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New exhausts for 1/48 F-111s


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Jim, thanks for all that info and pics. I am a little confused about what I am looking at in the pic of the D-Mold intakes. I see a red mark on the intake trunk, but don't see a dashed line. Am I missing something? I don't suppose you've tried using the D-Mold intakes on a Hobby Boss kit.

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47 minutes ago, Mstor said:

Jim, thanks for all that info and pics. I am a little confused about what I am looking at in the pic of the D-Mold intakes. I see a red mark on the intake trunk, but don't see a dashed line. Am I missing something? I don't suppose you've tried using the D-Mold intakes on a Hobby Boss kit.

 sorry, moved comment to next pic where it belonged. 

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Wow... Jim, your info is impressive! Thanks a million, my friend.:worship:  It's all quite clear now.

All of a feat to try and correct the 11.5" gap between the fuselage and the TPII intakes, but I think is doable on the Academy kit more than it's on the Hobby Boss one. It looks like I will have to get a new set of DMold bits from Dmitri. 

Easily said than done, but looking at the pictures of the TPII suckers on the DMold site, I see that there's also room for replicating the air-water heat exchanger intake; at least there's a solid molded duct for them. :hmmm:Perhaps it's a matter of hollowing out the resin very carefully? If I recall correctly, the intake pieces on the Academy kit had these inlets hollowed out, didn't they?  

I wasn't aware of the wrong strake lenght and height on top of the fuselage of either kit.

Doing the TPII inlet suck-in doors are out of the question with the DMold suckers without the risk of destroying the trunks, but they could be easily done with the OzMod/Scaledown parts. I just can't quite recall how the intake parts are in the Hobby Boss kit right now.

So much to ponder about now... :doh: Knowledge does bring pain, after all! But a sweet pain anyway. 

Would you say it's not that easy to tilt back the instrument panel on either kit, Jim? 

Thanks a lot, Jim!

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22 minutes ago, Hubbie Marsten said:

Would you say it's not that easy to tilt back the instrument panel on either kit, Jim? 

 

I didn't say it would be easy! Actually, the glare shield and instrument panel area is incorrect in a number of ways--no ODS mechanism (HUD), no nuke glare shields, etc.

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No, you certainly didn't, Jim. I just can't wait to get home in August to take a closer look at my Academy and Hobby Boss Vark kits.

I'm looking at an Excel doc I happened to upload on the cloud; I see I've got the 1/48 Verlinden Update set for the Vark. Is there anything I could use on either of my FB-111 kits in it? I think that the Verlinden set is for the F version tho.

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20 minutes ago, Hubbie Marsten said:

I see I've got the 1/48 Verlinden Update set for the Vark

 

It's been a while since I've checked, but I'm pretty sure the Verlinden kit is for an E model. It could also work in an A model. The A, C & E had analogue cockpits that had about the same level of sophistication as the F-4. The D was supposed to be the golden child with digital avionics, but fell flat on its face, making Carswell AFB (where the GD factory was) look about like Boeing field looks like right now with a bunch of B-737 Max jets sitting around gathering dust. They eventually got them working and by the time I got into the program in 1981 were working pretty well. While the Ds were getting sorted out, they took (essentially) the D airframe and put A avionics in it to make the E. The FB came next with a more modest (partially digital) avionics package than the D and the F was initially similar to the FB. The next big update was for the PAVE Tack pod, which resulted in replacing the radar scope with the Virtual Image Display (VID). I think this is what the Avionics/Black Box cockpit tries to represent. The final big change was to add digital avionics into the cockpit, which started arriving in operational units about the time of Desert Storm (one F-111E arrived in Incirlik in time to fly a few missions before the war ended). These changes were applied to some FBs (Gs), Cs, Es, Fs & EFs, but the jets were retired before all received them (I think all the Gs were so modified).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ordered a set of the exhausts for an E off EBay and they arrived this afternoon. I’ll try to get pics posted soon.  Quality is absolutely top notch and nicely packaged in a small cardboard box. They made the trip to California just fine. Resin is dark grey and very hard. Some parts are very thin and you must be careful. After about 45 minutes, I had seven resin parts cleaned up to make one exhaust.  There are also some small photo etched parts included. Resin parts fit together perfectly and the diameter matches the Hobby Boss part it replaces fairly closely.  However, it looks like you might need to spread the back end of the fuselage a little bit to get a perfect fit.  This is a very rough first look so check your fit before committing to glue. Very very happy with the set.  Haven’t yet done a close comparison to photos of the real thing.

 

Cliff

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On 8/6/2019 at 4:54 AM, BN7149 said:

Cliff, 

Glad to hear a good initial impression of the set.  Have you happened to notice if there is provision for having one nozzle partially closed?

 

-Ryan

The exhaust looked to be identical.

 

i just received the F exhausts from a different EBay vendor and they’re equally nice.  They’re listed as for the Acasemy kit and appper to be slightly smaller in diameter than the E part where they attach to the fuselage which are listed as for the Hobby Boss Kit.  Hope to have more time this weekend to compare and take photos.

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I received some of these nozzles yesterday along with the ResKit wheels.

 

As for the wheels, they are mislabeled. The part numbers that end in 69 are for the FB/C/G variants. The ones ending in 70 are for the A/D/E/F & EF.

 

The nozzles do not include the closed down petals, which is disappointing. I MAY try cutting and bending them closed on one set. Depends on how brave I'm feeling!

