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F-111B (USN) wheels


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There is some info here (scroll down):

 

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/10/grumman-f-111b.html

 

Not all of the seven F-111Bs used the same mainwheels. I know that 970 and 972 often had F-111A mainwheels mounted. @Tailspin Turtle is the subject matter expert when it comes to the F-111B. Hopefully he will come around and give us the complete story.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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21 hours ago, Linus said:

There was a conversion I think Pete's conversion, but difficult to find.

 

It's Pete's Hangar.  I have one in the stash and will use it with a Hasegawa C model F-111 to do the B model. 

Later,

Dave

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22 hours ago, Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy said:

Great to know; what differences are depicted in the Pete's tires vs the kit ones? Is it size, details or both that differ?

If I get a chance in the next few days I'll dig it out and let you know.

Later,

Dave

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On 7/30/2022 at 5:00 PM, Tailspin Turtle said:

I've created a set of documents providing errata and additional information with respect to my F-111B monograph (http://tommythomason.com/books/Grumman-navy-F-111b/). The price (free) is right. Just send me a request via message with your email address.

I will repeat myself here, your Ginter book is top notch. I actually read it (doesn't happen that often :-)). Hope you still have my e-mail address?

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I was just about to move on to looking at another site but decided I better look for the Pete's Hangar F-111B conversion kit.  For most people on this site it won't mean anything, but especially for the baseball fans who come by here it will.  Just found out a little bit ago that former Dodger broadcaster Vic Scully passed away today at age 94.  What a loss.  I can remember listening to him call the Dodger games when I was a lot younger, and building models even then.  On to the conversion kit.  First thing I noticed just now is that there are no instructions!  Maybe I misplaced them.  The decals aren't there either, but I know where those are as I have them in a plastic bag to stay indoors so that they will last as long as possible.  There are new tires, but how different they are from a regular set of F-111 tires I can't say without looking at some.  Those are in the garage and I've already set the alarm so it will have to wait until tomorrow morning.  The kit also comes with metal landing gear.  The gear looks like it may have been made from molded brass, definitely not white metal.  There is also a new set of nose tires.  I've already decided that next year will be the year of conversions, to include ship and aircraft models.  I have long been planning on doing this one conversion of putting a B-17G nose section onto a B-24 as was actually done during the war.  I am going to try to get it started this year, but if it has to wait until next year, so be it.

Later,

Dave

 

P.S.  For those who might be interested, here is a link to  the late Vin Scully discussing the history of beards during a game on 30 April 2016.  Things were a little slow at the time so he went on to tell a story about the history of beards.

 

 

RIP Vinny!

Edited by e8n2
Added video link.
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For what it's worth, here is a photo of the Pete's Hangar conversion set when I bought it several years ago (this is before the sharp boat tail was added):

 

IMG_1285

 

My recollection (which admittedly suffers sometimes) is that the resin wheels were not substantially different in size than the Hasegawa kit I used for my conversion, nor were they as nicely detailed. I didn't use any of these decals for my model of 151972 as the Phoenix Missile System logo is very inaccurate, and the font used for the tail numbers is not right. I also did not use the metal landing gear - Hasegawa's was much more sharply moulded, better detailed, and easy to convert to those used on the F-111B. I used the resin tail hook fairing, but modified it a bit, as well as the nose (which required a lot of reshaping) and the small pod that located under the nose. All in all, I was disappointed in this set, especially since I paid an arm and a leg for it as it was out of production.

 

Anyone that wants a copy of the artwork I did for the Phoenix testing program badge and the numbers in the correct font, just drop me a PM.

 

Here is a link to my conversion:

 

 

Cheers,

Bill

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1 hour ago, Navy Bird said:

For what it's worth, here is a photo of the Pete's Hangar conversion set when I bought it several years ago (this is before the sharp boat tail was added):

 

IMG_1285

 

My recollection (which admittedly suffers sometimes) is that the resin wheels were not substantially different in size than the Hasegawa kit I used for my conversion, nor were they as nicely detailed. I didn't use any of these decals for my model of 151972 as the Phoenix Missile System logo is very inaccurate, and the font used for the tail numbers is not right. I also did not use the metal landing gear - Hasegawa's was much more sharply moulded, better detailed, and easy to convert to those used on the F-111B. I used the resin tail hook fairing, but modified it a bit, as well as the nose (which required a lot of reshaping) and the small pod that located under the nose. All in all, I was disappointed in this set, especially since I paid an arm and a leg for it as it was out of production.

 

Anyone that wants a copy of the artwork I did for the Phoenix testing program badge and the numbers in the correct font, just drop me a PM.

 

Here is a link to my conversion:

 

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Holy mackerel Bill, that's a stunning and absolutely beautiful build!! :worthy:

 

I'm actually going a different direction with mine, a what-if circa mid/late 80's....

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52 minutes ago, Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy said:

I'm actually going a different direction with mine, a what-if circa mid/late 80's....

 

Ooh, which squadron (assuming it will still be a USN bird)?

 

Cheers,

Bill

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16 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Ooh, which squadron (assuming it will still be a USN bird)?

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

VF-74 in full TPS, with the lightning bolt in red.  Somehow just struck me in my mind's way.  Plus a few details which *might* have made its way to the bird, such as an F-14D-style chin double-pod, Tomcat (shorter) pitot etc.  Maybe a few other things.  Not sure whether to keep the fairing on the top of the tail or not....

Edited by Andrew D Jolly Rogers guy
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Darn, Navy Bird beat me to it.  Here is a picture of the kit contents that I took this morning except for the decals which are still in a plastic bag:

 

F-111B Conversion Kit 01

 

Here is a comparison of the conversion kit main tires and the kit main tires from the F-111C/G kit:

 

F-111B Conversion Kit 02

 

They may be a little fatter than the kit tires, but I couldn't tell for sure.

Later,

Dave

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