Royal Navy F-111B aboard ARK ROYAL-1/700- Finished- new pics

[sandiego89]

I'm in.  Fleet Air Arm F-111B aboard the ARK ROYAL.

1/700 scale.

The Kit:
F111- PITROAD 1/700 Desert Shield 1.  Will have a cut down nose and FAA markings.  
To be displayed on the ARK ROYAL bulit from the Seaway 1/700 ARK ROYAL (1950's set up) with extensive modifications with revised hull length, updated island, scratch built deck, longer catapults, etc to represent a heavily modified ARK in the the 1970's.  Airwing to include F-111B, Gannet AEW (pitroad), Buccaneer (scratch), Sea King (Aoshima). Phantoms.

[deathjester]

Caution young Jedi!!
                             The US Navy considered the F-111 too heavy for their carriers, and the Ark Royal was a LOT smaller than a USN supercarrier, so you might want to think about F4K style extending nose gear, and more powerful engines.  Good idea though, and if our weak willed government had gone through with the F-111K purchase, then your idea may have come to pass, in some form.  Looking forward to seeing this one!!

[sandiego89]

Thanks for the caution Jester, I am fully aware of the size and weight limitations of operating the pig off a smallish carrier, but after carefull comparisons with the ARK and the CORAL SEA (where the F-111B did her carrier "trials" without incident) it was closer than I thought and I could not resist. ARK angled flight deck was @790 feet, the CORAL SEA was a little longer.  Yes some mods will be required to both ship and aircraft.  Yep I'm pushing the envelope.  May have to put her on the CVA-01.    

[GTX]

Remember comrades, this is the Whiffverse, so it is possible.

Regards,

Comrade Gregorski (Commissar of all F-111 GB things)

[deathjester]

Well noted Comrade!  In that case, for true spctacularity, how about some chuff off big RATO packs - that should make night take offs pretty interesting...

[sandiego89]

The ARK ROYAL has entered the yard. To keep the ARK ship in service with the larger, faster, heavier jets until the CVA-01 was in service it was determined a hull plug could be made between the main engine rooms.  I cut the hull and inserted the hull plug.  Will require an adjustment to the angle of the angled deck. Also plan on a larger lift and longer catapult.    

I feel some quilt about slicing a fine ship, oh well no turning back.  

[Chris707]

IIRC, the F-111B was actually a less "hot" aircraft to get aboard than the Phantom (or was that the Tomcat?) it was heavier but landed slower. The production version with the rearranged nose would have been even better in terms of visibility. It would be a tight fit, but maybe you could say that they'd take off with minimum fuel and immediately refuel from tankers, as the Buc S.1s did from Scimitars...

Chris
-----------------------------
SAC's Aardvark - FB-111

[sandiego89]

Hull modifications continue for the display base for the Fleet Air Arm F-111B.

Hull stretched.  Added 94 scale feet to the hull.  All the stretch also appplies to waist catapult.  Could not lengthen the bow catapult due to interference with the elevator and waist catapult.  New jet blast deflector scribbed in.  New angled deck marked out.  Primer on.    

F-111A from a old build is spotted aboard the waist cat for fitting trials.  Phantom and Buccaneer for scale.  

[sandiego89]

Starting on the airwing.  F-111B, Sea King, Gannet, Bucaneer. Most are from an ARK ROYAL I did years ago.  The color turned out poorly- I was going for a weathered extra dark sea gray which looked bluish, but not this blue. 

F-111 will get a nose rework. 

[sandiego89]

Nose job complete.  Rest of airwing on the assembly line.  Gannets from the old skywave/pitroad royal navy set just got thier wing fold added.  Phantom provided for scale.  F-111B will be for long range fleet air defense with the Phoenix missile system.  

[sandiego89]

Finally got back to work on this.  Air wing done.  Hull complete, just needs some details.

[sandiego89]

Build complete.

F-111B, Royal Navy 893 Squadron, Aboard ARK ROYAL 1975.