 

The exhausts/nozzles are amazingly detailed. However, there are a couple of parts that will require special care when removing them from the casting blocks. Both the tiniest part and the gear-shaped part should NOT be separated using a saw!!!! Instead, use a grinding bit on a Dremel tool to get things started, but when you get down to the last 1/2mm or so, switch to a sanding stick. I tried using a razor saw on the 1/72 gear-shaped piece and lost about half the teeth in the process. The tiny piece has a bowl shape when finished--sand it flat until opening up the center gaps; then use a sanding stick at a 45° angle to open the outer gaps.

 

I started with the 1/72 set first to see if they can be used for the Monogram EF-111A kit. Unfortunately, they'e too small.

 

I'll post more in the next few days as I work through them.

 

Bottom line: they're a giant step up from the kit nozzles or any previous resin attempts.

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51 minutes ago, mrvark said:

As for the wheels, they are mislabeled. The part numbers that end in 69 are for the FB/C/G variants. The ones ending in 70 are for the A/D/E/F & EF.

 

Does that apply to the 1/48th scale wheels too? (I assumed you were referring to 1/72 scale as that was the scale exhausts you bought).

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2 hours ago, ElectroSoldier said:

How do they compare to the Paragon exhausts?

The Paragon sets only provided the forward part of the external exhaust shroud. For the farthest aft part you had to modify the kit piece by making it about 1/8" shorter. It had both open and closed petals integral to the part, but had nothing as far as the AB tube, flame holder, etc. so you were left with the flat wall of the fuselage of the Academy kit. The ResKit has the whole assembly--soup to nuts.

Here is a pic of the previous exhaust options:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9azmwdljleu7n3c/130802 Previous F-111 Nozzle Sets.jpg?dl=0

Here is the ResKit for the Academy F (the 'assembled' one is just dry fitted):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o1kqvaan176vdfz/190817 ResKit RSU48-0026 ACA F-111F Exhaust Nozzles.jpg?dl=0

The ResKit is infinitely more detailed. True, it doesn't have the closed petals--I suspect this is because it would have been extremely hard to cast. However, I think a determined modeler can probably modify that piece to close them up.

I'll try to post a more in-depth review of these kits in the next week or so, including tips on how to successfully remove the parts from their casting blocks.

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1 hour ago, Piker38 said:

It's a long shot, I know, but I wonder  if one of these could be substituted for one of the closed ResKit nozzles.......... ?

http://ka-models.co.kr/?product=148-f-14a-pw-exhaust-nozzle-set-closed-for-tamiyahasegawa

 

 

No. The mechanisms are completely different.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c1kt108vtlsi2pf/Actual F-111 Nozzles from rear.jpg?dl=0

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3 minutes ago, ElectroSoldier said:

So one has detail but its inaccurate, while the other doesnt but the little it has is accurate.

 

Well, that's kind of a glass half empty view. I think it will be possible (with some care) to modify the parts.

Here is the F-model part:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p4rtroiumcsymw4/190817 ResKit RSU48-0026 ACA F-111F Exhaust Petals.jpg?dl=0

Here is the part for everyone else:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xerq0533b2yfn46/190817 ResKit RSU48-0025 ACA F-111ACDEG Exhaust Petals.jpg?dl=0

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54 minutes ago, mrvark said:

 

Well, that's kind of a glass half empty view. I think it will be possible (with some care) to modify the parts.

Here is the F-model part:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p4rtroiumcsymw4/190817 ResKit RSU48-0026 ACA F-111F Exhaust Petals.jpg?dl=0

Here is the part for everyone else:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xerq0533b2yfn46/190817 ResKit RSU48-0025 ACA F-111ACDEG Exhaust Petals.jpg?dl=0

 

Here's a pic of the FB-111 exhausts, one open, one closed.

a0a9435ec1ea657078df5204595aa2d2.jpg.f879feacd65635df0109e144e7c0c483.jpg

 

To make the closed one out of the one of the set's open ones, it looks like one would have to cut and separate the petals, bend them in and then make new actuator rods and modify where they attach to the outer ring. Looks doable, but a lot of fiddly work. Work that I don't think I can do anymore. At least not the actuator rods. Why oh why couldn't ResKit make an accurate set for a shut down and parked jet, which is what 95% of builders are going to do (percent just wild guess, but you get the idea).

 

Jim (mrvark) hope its OK to use that pic. I tried to find it on www.F-111.net to paste a link, but couldn't. So, I uploaded the pic. If not OK, will take it down.

 

Edited by Mstor
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5 minutes ago, Mstor said:

 

To make the closed one out of the one of the set's open ones, it looks like one would have to cut and separate the petals, bend them in and then make new actuator rods and modify where they attach to the outer ring. Looks doable, but a lot of fiddly work. Work that I don't think I can do anymore. At least not the actuator rods. Why oh why couldn't ResKit make an accurate set for a shut down and parked jet, which is what 95% of builders are going to do (percent just wild guess, but you get the idea).

 

That's a great shot! ResKit DOES include the actuator rods on the PE fret--they're still pretty tiny and fiddly, but they are there. you can kind see them in this picture at the bottom of the fret:

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m5mz96fu4tobqw2/190817 ResKit RSU48-0025 ACA F-111ACDEG Exhaust Nozzles.jpg?dl=0

 

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