**** DONE: 1/48 F-111A - The Jet Age.
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- Thread starter
- #3
Donivanp
Captain
OK so i'm a coward, I'll admit it after reading Terry's blog on the Buccaneer, who would not be.
The F-111 is something I do know a little bit about. McNamara folly. Designed as a one size fits all aircraft for the US Navy and Air Force, it proved to be neither. The F-111A first entered combat in 1968 with 6 aircraft from the 428th FS deployed to South East Asia (SEA). There were lost in rapid secession causing the others to be pulled out of SEA. They did not return until Linebacker 1 in 1972 where they had a stellar record. The F-111 did not see combat again until 1985 when the F-111F and EF-111A were used against Libya. In the 1991 Gulf war the F-111E, F and EF-111A had there lime light.
The F-111A was the first USAF model produced. One of it major draw back was the pertinacity to compressor stall. This was found to be caused by the intakes not being able to get enough air under certian conditions, this led to a redesign of the intakes placing three blow in doors for low air flow conditions.
The Navy version was the F-111B which was to have been an interceptor. Carrying the AIM-54 Phoenix missile it had a short nose and long wings. Weighing too much and NOT what the Navy wanted, they played with it till they finally dropped it and Grumman (the prime contractor for the F-111B) took what they learned and produced the F-14 Tomcat.
The F-111C was ordered for the Australians, with the long wing of the F-111B and the new intake they were to be Australasia answer for a strike fighter for decades to come. Though due to all the controversy coming out about the US models it was put on hold till things could be worked out. They received F-4E's until that time. The contract was nearly canceled but it all came out ok and the they flew the living hell out of them, I know I was on the receiving end of a Mud Pig attack in 1982 and it scared the CRAP out of me. After the USAF retired their 111, Australia bought several converted low time F-111G, but we will get there later.
The F-111D was to have followed but due to the time it took to fix the complex avionics suite it actually came after the E. With the new intakes and a massive avionic suite that was supposed to take all the guess work out of putting a dumb bomb right where it was to be (down the pickle barrel), the F-111D were stationed a Cannon AFB New Mexico and never deployed very far form all that test equipment and spares.
The F-111E put in a more advanced avionics package then the A but far simpler then the D. It had the new intakes of the D. They eventually were home based at Upper Heyford and part of the nuclear deterrence during the cold war. They flew against Iraq in the early Gulf war carrying dumb bombs as they were never upgraded with Pave Tack to able to deploy laser guided weapons.
The F-111F was the Caddy of the batch so to speak. the Avionics suite was again different from all the others and it was up graded to carry the pave tack in the weapons bay so it could deliver laser guided munitions it was Home based a Lakenheath. It was called upon to deliver the answer to Quadofi in Libya in 1985 because it could deliver precision guided munitions. Again during the first gulf war it delivered a large share of the laser guided munitions. It was the only plane to carry the 5000 lb GBU-28 bunker buster that was made from the old barrels of 8" howitzers.
The FB-111A was was the replacement for the B-58, if you could call it that. The long wings and beefed up gear for the heaver weight, it is the only version to regularly use the wing tanks and weapons bay. capable of delivering most things int eh SAC arsenal at the time, B-28 and 61 and 83 free fall weapons and AGM-69 SRAM were it's normal load out. Two free falls and two SRAMs or four SRAMs were the weapons load out most common with two to four tanks. After SAC retired the FB-111 they were de "SACemsized" and re named F-111G, still having the long wings and heavy gear. The FB-111 also is the only one of the series to have an Astor Tracker installed wich was just forward of the wind screen.
The F-111 serious aircraft had eight wing hard points, pylons on the inter two most are movable and two outer most are none movable and a weapons bay, the two inter most on each wing had full pivot with the wings. The two outer most are permanently set at 28 degrees, when it is loaded the wing is set to 28 deg and left till the tank is dry and then punched off. The short wing aircraft almost never use the the outer four fixed pylons, though one aircraft during testing was loaded with all 8 pylons and flown with 48 MK-117 750 lb bombs. The FB really used the farthest outer sets.
There have been over the years a number of F-111's done in various scales. Until Hobby Boss came out with theirs in 1/48 the Hasegawa 1/72 serious was the best (I might be inclined to still say that but the Hobby Boss team did a very nice job on the 1/48 version but got a lot of the details wrong. By details I mean what ordnance to hang on what pylon and what is correct for what time frame. When dressing out your plane DO YOUR RESEARCH.
I have all three versions done by HB getting and building the FB some three years ago. I just picked up the A and D/E version last weekend at King's Hobby in Austin while visiting with Dale. I was able to pick them both up for $50 each + tax. so I was pleased with that. When I did the FB I bought the Italera F-117A so as to steal the B-61 nukes form it and stole the AGM-69 from Revell 1/48 B-1B to put int he weapons bay.
The Kit consist of 15 trees 2X weapons trees and 2X engine trees, plus two clear trees and fuselage upper and lower half's and vinyl tires in the box.
The F-111 is something I do know a little bit about. McNamara folly. Designed as a one size fits all aircraft for the US Navy and Air Force, it proved to be neither. The F-111A first entered combat in 1968 with 6 aircraft from the 428th FS deployed to South East Asia (SEA). There were lost in rapid secession causing the others to be pulled out of SEA. They did not return until Linebacker 1 in 1972 where they had a stellar record. The F-111 did not see combat again until 1985 when the F-111F and EF-111A were used against Libya. In the 1991 Gulf war the F-111E, F and EF-111A had there lime light.
The F-111A was the first USAF model produced. One of it major draw back was the pertinacity to compressor stall. This was found to be caused by the intakes not being able to get enough air under certian conditions, this led to a redesign of the intakes placing three blow in doors for low air flow conditions.
