bianfuxia Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) I've always liked the F-111 especially since seeing it, as an Aussie kid, doing the infamous "dump and burn" manouevre. To the non-Aussies I am sure this sounds like something we do when caught without a loo at a friend's barbecue...but no, it's releasing jet fuel straight out the back of the plane while the afterburner is on, leaving a huge crackling plume of raw flame behind the plane. When I was about, well I don't know, very early 20s, my grandfather (an ex-RAAF pilot from WW2) was very ill. He and I had been to the Avalon Air Show a few years prior, and he was too unwell to come to this one. It was to end with a night display of the dump and burn by the F-111. I am pretty sure by this time Australia had the -G as well as the -C, but either way the plane that did it was a dark grey one. So I called him up on a cellphone as the display was beginning (cells were not that common in those days, I think I had bought it so I could be in constant touch with family as his condition deteriorated). He was in and out in those days, just a few weeks before he died, but he was awake enough to realize who I was and what I was doing and I basically said, with about three seconds to spare, "hey, listen to this". The F-111 ripped past at what seemed like basically no height at all, then as it pulled back and raced skywards it did the dump-and-burn. The night sky lit up like day, you could feel the heat on your face, and that thing went up like a rocket - I mean the night launch of Apollo 17 was kind of boring compared to this, you know? The whole time I held the phone out towards it and then I said "DID YOU HEAR THAT?!?" and all I could hear was him laughing happily down the phone. That was in 1995. So fast-forward to September 2020. I had just managed to get my family back to Australia from the US where we'd been having a pretty rough time of things in Washington DC. As I am sure many of you will agree, something about those long days of lockdown pre-vaccines in 2020 with all the uncertainty just prompted a huge wave of nostalgia, and this F-111 dump-and-burn episode came back to me one late despairing night after our flights had been cancelled and my then 5 year old daughter was inconsolable because she thought she would never see her grandparents again (for those wondering what that's about, it was then and almost until the end of 2021 incredibly difficult and insanely expensive to get back to Australia due to COVID border closures and their associated impact on flight capacity and ticket prices). So once we were back here after 15 years away I just decided to pay the absolutely outrageous price they wanted for it at the LHS and go ahead and build the kit. Conveniently not long after that there was the ANZAC Group Build so I joined that and made some decent progress. But because of the back story (and the insane price of this kit) I wanted to try really hard to do a good job. So I missed the end of the GB and just kept plugging away. I finished it this April just gone. My now 7 year old daughter asked to help when i was taking photos yesterday in the sun, so of course I found a way to let her help. She took a few snaps and then told me in no uncertain terms that the set up "didn't look like an airport". "Let me get my chalk Dad, you need to make some lines on the ground so it looks realistic. And we need some more planes too". Here she is after drawing her concept of an airport apron trying to plant a weed as a realistic tree in the back corner. This represents a little known RAAF bare bones base up north, where the F-111 and F-18 refuel during their missions on Exercise Bright White. This exercise is the similarly little known off-year activity between the biennial Exercise Pitch Black. This was the scene by the time she was satisfied. She even pinged me for placing that piece of equipment with the yellow hose in front of the plane - Dad! It's going to run over that hose when it drives out if you put it there! Um, good point kiddo. Anyway, while it's not without its flaws (most notably a distinct lean to one side due to the u/c being slightly out of alignment, something I have tried to hide in this images), I am pretty happy with this one. I like the personal association I have with it, and it's really one of the better models I have ever built. The very dragged out build thread is here: Thanks for looking! Edited June 19, 2022 by bianfuxia 51 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 I like that a lot, The darker grey really suits the F111. Great looking model. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 Great model with an important personal connection (and I love the "airport"!)😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Nice job on that. I'm with your Granddad here, the first time I saw a dump & burn, Christchurch 1987, I threw my head back & laughed out loud, totally outrageous but so much fun. I do like your F-111 a lot. The Frontline airstrip looks pretty good too. 👍 Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unfinished project Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Good looking F-111 you have shown us here. A much missed aircraft from the skies around the East Coast of Scotland. I would hate to work out exactly how long it’s been since the were taken away from RAF Lakenheath and Upper Heyford. Your build has inspired me to get my Hasegawa EF-111 to the top of the stash. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted June 20, 2022 Author Share Posted June 20, 2022 20 hours ago, Pete in a shed said: I like that a lot, The darker grey really suits the F111. Great looking model. Pete 20 hours ago, Alpha Delta 210 said: Great model with an important personal connection (and I love the "airport"!)😉 1 hour ago, stevehnz said: Nice job on that. I'm with your Granddad here, the first time I saw a dump & burn, Christchurch 1987, I threw my head back & laughed out loud, totally outrageous but so much fun. I do like your F-111 a lot. The Frontline airstrip looks pretty good too. 👍 Steve. 4 minutes ago, Unfinished project said: Good looking F-111 you have shown us here. A much missed aircraft from the skies around the East Coast of Scotland. I would hate to work out exactly how long it’s been since the were taken away from RAF Lakenheath and Upper Heyford. Your build has inspired me to get my Hasegawa EF-111 to the top of the stash. Thanks everyone! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Great Vark and Varkport you have over there!! Fantastic Aussi special I also did the late scheme once.. looks great and sinister 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinism Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Great work Bianfuxia and a lovely story too. I remember seeing my first night dump and burn off Mindel Beach in Darwin years ago - left a lasting impression on me too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roginoz Posted June 20, 2022 Share Posted June 20, 2022 Love the airport and the odd socks !! At least she has her priorities right !! What a great looking model, suitably threatening in that dark grey and photographed in a "realistic" setting. I've got the Hobbyboss C model in 1/48 in the stash and given your display problems in 1/72, I think it's gonna have to stay there ! Rog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek_B Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 Great story and a great model! Well done! I too felt the warmth of a dump & burn in my youth. Just astounding. Derek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 That is a brilliant backstory , the personal touch makes all the difference. Love the explanation of the 'Dump and burn' 🤣have seen the pictures but your explanation of it speaks volumes. Great to see involvement of your daughter, and its defiantly taken in the right place .....OZ !! Lovely build as well..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 Brilliant in every respect Thanks for posting 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pappy Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Luv the Pig! Like the bare bones strip as well, I think Ex Bright White could catch on! cheers, Pappy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted June 22, 2022 Author Share Posted June 22, 2022 3 hours ago, Pappy said: Luv the Pig! Like the bare bones strip as well, I think Ex Bright White could catch on! cheers, Pappy Thanks! I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that! 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacificmustang Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 Oh man! your story of your build is what modelling is all about to me . great stuff, and love how your daughter got involved in displaying the model too . Not sure how much you paid for the model, but looks to me like you well and truly got your money’s worth Bruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Lovely addition to the collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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