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1:48 F-111A "Swing Wing Fighter"


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I have a 1981 boxing that might as well be built OOB at this time as any other. It's not going to interfere with my other scheduled builds too much, because it's a fairly simple (though largish) kit. It's dimensions are quoted as 476mm long, with an extended-wingspan of 394mm. Not only do the wings swing, but there is a flexible flap pinned in the fuselage to cover the gap when they're at full span! It's a pity that the undercarriage doesn't retract, and that both pilot and navigator are in identical pose.

The fit of the parts is very good, though fiddly in some areas (e.g. around the escape module). Gap-filling superglue will come in handy for construction - for slow-setting attachment more than gap-filling qualitiea, but I will make do as much as possible with Testor's liquid cement.

Edited by Brews
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I spent 2 and a half hours on this last night, and about half an hour this morning; treating it as subassemblies to avoid painting (I was modelling while lying between my sheets).

  • The instrument panel was glued to the upper fuselage half;
  • The control columns were glued to the escape module floor;
  • The flexible gap-filling flaps in the "wing-retraction space";
  • The wing halves were glued together;
  • The radome halves were glued to each other;
  • The rear under-fuselage strakes were attached;
  • The front and rear of the burner cans were glued together (this was slightly ambiguous from the instructions - I wouldn't be surprised to see these attached back-to-front by some youngster!);
  • The main gear wheel halves were glued together;
  • The main undercarriage struts and linkages were attached (this spidery affair comprises two perpendicular trusses);
  • The nose wheels were attached to the main nose wheel strut, while the spurious moulding bits were removed from its bracing strut;
  • The intake cones were attached to the lower fuselage half;
  • The elevons were attached to their root fairings.

No filler has been used so far, and little will be necessary. Something will be required just aft of the pitot tube.

I plan to paint the cockpit items (including the crew figures) tonight.

The most disappointing aspect of this kit is the absence of compressor faces, ducting or intake blanking, at least. It is possible to see the crude wing-rotation mechanism from a head-on view. It's also something that would be difficult to correct post-construction, save to add FOD covers, which I personally don't like.

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My wings were warp-free, but my outboard pylons were free of stores. Were your fuel tanks AM, kit-bashed or supplied in your kit?

I robbed those tanks out of the Hobbycrap EF-111 kit. If you need pylons for stores, I think I have some. Remember, don't use the TER's in the kit. F-4s carried TERs, F-111s carried BRUs. I kept the TERs cause I didn't care......I may have some tanks too......Let me know.

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Ah, I assumed that the box art was correct! I'd happily swap the kit-supplied weapons for more appropriate (Monogram-origin) ones, I do have the four pylons, but thanks anyway. I just have no stores for the outboard pylons.

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Actually, a quick Google and I see that MERs were used on F-111s, but not after 1968. Maybe the box art is correct for the Vietnam version after all.

Always happy to be corrected, though. :lol:

Edited by Brews
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Actually, a quick Google and I see that MERs were used on F-111s, but not after 1968. Maybe the box art is correct for the Vietnam version after all.

Always happy to be corrected, though. :lol:

They didn't technically use MERs either. They used BRUs (bomb release units), which were more aerodynamic MERs that were unique to the F-111. They didn't use the standard MERs like the F-4, F-105, etc.

F-111s did not use TERs operationally, even in Vietnam.

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