercarriage operates.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j--CzJG0KE

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, the wings will not fold all the way back!  I can live with that.  Comments and criticisms welcomed.  Thanks for looking.

 

David

[Trevor L]

Very nice. The 111 is not a particularly attractive aircraft, but it looks quite elegant in those colours.

[Navy Bird]

Nice job on the old gal. I built that kit when it first came out (in the mid-60s - yep, I am that old), before I had even seen a photo of an F-111. As I recall, all those "working" features were pretty popular back then, but interfered with having accurate detail. But they were fun!

 

I always thought the B was the best looking version of the F-111 (but then Navy is my first name   ) and when I saw this kit on a vendor's table a few years ago I grabbed it for use with a conversion of the Hasegawa F-111C.

 

Fly Navy!   

 

Cheers,

Bill

[SAT69]

I remember buying and building that kit and recall the cockpit/escape capsule didn't fit well at all. You've done a fine job eliminating the unsightly misfit of that part of the kit. A very well done build of a very old kit. Yes, I'm that old.

[busnproplinerfan]

Quite the engineering Revell did. Nice and clean.

[Team Aer Lingus]

That' a little beauty of a vintage model David very well done

 

thanks for sharing 

 

Eamonn

[John_W]

Very nice. Prototypes always look so clean and smooth, before all the avionics and weapons lumps and bumps get added.

[F-32]

Very nicely done, a great addition to any collection

[swralph]

Nice one David.😀

[Homer]

Beautiful model. 

[Tailspin Turtle]

If you scroll down quite a ways, you’ll see how the Revell nose needs to be fixed and why: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/10/grumman-f-111b.html

[djos]

Very interesting and rare version....looking great, and for sure nice addition standard versions.

Regards Djordje

 

[David Womby]

7 hours ago, Tailspin Turtle said:

If you scroll down quite a ways, you’ll see how the Revell nose needs to be fixed and why: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/10/grumman-f-111b.html

Thanks, Tommy.  I had read ALL that info. on your amazing website but the main issue I had with the Revell nose was that, to  my eyes, there was a slight step / change in angle between the windshield and the radome.  Your drawings and photos make me think the radome looked better carrying on the slope of the windshield.  Hence my cutting out a slice just ahead of the windshield.

 

 

Thanks for all the effort you have put in to documenting this fabulous but  much maligned aircraft over the years.

 

David

[Pappy]

G'day David,

 

Lovely job on a very rare bird

 

👍

 

Pappy

[Navy Bird]

18 hours ago, David Womby said:

to  my eyes, there was a slight step / change in angle between the windshield and the radome.  Your drawings and photos make me think the radome looked better carrying on the slope of the windshield.  Hence my cutting out a slice just ahead of the windshield.

 

Your eyes don't deceive you, there is a slight change in slope between the windscreen and the nose. I don't know if you saw all of Tommy's drawings (he has many blog posts about the F-111B) but the following drawing from his site not only shows that change, but also where the B nose attached to the 111 fuselage. This was not represented in Revell's kit. I had to hold a straight edge against this drawing to see the slope change clearly.

 

 

I agree completely with your praise for Tommy's work on the 111B. We modellers are in gratitude for his dedication.   

 

Cheers,

Bill