1/48 F-111 opinions please?

[anj4de]

Hello all

 

I could buy an Academy F-111F kit second hand and since I have never built an F-111 nor know much about the type I was wondering if someone could comment on this kit...or alternatives ?

The kit offerend inclused a Verlinden cockpit set.

I personally do not mind altering smaller details or adding AM parts as long as the general outline and shape of the plane is correctly represented.

 

thanks

Uwe

[joeltc]

As far as what is easy to find there is the Academy one which in my opinion captures the look best. But being a pretty old kit its details are very simplified and it can be a bit tricky to build. There are a lot of online builds out there so theres plenty of help there. There is also the Hobby Boss one which is a more modern and well detailed tooling but does have a lot of shape and accuracy issues. The most obvious being the bulbous looking canopy which can be replaced by a vac form one. But if you ask me it still suffers from a step in front of the canopy which throws the look off too much for my liking. Theres other people on here that are more knowledgable on the F-111 who Im sure will be able to give their opinions also.

[swimmer25k]

Joeltc is on the money.  

 

The Academy kit is super-basic and lacks a ton of detail.  I built the EF about 10 years ago kitbashing the Verlinden and Black Box cockpits, Cutting Edge intakes,Paragon flaps, Squadron canopy, and some scratch built parts.  

 

Hobby Boss adds most of that detail and then craps the bed with the canopy.  I'm the lower threshold modeler who'll often overlook something like that, but not on this one. 

 

Mike Witkowski made a great HB FB-111 using the Squadron canopy and eliminated the weirdness.  

 

Chris

[anj4de]

So...shall I get a HB bird then and the mentioned vac canopy? Will that sort the shape issues? What about the latest Academy version, the Australian one with the new sprues for Cockpit and LG?

 

thanks

Uwe

[305swag]

They all have issues 😞 

[AndrewPerren]

The updated Academy RAAF F-111C kit goes a long way to addressing the kits shortcomings and IMHO builds into a better looking pig. Depends on what you want from the kit.

[IAGeezer]

14 hours ago, AndrewPerren said:

The updated Academy RAAF F-111C kit goes a long way to addressing the kits shortcomings and IMHO builds into a better looking pig. Depends on what you want from the kit.

 

 I'll also add that the -C model can be used to make the FB-111A due to having the longer wings. It also has a choice of intakes. Nice review over on Z5 link:  http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=12000.

 

 Lots of love out there for the 'Vark, many threads covering all the details. Jim Rotramel (Mr 'Vark) does a terrific job of it over here: http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=18938 and here: http://www.f-111.net/models/Jim-Rotramel.htm. Magnificent!

 

 I've gone with Academy, let your AMS decide for you.

[dehowie]

Agree the Academy kit but even the fixes didnt fix the pooched nosegear which throws the look out of the front end. 

Both need work a new canopy on the HB kit gives a decent looking F-111 but quite a bit of inaccuracies to the keen eye...same with Academy.

pity really.

[anj4de]

Ok...thanks everybody. So an F-111 will be moved down the list, I have tons of other stuff planned as well.

 

cheers

Uwe

 

 

[airmechaja]

I want to build my Academy kit but whenever I hear about

it i get cold feet!

[31Tiger]

Also, don't forget that the vac  canopy (Squadron) that is mentioned for the HB kit is actually for the Academy kit. You still need to adapt it with plactic card or strip , filler and carefull sanding to shape it in. It is not a direct fix...

[galfa]

Buy the Academy.

 

Shapewise is accurate. Easy build. Relatevely good fit.

Verlinden cockpit set is a very good addition.

 

Forget the Hobby Boss.

[pminer]

You guys are gonna laugh. But I kinda like the old Monogram F-111. Yeah....yeah....I know all the accuracy and fit issues. But for a really fun (weekend) build that you can make into a pretty nice looking addition for your shelf....you can beat it. Plus....its always less than $20 at any show. LOL..... 

[Raptor01]

If Hasegawa up scaled their 1/72 Vark Family the need would be filled. 

 

John

[Skull Leader]

I would take a shape-accurate kit with less detail over a hyper-detailed kit with shape issues.

 

I can add my own detail, shape issues take more effort to correct typically. 

[anj4de]

3 hours ago, Skull Leader said:

I would take a shape-accurate kit with less detail over a hyper-detailed kit with shape issues.

 

I can add my own detail, shape issues take more effort to correct typically. 

 

My thinking as well!

 

thanks

Uwe

 

 

[mhvink]

One of the guys in my club is taking the Hobby Boss kit and cutting it off right behind the cockpit and grafting the Academy front onto it.

He wanted the detailed wheel wells, bomb bay and slat & flaps that the H/B kit offered and now has the correct nose cross section.

