K0ala Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Have not been posting for a while,but now i'm back and i got a Vark!! specifically academy/minicraft's f-111e in 1/48th, Being my second favorite Cold war aircraft next to the f-16,the moment i saw this on FB marketplace i had to buy it And boy it was massive, with 4 huge sprue trays,this might be a very interesting build. So without further ado.... The Cockpit build was straightforward, with no complexity at all, as all academy 1/48s are and labeled color callouts, making it easier to paint, though there are no panel decals provided details were well molded in, which when dry brushed with revell aluminum or silver really helps the interior pop. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f111guru Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 @K0alaGood start, and needs lots of help with detail. But to what you have is high lighting the molded details. Do you at this point have decided what wing, squadron your going to do. Just a hint an FB-111A/F-111G or F-111C is out of the question. This kit is supplied with a short wing. Plenty of other options out there. All The Best, Ron VanDerwarker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K0ala Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 Aftermarket decals for any aircraft are tough to find in india,so i might have to use the provided decals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K0ala Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 Anyways, continuing with the build, i started by test fitting the landing gear bay, followed by gluing it and and the landing gear and wheels which I later painted it NATO black along with the two nose halves. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K0ala Posted February 17 Author Share Posted February 17 Assembling the nose was very tough, as academy never provided any *PROPER* location pins, which made joining the cockpit with the Front fuselage really a tough job, which led to a lot of glue wastage, and tape wastage. in these few shots u can still see some of the leftover glue stains from trying to force the two halves together, if anybody has any tips to remove these stains please tell me, they look really ugly and look very childish, if that's okay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f111guru Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 You must have got the few kits that weren't well molded. I've had one and at that point decided to cut off the radome and cut open the avionics panels. Then added the shelves for the avionics boxes. This is where I am after some 25 years. Haven't touched it in that long. Next are what decals are available this past year. Caracal and Superscale. Superscale With what is available you can make an F-111E as the kits is and an F-111A but you would have to use the F-111A intakes that are provided in the kit. All The Best, Ron VanDerwarker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K0ala Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 2 hours ago, f111guru said: You must have got the few kits that weren't well molded. I've had one and at that point decided to cut off the radome and cut open the avionics panels. Then added the shelves for the avionics boxes. This is where I am after some 25 years. Haven't touched it in that long. Next are what decals are available this past year. Caracal and Superscale. Superscale With what is available you can make an F-111E as the kits is and an F-111A but you would have to use the F-111A intakes that are provided in the kit. All The Best, Ron VanDerwarker Like i said, aftermarket anythings for models are extremely hard to find in india, And the ones you find almost cost you a kidney or two so you soley have to depend on what the kit offers. speaking of the kit..... I started working on the landing gear, and like all model kits,it was very flimsy as it kept on coming apart, but as they say "with enough attempts you will eventually make it" Attaching the lower half of the wings to the lower fuselage was the easiest part of the entire kit with a snap together fit, with only minimal glue required. i later worked on the upper fuselage tail and tailfin which again was also a easy fit 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SprueMan Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Oh! I just bought the same model on a whim the other day! It will be interesting to follow About your problem with the nose, sadly I don't know any other way, but to sand it down and redo the panel lines again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f111guru Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Coming along just fine. The kit decals should be okay. I do believe the decals are in a sealed bag. Al mine were. Didn't know if mail order was an option. All The Best, Ron VanDerwarker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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