The Navy version was the F-111B which was to have been an interceptor. Carrying the AIM-54 Phoenix missile it had a short nose and long wings. Weighing too much and NOT what the Navy wanted, they played with it till they finally dropped it and Grumman (the prime contractor for the F-111B) took what they learned and produced the F-14 Tomcat.
The F-111C was ordered for the Australians, with the long wing of the F-111B and the new intake they were to be Australasia answer for a strike fighter for decades to come. Though due to all the controversy coming out about the US models it was put on hold till things could be worked out. They received F-4E's until that time. The contract was nearly canceled but it all came out ok and the they flew the living hell out of them, I know I was on the receiving end of a Mud Pig attack in 1982 and it scared the CRAP out of me. After the USAF retired their 111, Australia bought several converted low time F-111G, but we will get there later.
The F-111D was to have followed but due to the time it took to fix the complex avionics suite it actually came after the E. With the new intakes and a massive avionic suite that was supposed to take all the guess work out of putting a dumb bomb right where it was to be (down the pickle barrel), the F-111D were stationed a Cannon AFB New Mexico and never deployed very far form all that test equipment and spares.
The F-111E put in a more advanced avionics package then the A but far simpler then the D. It had the new intakes of the D. They eventually were home based at Upper Heyford and part of the nuclear deterrence during the cold war. They flew against Iraq in the early Gulf war carrying dumb bombs as they were never upgraded with Pave Tack to able to deploy laser guided weapons.
The F-111F was the Caddy of the batch so to speak. the Avionics suite was again different from all the others and it was up graded to carry the pave tack in the weapons bay so it could deliver laser guided munitions it was Home based a Lakenheath. It was called upon to deliver the answer to Quadofi in Libya in 1985 because it could deliver precision guided munitions. Again during the first gulf war it delivered a large share of the laser guided munitions. It was the only plane to carry the 5000 lb GBU-28 bunker buster that was made from the old barrels of 8" howitzers.
The FB-111A was was the replacement for the B-58, if you could call it that. The long wings and beefed up gear for the heaver weight, it is the only version to regularly use the wing tanks and weapons bay. capable of delivering most things int eh SAC arsenal at the time, B-28 and 61 and 83 free fall weapons and AGM-69 SRAM were it's normal load out. Two free falls and two SRAMs or four SRAMs were the weapons load out most common with two to four tanks. After SAC retired the FB-111 they were de "SACemsized" and re named F-111G, still having the long wings and heavy gear. The FB-111 also is the only one of the series to have an Astor Tracker installed wich was just forward of the wind screen.
The F-111 serious aircraft had eight wing hard points, pylons on the inter two most are movable and two outer most are none movable and a weapons bay, the two inter most on each wing had full pivot with the wings. The two outer most are permanently set at 28 degrees, when it is loaded the wing is set to 28 deg and left till the tank is dry and then punched off. The short wing aircraft almost never use the the outer four fixed pylons, though one aircraft during testing was loaded with all 8 pylons and flown with 48 MK-117 750 lb bombs. The FB really used the farthest outer sets.
There have been over the years a number of F-111's done in various scales. Until Hobby Boss came out with theirs in 1/48 the Hasegawa 1/72 serious was the best (I might be inclined to still say that but the Hobby Boss team did a very nice job on the 1/48 version but got a lot of the details wrong. By details I mean what ordnance to hang on what pylon and what is correct for what time frame. When dressing out your plane DO YOUR RESEARCH.
I have all three versions done by HB getting and building the FB some three years ago. I just picked up the A and D/E version last weekend at King's Hobby in Austin while visiting with Dale. I was able to pick them both up for $50 each + tax. so I was pleased with that. When I did the FB I bought the Italera F-117A so as to steal the B-61 nukes form it and stole the AGM-69 from Revell 1/48 B-1B to put int he weapons bay.
The Kit consist of 15 trees 2X weapons trees and 2X engine trees, plus two clear trees and fuselage upper and lower half's and vinyl tires in the box.
Attachments
- Thread starter
- #4
Donivanp
Captain
Oh and yes I know I got the insignia on the wrong wing on the FB, it was corrected.
- Thread starter
- #5
Donivanp
Captain
Nice, though not as nice as a Buccaneer !
Catch22
Major
Don't see many of these built, will be neat!
JKim
Senior Master Sergeant
Cool! An Ardvark! This will be a good complement to the MiG-23 that I'll be doing! Swing-wing face-off!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Nice choice. I've long wanted to what would have been the RAF version, intended to enter service in the late 1960's but shelved.
- Thread starter
- #10
Donivanp
Captain
Yeah Terry that would have been the K.
Crimea_River
Marshal
Very cool Don.
Plenty of parts there to keep you off the streets for a while...
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- #13
Donivanp
Captain
After doing some reading on the Blackburn Buccaneer (my other build), I a tempted to modify this into a what could have been. Whith Terry's mention of the F-111K which was all part of the circle jerk going on to replace the Canberra, (also being represented in this GB). I would have to use a FB-111 kit for that or Frankenstein with the Academy FB-111. But this could be cool withe the Buccaneer and a F-111K.
- Thread starter
- #14
Donivanp
Captain
One of the really nice things about this kit is it is hard to put down. There are so many sub assembly's you don't have to wait for this for that. While the cockpit is drying you can do the engines, wheel wells or weapons bay or wings. There is so much to do that you can constantly move from one to another. Here is the weapons bay, nose gear well (fore and aft) main gear assembly and cockpit.
Attachments
Cool!
- Thread starter
- #17
Donivanp
Captain
- Thread starter
- #18
Donivanp
Captain
Got some more done this evening. A couple each of the cockpit and the weapons bay and the nose gear and main gear
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Last edited:
Cockpit scrubbed up well, moving a long at a good pace!
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- #20
