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#4453553 - 12/17/18 06:30 AM 1/48 Academy F-111C  
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Ajay Offline
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This one will take a bit i think, christmas and all as well as looking into all of the paint colours i need. I've done a bit of research on it so i know a bunch of the rework that needs to be done already, just got to decide on which way to approach a few of the issues like wing movement rework and the terrible fit of the cockpit section to the main body. It's a re-release upgraded kit with extra parts sprues and a new Cartograf decal sheet that is apparently leaps and bounds ahead of the original, which was my main reason for deciding on this kit as well as being an Aussie marked plane and because the F-111 is just a monster of a machine . From a review -
Quote
2010 'Special Edition' re-release of the kit, there is a turned brass pitot probe and additional sprues from a couple of the other F-111 variants that bring a Pave Tack pod, a 'Bunker Buster' GBU-28, GBU-130 rocket-boosted bomb with Data Link pod, the AGM-142 'Popeye' missile with Data Link pod and more. A new sprue "S" for this re-release has also been added that includes a much improved and nicely detailed instrument panel, a nose gear well and parts, antennas/sensors, ejector rack foot pads and newer wheel hubs

Fairly basic kit overall still for my foray into planes which is what i wanted, no flaps or slats and not much detail in the engine area or wheel bays but i think she should turn out to be a nice looking machine, if a bit plain...


[Linked Image]








The only one i won't be doing on this sheet is the 30 year anniversary one. I don't like my chances with that massive tail decal!

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Decals overall look like a few nights worth of fun

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After much deliberation i decided on 1/48 owing to the size and availability. I am going to have to look at getting some sort of decent display area though as my one small shelf setup is already owned by armour. Poor old Tiger commander would have stayed at home if this beast was buzzing around biggrin Also note how terribly thick those sprue joins are, that was one of my complaints on the Academy T-34 i had. The Tamiya armour sprues are in a different league.


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]




Before i even start this beast i need to find myself a nice new work area somewhere in the house so i can spread out a bit more.







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#4453605 - 12/17/18 03:25 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ice Cold in Alex or Eating in ...
Looking forward to seeing the build.

… Are we there yet?
biggrin


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#4453667 - 12/17/18 11:24 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Today is sanding the wings, body and nose section where all those sprue connections were. Gotta do a run to the shops and get some 600-800 grit, some gunship gray and a couple of other colours so i can start on the cockpit. Need to finally invest in some putty as well as the nose and that body/nose join is going to require a fair few hours. I did a test fit of the swing wing mechanism and that needs a rework as well. Besides that, it's basically finished biggrin


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#4453882 - 12/19/18 09:38 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ended up using 1000 grit on all of the sprue marks, thanks god i didn't get 600. I wouldn't like my chances at rescribing those fine panel lines. Got the cockpit done, looks good enough i think as once the glass frame is painted and the shroud goes over the instrument panel i won't see much of anything anyway. Paint for the seat cushions was a bit thick and i don't really like the red/pinky mess i made up but i can maybe knock it back with some more weathering. See what happens.




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I went out and purchased a clear green for the MFD's... and you will never see it. If the panel was a lighter colour they may have stood out.

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Test fit, i didn't even notice the tags (circular) under the headrest until i took this pic. Easy snip. Need to repaint the top of one of the seat headrests as well.

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The end tips of the lower rear body have to come off and be changed for chaff dispensers. The kit gets the tags wrong for the replacement ones as you can see. The circled tag fits the opposite side and vice versa. Easy enough to chop the tag down to suit but it had me scratching my head for a minute wondering if i was looking at it wrong.

[Linked Image]






Chopped and glued to the top section of the body. Once the two halves meet they will both need filling and sanding, nothing terrible but the gaps will stand out.

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The hole i thought i had to make, small one, versus the hole that had to be made. Making holes in important parts of models always freaks me out. The loadout racks poke through the lower wing and then are glued to the swing wing mech inside the wing so they stay forward facing whilst the wing moves. Sounds good in theory.

[Linked Image]





I should have got a pic of the before rework to compare but it's all pretty basic anyway. The big plastic teeth on the wings were grabbing the middle triangular mount when opening and closing so i used some card so they slide past smoothly. No chance to fix it once the body is glued. The horizontal piece on top is my attempt to stop the wing arms ever coming loose. There is some more circular card and plastic washers underneath for extra reinforcement. Not my greatest work but it does the job biggrin

[Linked Image]





Open and closed, smooth as a babies butt. She was a herky jerky affair before the fix.

[Linked Image]

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One of the old kit parts versus the new part supplied. Big difference!

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Only 6 days (7 for some) until christmas guys and gals! If i don't drop back in by then i wish you all a good one and hope you manage to spend it with family or someone you love. Look after yourselves during the holidays all.