Back story:  With the cancellation of the TSR2, the RAF decided to proceed with the F-111, and with some political intervention the order was expanded to include the F-111B for the upcoming CVA-01 class of carries expected to enter Royal Navy service circa 1970.  During this period the F-111 was being ordered by the US Air Force, US Navy and Australia., with other customers being touted.   
As was much the case in the United States, politicians and bureaucrats found advertised commonality between Navy and Air Force designs very attractive, and the F-111 was ordered in 1967 for RAF and FAA service.  Due to increased tensions around the world the 1966 Defense White Paper was re-drafted and both the RAF and FAA were given substantial funding increases. With this increase, and with the  US government and General Dynamics offering very attractive pricing to lure more customers, the FAA was able to proceed with both the Phantom and F-111B programs, with the Phantom concentrating on fleet air defense and short and mid ranges, and the F-111B to counter long range Soviet threats.   
Although two CVA-01 class carriers were planned, CVA-02 the DUKE OF EDINBUROUGH was cancelled in 1968 when only 14% complete, leaving the fleet with the ARK ROYAL and CVA-01 QUEEN ELIZABETH as the only major fleet carriers.  Soon after the cancellation of CVA-02 it was decided to extend the lengthy so-called "Phantomization" yard period the ARK ROYAL, so she could operate both the F-111 and the Phantom.  The modernization included a 94 foot plug amidships and an extended waist catapult.  Lifts and arresting gear were also substantially upgraded to allow for the much heavier and larger  F-111B.  The refit also proved useful for other aircraft, allowing for increased operating weights for the Phantoms and Buccaneers and some extra margin on takeoff and landing speeds.   
893 squadron was slated for the first operational squadron and began converting from the Sea Vixen in late 1969.
In service the F-111B was a poor fit for the ARK ROYAL, as the aircraft was quite large and interfered with the parking and operation of other aircraft.  Normally she deployed with only 5 F-111B's, and most operations were conducted in the North Atlantic, except two short cruises to the United States, and some cross decking opportunities with US carriers.   Usually a full squadron of 8 F-111's  were deployed the QUEEN ELIZABETH.  A further complication with the F-111B on the ARK was that only the waist catapult could be used.  Despite these limitations, the ARK served as useful gap filler while the QUEEN ELIZABETH was in extended yard periods.
The ship is portrayed as she was in service during a joint UK/Norwegian exercise in 1975, with F-111's preparing to launch on a Bear intercept.   
The Kit.
Seaway Ark Royal.  1/700.  Out of the box she is in her 1950's configuration.  For the build, she was given an entirely new flight deck, a mid hull plug, guns removed/covered, deck edge lift eliminated, revised island, bridle catchers and assorted modifications.  Displayed on a silicone base based on the tip from Noxioux on this forum.  My first try at this- thank you for the tip. 
Air group is a mix of 1/700 kits: 
F-111- Pit Road S-6 Desert Shield 1
Phantom- various
Gannet and Wessex- Fujimi Royal Navy aircraft.  Modified for AEW and COD roles. 
Sea King. Old Sea Harrier/Sea King set.   
Buccaneer- heavily modified F-4's.
   

[proditor]

Looks great!  The plug was seamless, nice job!   

[McColm]

Great job,
I read somewhere that a C-130 carried out trials on a US Navy carrier and that the Lockheed P-2 Neptune was launched from a carrier.
A Canberra B2 made an emegency landing on a US carrier back in the 1960s and also during the Gulf War although this "cannot be confirmed or denied" by the M.O.D.

[Cliffy B]

Yes the Forrestal conducted 100% successful landing and launching trials of a KC-130; the Navy decided against using it, deeming it too risky.  The America conducted similar trials with a U-2 Spyplane; again Navy said no.  Neptunes were tested on board the Midways but couldn't land.  They were to either return to the carrier and ditch alongside or find a land base.  They needed JATO bottles and a full deck in order to takeoff since they were to carry a 10,000 lbs Nuke!!!!  Never heard about the Canberra landing but I know the Brits were considering a nasalized Canberra for the airwing of a proposed "large attack carrier" back in the 1950's.

KC-130:
http://www.navysite.de/cvn/cv59.htm#kc130

U-2: Link has a video of the launch!
http://instapinch.com/?p=657


LOVE the Ark Royal!!!!!!  MORE PHOTOS PLEASE!!!!!!!