Need F-111 help

[Dave Roof]

Gentlemen,

 

  I picked up an Academy F-111C (with the updated parts) for a really good price at the Atlanta IPMS show last weekend and have a question. Can this kit be built as an F-111E of F? If so, what exactly needs to be done? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you,

 

Dave

[Finn]

Dave the C had the longer wings so you really can't do a  E or F. I'm sure there are other differences but the main thing is the wings.

 

edit: there is some useful info here:

 

http://aviationarchives.blogspot.ca/2017/03/general-dynamics-f-111afb-111af-111e.html

 

mainly drawings including the wings, both short and longer versions, in case you want to do some some surgery.

 

Jari

Edited March 18, 2017 by Finn

[Marv]

The F-111C is essentially an F-111A with long wings. Building it as an -E, or -F, model would entail lots of work, especially when there are kits available to make those marks OOB. The biggest modification would entail changing the intakes to make the -E and -F, and adding a Pave Tack pod if you were doing an -F. My recommendation is to make it either a -C model, or an -A model by shortening the wings. Otherwise, buy another kit to do the -E or -F. Sometimes a bargain means lots of work. FYI: I worked avionics on the old -A models at Nellis.

[achterkirch]

AFAIK you could make a FB-111 too 

[Finn]

Dave said it has the updated parts which i'm guessing is this one:

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10127249

 

which has the Pave Tack pod. Also i think it comes with the proper intakes to build an E/F.

 

Jari

[habu2]

Biggest differences are intakes, exhaust, wingspan and cockpit.

 

Check out Jim Rotramel's series of Aardvark articles on Hyperscale: http://www.clubhyper.com/referenc.htm (scroll down ~1/3)

 

First of nine parts is here: http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/f111indetailjr_1.htm

[Skull Leader]

In terms of the kit, all I think you really need is short wings, I seem to recall the kit comes with both Triple Plow I and Triple Plow II intakes (though they are very poorly appointed) . If you do an F, you need different exhaust cans, but you'd probably have to source from the hobby boss kit or aftermarket to find those, the Academy F-111F boxing used the A-E exhaust cans (they aren't wildly different from a distance, but hey...)

[DonSS3]

The F-111C apparently used the extended span wings of the FB-111A, so as mentioned above those will need to be modified or swapped for a set of the shorter wings.

[mrvark]

Zone-Five has a pretty good F-111 thread. In a nutshell (leaving aside the F-111B):

 

Long wings were exclusive to FB-111A/F-111G & F-111C

Triple Plow I intakes were used by the F-111A, F-111C and the first two FB-111As.

All F-111s save the F-111F had the same exhaust nozzle configuration.

All F-111s save the FB-111A had the same general boattail configuration.

Only F-111Fs and F-111Cs used the PAVE Tack pod.

 

The intakes on the Academy kit are acceptable (more or less) for the Triple Plow I configuration. The parts for the Triple Plow II configuration assume the only difference was the removal of the rectangular splitter panel. This is incorrect; the TP2 inlet spike was 18" longer. D-Mold does an excellent set of TP2 inlets although they aren't spaced outboard far enough (3" more than TP1).

[Dave Roof]

Gentlemen,

 

  Thank you all for the help. OzMods will take take care of the wing issue and DMold addresses the intake issue. I plan on doing an F-111E from Desert Storm using the Afterburner sheet, so I am pretty set knowing what I need to acquire. Again, thank you!

 

Dave

[metroman]

Dave I can help you with donor wings/parts from my -F Academy kit, it will never be built- PM if interested

[Skull Leader]

If you haven't ordered them already, good luck with the dmold intakes. They're rarely in stock and take forever to get here from Russia.

[ElectroSoldier]

In addition to those things already noted, I dont know how well detailed the C model cockpit is depicted on the kit but it should have the AVQ-26 display with associated viewing hood which isnt required on the E model, which used its own cockpit layout.

[longmc]

Dave,

I would recommend you pick up a verlinden "F-111F" detail set. The cockpit is actually based on the Es at UH, and it includes the correct ALQ-131 w/ pylon you'll need for an ODS bird. I'd recommend you get some resin wheels too, as they're a big feature of the Vark, and the kit wheels are garbage. 

Finally, the verlinden lock-on book has some good pics of Es, including cockpit.

 

cheers,

Mike

Edited March 24, 2017 by longmc