mrvark

By 1977, AIM-7Fs were operational.

One more thing about the tanks. I don't have a Hasegawa FB-111A kit, so I don't know what those tanks look like.. The tanks used by FB-111As had a different fin configuration than the ones used by F-111s. I was never in that program, so don't know if they were all this way or what the reason for the difference was (perhaps because they often carried four tanks). Just so you know.

Yes, use the part with the Air-Water Heat Exchangers for a D-model. 1/48 ResKit and 1/72 Hasegawa tanks are good. Despite Hasegawa box art to the contrary, NEVER EVER mount fuel tanks on the inboard pylons--they were reserved for weapons ONLY!

All the USAF F-111s carried the gun originally. They were dropped from the inventory (i.e., no longer logistically supported or trained with) about 1980, I joined the program in mid 1981 and although many jets still sported gun fairings, we never fired the gun. I have a picture from 1991 of an F-111D with the gun fairing still installed. The vents you're referring to air Air-Water Heat Exchanger vents that were features of both the F-111D & F. They were part of the internal cooling system and had no relationship to the gun. The Hasegawa kits have a decent representation of thi

It's not just me, it's not just me!!!

Just a quick tip for anyone building one of these kits. In Step 13, Part G23 (the lower IFF antenna) is shown being installed on the aft centerline fairing. This may have been the original location but when ECM pods started being located there, the antenna location was moved to the right side of the lower fuselage. There is actually a tiny hole there. Having said that, the FB-111A, F-111G and EF-111A didn't carry ECM pods. The first picture shows the lower IFF antenna on the F-111A/D/E/F. (The antenna was 2.5" high, 2.75" wide at the base and 1.25" at the tip.) The second

ResKit RSxx-504 NTP (USAF) or -505 TP (USN/USMC) where "xx" is the scale (32, 48 or 72)

The Thermal Curtains (that's the official name) were ALWAYS installed on the F-111E/F & FB-111As. I'll let you ponder why... All the jets COULD be fitted with them, but generally they not often found on F-111A/C/D/G & EFs. There were also Forward Panels that were hinged at the rear of the glare shield and normally lay flat on top of the it, but would be raised to provide a 'light barrier' when the thermal curtains were lowered. I saw some jets where those panels had been removed on jets that lacked thermal curtains. Here's what it looked like when th

ResKit Part RSxx-417 Fuselage Multi-Weapon Pylon p/n 79F750301: This 330-pound pylon was equipped with a MAU-12B/A bomb rack and was primarily used to attach nuclear weapons to the aircraft fuselage. It could also be used to mount the MN-1A (SUU-21) practice bomb dispenser, A/A37U-15 target tow reel, MAU-41/A MER or ‘non-nuclear weapons’. [This pylon looked similar to (and was possibly modified from) the earlier p/n 57F750301 Fuselage Centerline Pylon that was only used for fuel tank carriage. The two could be most easily distinguished by the 57...pylon having 53.25-in. sway braces, while the

Well...it depends. From what I can tell, be careful about trusting what you see in museums (I've even seen orange!). If I had to guess, I'd say they were an unpainted composite that kinda resembles bakelite. But here are a few pics to help you decide for yourself:

Here are some measurements that may help: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/nlz1qv95c4q4ewiy93pkd/AH56x5I3PThbkWe1ey4zfCA?rlkey=4ncwnbmzn3ci3lryl0uy0iogr&dl=0

Here's the deal: When Monogram designed their kit, I think they got ahold of the attached drawings (they are official drawings that I've copied from Jay Miller's Aerofax book on the B-58). Unfortunately, the drawings did not accurately depict the engine pods. Dave Aungst went to the NMUSAF, measured the pods back in 2009 and actually began to produce masters for Meteor, but ran out of steam for various reasons. What he discovered is that the diameter of the pods are about six scale inches too wide. It's one of those errors that once you've seen it, you can't unsee it... If you are

FSN 34087 Olive Drab FSN 36375 Lt Ghost Gray FSN 33538 Yellow (live warhead) FSN 35109 Blue (inert warhead or motor) FSN 30117 Brown (live motor) FSN 36622 Gray (all AGM-88 HARMs but the early ones)

Here are a couple of pics that may help a little if you decide to scratch build.

According to official references, the F-111 600-gal. tanks were 299 inches long and 30" dia. cylindrical between 103 &196 inches from the nose. Reskit had that information, so I'm sure their tanks are correct. The main purpose of the above photo was to show just how out of scale all the 1:48 scale kit tanks are. I should probably do another to include the Hobby Mess ones. I think the Oz Mod tanks are the same as Scaledown's, but I can't swear to that. In any event, hollow tanks are definitely the way to go. My 'war stories' aren't that interesting--I have a few, but not nearly