 

Mike

[mrvark]

1 hour ago, mhvink said:

He wanted the detailed wheel wells, bomb bay and slat & flaps that the H/B kit offered and now has the correct nose cross section.

Except that HB got all those things wrong!

 

The MLG wheel well 'cuts into' the air intakes, the NLG well has the escape rocket motor nozzle placed incorrectly.

 

The bomb bay 'ceiling' should angle down towards the front of the bay from about 1/3rd of the way back (if that makes sense). Furthermore the bay doors are a complete joke--the large door covers half the width of the bay--it should only cover 1/4 of the width, with the small door covering the other quarter. To complete the door fiasco, the front of the door pattern is completely wrong--check with either the Hasegawa or Academy kits to see the correct door size and shape.

 

The flap vanes are tapered incorrectly--they should be wide at the root and narrow at the tip (good luck fixing that blunder).

 

I swear, the "bosses" at Hobby Boss must have had a "liquid" Friday lunch, staggered back into the plant at 4:30, and demanded that the design team have an F-111 kit ready to go into production first thing on Monday morning. That is how poor the research on this kit was.

[joeltc]

I think its pretty clear from reading this thread that a new tool 1/48 kit is definitely needed. I'm not even sure why there is apparently more need for a 1/32 (so I'm told) kit anyway. I too have actually attempted grafting the Academy forward fuselage onto the HB kit only to realise from studying pictures of the real thing exactly what Mrvark has stated above. 

Edited November 20, 2017 by joeltc

[IAGeezer]

While on the subject of the FB, in Jay Miller's book he states that the FB had a 2 foot, 1 inch fuselage extension. I have only seen it in that solitary reference, and a couple of modellers have repeated it. With all the other stuff the Academy kit needs, I think this one would be the most difficult to do. Anyone here able to shed some light on it?

[mrvark]

22 hours ago, IAGeezer said:

While on the subject of the FB, in Jay Miller's book he states that the FB had a 2 foot, 1 inch fuselage extension. I have only seen it in that solitary reference, and a couple of modellers have repeated it. With all the other stuff the Academy kit needs, I think this one would be the most difficult to do. Anyone here able to shed some light on it?

 

That was an error. The F-111 length was measured from the front of the radome (the normal way to measure length) while some numbness measured the FB-111 from the front of the pitot tube. (On the bright side, now we know how long the pitot tube was!). They were the same length. Just to make sure, when I was at Cannon we had both FB-111As (F-111Gs) and F-111Ds. I found two parked next to each other and measures the nose panels--they were the same length.

 

This same kind of error struck Aviation News when they made a scale drawing of the B-58. The draftsman thought that the length was to the end of the (very long) pitot tube, which resulted in a beautiful, but inaccurate scale drawing. That wouldn't have been so bad, except that Testors/Italeri faithfully reproduced the Aviation News drawings in three dimensions with their 1:72 kit, which is still the only 1:72 scale kit of the Hustler.

[ElectroSoldier]

There isnt a good one and probably never will be.

 

The Hobbyboss kit starts off looking wrong and gets worse as you dig into the details and the Academy kit is devoid of any detail other than shape.

You cant spend a few hundread quid on parts to make the Academy kit better of course, Verlinden, Scaledown, Paragon and Flightpath are all names that come to mind for various bits, but otherwise the F-111 kit story is a big of a joke and the most recent kit from Hobbyboss promised so much and delivered so little, and to add insult to injury some people actually bought the kits.

[mrvark]

7 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

There isnt a good one and probably never will be.

 

The Hobbyboss kit starts off looking wrong and gets worse as you dig into the details and the Academy kit is devoid of any detail other than shape.

You cant spend a few hundread quid on parts to make the Academy kit better of course, Verlinden, Scaledown, Paragon and Flightpath are all names that come to mind for various bits, but otherwise the F-111 kit story is a big of a joke and the most recent kit from Hobbyboss promised so much and delivered so little, and to add insult to injury some people actually bought the kits.

 

LOL!! Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

[Petrov27]

So how are the OzMods correction/aftermarket sets? They look quite nice on their website, especially the wheel well/undercarriage replacement set. At some point I would like to do an EF-111A Raven - I assume the Academy 1/48 kit for this retains the issues of the other versions?

[IAGeezer]

4 hours ago, mrvark said:

 

LOL!! Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

 Well done sir! As we knuckle draggers used to say, "It's not a sucking chest wound"... Appreciate your input on this, I thought it had been pretty much settled, but nice to hear a reply with authority. The dreaded Measured from the tip of the pitot - thing,  IIRC Academy did the same with their Flanker also.

 

 Question - The TP II intakes were placed further out from the fuselage than TP I, (12 vs 8 inches), were the TP II intakes any wider or deeper than TP I? Of course, I forgot to measure THAT when I last went to Omaha....