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#4453980 - 12/20/18 04:58 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Looking good Ajay. cool


Wheels


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#4454144 - 12/21/18 02:05 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Looks like another great project Ajay, and a very Merry Christmas to you also mate.

Thanks again for sharing.


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#4454152 - 12/21/18 02:29 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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nice build . Back in the early PC days. I went to a Flight Simulator . It was elaborate U changed into a flight overalls then hit the flight planning room them the a/c ( mock ups some with a cockpit others u just stood in surround by a mock a/c all hooked up to a large screen computer then u started a virtual Flight complete with Tower controllers and GCA. Anyway, My Flight was in a simulated F-111 Fun Times.

Last edited by carrick58; 12/21/18 02:37 AM.
#4454155 - 12/21/18 02:45 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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I’ve always loved the F-111.

Good project Ajay.


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#4454170 - 12/21/18 08:44 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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I've heard a bit about the Academy kit, and you've picked a challenging one! Nice fix on the wing mechanism. (I built an early short wing 'C' from the Hobbyboss kit a few years ago. It's a big bugger!)

Looking forward to following the build, have a great Christmas and New Year everyone!

Gareth


cheers
Gareth

UNDERSTEER - is when you hit the wall with the front wing.
OVERSTEER - is when you hit the wall with the back wing.
HORSEPOWER - is how fast you hit the wall.
TORQUE - is how far you can take the wall with you.

Read my scale modelling blog at www.latibuliser.com or mfhmazda787.com
#4454349 - 12/22/18 01:08 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ajay Offline
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Good to hear from you all, even though the net has been around so long it is now second nature, sharing what we enjoy via pics and conversations just never stops being a #%&*$# cool thing. smile

Managed to knock out most of the front section in the last couple of days despite everything going on with last minute shopping and the semi madness Christmas always seems to bring. Staying up to late is still a thing even as you get older it seems.


Jammed some folded card in between the cockpit and the wheel box and loaded some glue around both.. I always get paranoid sections like this will come loose over the years. I also stacked a bolt in a big glob of blu tack then glued it into the nose section so i don't end up with a tail dragger.

[Linked Image]





You can see how average the two halves fit. This worried me a fair bit as i waited a few hours for the glue to set, i don't mind working with bog/filler on cars but it makes me nervous attempting it on small scale.

[Linked Image]






Filling and sanding. I had to do one more application of the putty to get a decent result.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]






I don't know why i didn't take a front on pic once i was at this stage. I think i was trying to capture the shape or maybe i'm just an idiot. The join is much better buuuuut i did end up sanding out a fair chunk of panel lines down the centre. I attempted a rescribe of some of them before painting but it simply wasn't going to end well so it is what it is. If it was 1 to 1 scale i reckon i could do it easily biggrin At the end of the day i was happy with the result when compared to what i had started with.

[Linked Image]








Glass masked and painted. Very worried with my skill level with a brush and undecided whether i should attempt to paint the curves at the corners of the frame. That's 16 little corners i need to get right and i don't want to ruin the clear plastic. Any tips besides pure skill? (Looking at you Goon:) )

[Linked Image]









Cockpit looks much better know with the shroud filling it out. Needs some touch ups before i glue the shroud down.

[Linked Image]








Canopy doesn't fit neatly, on any side, front or rear either. Need to decide what do in that area to make a clean fit.

[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]



All in all it's coming along pretty nicely with a bunch of little hurdles in the way, one of them being my 50/50 hit or miss skill level. I am actually glad i didn't go to 1/32 scale as i think the detail may have been a bit too much for my first plane. With the armour if you have a crappy section or bad join you can just throw some weathering at it or claim battle damage, here it's all got to be fairly clean and smooth compared. And yes, along with Dart i also now am building a level of hatred for Goon and his particular set of skills that make this stuff look like a walk in the park wink


Cheers all, seeyas after Chrissy!


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#4454397 - 12/22/18 06:00 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Wow, Great job

#4454456 - 12/22/18 10:29 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Dart Offline
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Hack! I call hack on this!

[Linked Image]

No way it should look this good.

Gotta be a cheat code or something going on.


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#4454464 - 12/22/18 11:37 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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It's the "Bawdy House" red padding that does it.

Must have been Aussie special order!


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#4454491 - 12/23/18 02:56 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Nixer]  
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Originally Posted by Nixer
It's the "Bawdy House" red padding that does it.

Must have been Aussie special order!



Kangaroo leather.


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#4454515 - 12/23/18 07:10 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ajay Offline
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The Aussie seats are meant to be sheep skin covered..but i am not attempting that.


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#4454554 - 12/23/18 02:44 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Looking really good, the cockpit is excellent.

Quote
Any tips besides pure skill? (Looking at you Goon:) )


Don't look at me, my brush skills are terrible! Transparency frames need to be super neat, so I always mask. The easiest way, if you have well defined frames, is Tamiya masking tape and brand new number 11 scalpel blade. (And I mean absolutely unused, even a slightly dull one will drag in the tape.) Burnish the tape well in to the corners, a soft pencil is good as you get a line to cut along. Then cut the tape with as little pressure as you can. If you have faint frames, perhaps on a vac form transparency, then a micro punch and die set comes in handy. Make the right sized circles for any rounded corner and sketch in the straight lines with masking tape. I've also got some 0.5mm and 1mm tape that I use to follow curves that the punch won't make suitable circles for. You can tidy up any small gaps in the tape with something like Humbrol Maskol.

Quote
The Aussie seats are meant to be sheep skin covered


I've got a recipe for that! Worked quite well on my Lynx.

Looking forward to seeing more, have a great Christmas down there Ajay! (And every one else, wherever you are.)

Last edited by goon; 12/23/18 02:46 PM.

cheers
Gareth

UNDERSTEER - is when you hit the wall with the front wing.
OVERSTEER - is when you hit the wall with the back wing.
HORSEPOWER - is how fast you hit the wall.
TORQUE - is how far you can take the wall with you.

Read my scale modelling blog at www.latibuliser.com or mfhmazda787.com
#4455238 - 12/29/18 11:56 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ajay Offline
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Thanks for the heads up Goon. Still procrastinating about whether i will ruin my cockpit glass or not with an attempt though smile


Got some hours in again. Getting the wing mech all working required filing away with a blade at the weapon mounts join point. They simply do not fit the little wing arm cutouts that swing off the main swing wing mech at the correct angles, some poked inwards and others outwards once fitted. I sliced the joining stubs on the weapon mounts to suit the rectangular hole in the wing lever as good as what you have to work with and then gave them a light glue to set. They sat overnight to harden and then they got another small dose of glue in the morning and a last hit just before bed. Gingerly gave it all a move the next day and voila, she all swings as nice as i feel i could have got it. The whol operation feels much better than out of the box . That was one monkey off my back. The next was the join between the nose and rear section, the fit is just meh. I braced the rear section with some sprue inside to push up where the spine of the plane meets the front section but no matter what they would not meet flush. The only fix is a filler so that's what she got. Joined the two sections, let it dry overnight then plopped some glue in the seam at the top. I ended up digging out one side worth of glue as the join was still terrible and then ran on down to the local hardware and grabbed some plastic clamps. These ended up being slightly overpowered as you will see below biggrin



All the bits needed for the swing wing operation and for the rear body to go together.


[Linked Image]








one side then the next

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]







First full smooth operation of the wing, you can't see, but i was smiling rather stupidly. The white Tamiya seemed to react with the Tamiya primer in the wheel well which was weird, maybe my second coat was a bit heavy. A bit of weathering and once all of the undercarriage and doors are in, it hopefully will not look so tragic.



[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

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Both wings had to be puttied due to overlapping upper and lower sections.


[Linked Image]






The dreaded join at the hump, without the inside sprue pushing the rear section up there was another 2 or so millimetres difference. This is with the sides and bottom of the model perfectly joined.



[Linked Image]

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In hindsight, the clamps had way to much oomph. My teen daughter went first test subject on her pinkie finger and said they felt fine. I blame her pain threshold for fooling me.


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]






First putty pass. I've over sanded for sure but i am going to have to live with some faded/missing panel lines. As long as i get that hump smooth i will be happy.


[Linked Image]



She is sitting now with a second thin layer of putty for sanding tomorrow afternoon. I've read the horror stories of the Tamiya putty shrinking weeks, months and even years after application but i doubt ( fingers crossed) i will have that issue as the end result will be extremely thin and i am giving it 24 hours between applications and sanding. It's definitely been another learning experience that's for sure!





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#4455420 - 12/30/18 08:31 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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jack72 Offline
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I rarely use putty anymore to fix gaps...
I would use plastic shims, (you can go down to as much as 0.10), sand, then apply a line of Cyanoacrylate glue, and re-sand flush.

Never shrinks, can re-scribe if needed, and when priming and painting, you won't see the line.


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#4455451 - 12/31/18 01:04 AM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
Joined: Dec 2002
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Ajay Offline
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This was my first putty use ever, i'll probably use car bog next time though so i don't have to wait so long for it to set:) Also one tin of bog would last a lifetime of models. If rescribing becones a thing i'll need to look into one of those verlinden rescribe tools for the circular and regtangular lines.

I will have a look into the shims though, maybe it will end up being less work?


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#4455639 - 01/01/19 02:48 PM Re: 1/48 Academy F-111C [Re: Ajay]  
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Ajay Offline
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Still a little bit more to go on the hump, a couple of little pin holes to fill on the top and the side join needs work. Thought i was nearly done with this section but the camera always shows me more than my #%&*$# eyes can see.


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


[Linked Image]


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