1/72 F-111K Build

Gondor · October 18, 2015, 09:20:14 AM

I am going to start a build of the British F-111K in the immediate future. I find though that I am needing a little information though, the hight of the bomb bay to be exact as I intend to build my Hasegawa aircraft with an open bomb bay and the UK specific centre pylon fitted. Can anyone help with this?

Gondor

Captain Canada · October 19, 2015, 05:38:43 AM

I can't help with your query but wanted to chime in that it's great to follow your F-4 builds with another American classic !

scooter · October 19, 2015, 05:57:27 AM

At least half to 2/3s the width, given that the Pave Tack pod (4.2m long) is on a rotating tray for carriage.

Gondor · October 20, 2015, 02:24:32 PM

Here is what I am starting with

And this is apparently what the wheels should look like

But unfortunately the above pictures are of a 1/48 scale wheel set and not a 1/72 scale set

nor do I know of a wheel set for the F-111C, FB-111A or F-111G available in 1/72 and I did spend some time searching. The nearest I have found on-line is the set below from North Star Models

I know the width of the weapons bay is roughly the full width of the fuselage because the bay doors cover that area as well as seen pictures of the door opened in both real and model form so I know that I have my work cut out no only to remove the doors from the panel representing them but also to provide support within the fuselage to hold both the nose and main parts of the aircraft together $:-\$

Gondor

Weaver · October 20, 2015, 02:45:41 PM

Wasn't the weapon bay designed around two SRAMs? If that's the case, you should be able to work out the dimensions from that.

PR19_Kit · October 20, 2015, 03:40:18 PM

Here's a couple of pics that may prove useful, both of FB-111As.

Gondor · October 21, 2015, 01:49:41 AM

Not exactly Weaver but it was one of the loads it was designed to take.

Thanks for the pictures Kit, not seen the lower one before

Gondor

Captain Canada · October 21, 2015, 05:00:21 AM

What's it carrying in the lower pic ? And what's wrong with the kit wheels ? pretty bad ?

sandiego89 · October 21, 2015, 06:34:49 AM

Gondor, perhaps a little extrapolation to figure out the size of the bomb-bay?

Kits picture shows a FB-111 with a AGM-69 SRAM missile is a test flight. We know the F-111 could carry 2 SRAM's internally (barely), and we know the size of the SRAM at 14 feet overall (168 inches) without the fairing used for external carriage, with a 17.5 inch body diameter and a 30 inch span on the fins. With the SRAM hung internally, and the fins in an x pattern, it would just fit.

This site below also shows a good drawing of the F-111 bomb bay with a Harpoon and GBU-31 JDAM internally, click and scroll down a bit. We can also find the measurements of those stores. The GBU-31 JDAM is based on the 2,000 pound Mk 84 bomb, and is listed as 152 inches long, 18 inchs diameter, 25 inches at the fins. Not sure which version of the Harpoon the site proopsed, but some contianerized Harpoons did have folding fins.

Note the front part of the bay is of a lesser height.

I would estimate the bomb bay at about 22 inches high for the front 1/3 and the rest a bit deeper/higher, perhaps 28 inches. Liklely close enough for 1/72 scale. Overall length to the pointy front ends perhaps 176 inches?

http://www.ausairpower.net/TE-F-111-Upgrades-1998.html

Gondor · October 21, 2015, 10:02:37 AM

Quote from: Captain Canada on October 21, 2015, 05:00:21 AM
What's it carrying in the lower pic ? And what's wrong with the kit wheels ? pretty bad ?

I have no idea what the large Orange Rectangle is but the aircraft was a test machine for the FB-111A program.

As for the wheels, and this was news to me, the hubs are wrong for the version I am building. There are two different hubs and associated brake discs associated with them. One kind for the A/D/E/F and another for the C/FB/G and the K. Hasegawa has provided the same wheel for all of their boxing's regardless of the version of the F-111 that the kit is supposed to represent. This is not a problem in 1/48 where there are a couple of manufacturers supplying both sets of wheels so which ever version you are building you can add the correct type.

On the left are the wheels for my Hasegawa F-111 with the Italeri wheels on the right. The cream wheels in an earlier post are the correct 1/48 resin wheels. The difference is quite obvious when you know about it. The diameter of the whole hub is 8mm so is quite visible. It should also be possible to add a layer of plastic card onto the brake hubs of the grey wheels as shown in the previous posting to increase the size of the hub as they are 1/72 scale and are the nearest I have found so far in this scale.

A late contender may be the Monogram wheels in 1/72 scale. This solution would be cheaper as I have a set in stock rather than forking out for a set or two.

We shall see what I decide on later though I do fancy those resin wheels as they do look tasty

sandiego89, thank you for that link. There are some drawings of the nose of the aircraft about a third of the way down that page which show the roof of the weapons bay and I am betting that they are drawn to scale with the rest of the airframe. All I need to do now is to copy and print off the drawings then scale them to 1/72

Gondor

Captain Canada · October 21, 2015, 11:07:41 AM

I'd say the Mono ones are a close enough match. I'm not sure how many people would notice though ? I know I wouldn't.

Librarian · October 21, 2015, 12:53:48 PM

Are Equipage still about? They did a really nice set of rubber wheels with resin inserts.

Gondor · October 21, 2015, 02:01:57 PM

Quote from: Librarian on October 21, 2015, 12:53:48 PM
Are Equipage still about? They did a really nice set of rubber wheels with resin inserts.

Yes they are, yes they do although I have only seen a picture of one side of the wheels so can't tell how accurate they are.

Quote from: Captain Canada on October 21, 2015, 11:07:41 AM
I'd say the Mono ones are a close enough match. I'm not sure how many people would notice though ? I know I wouldn't.

My personal favourite are the North Star Model one's, partly because I can paint the wheels and hubs separately so no masking

Gondor

KiwiZac · October 21, 2015, 02:50:30 PM

I just cheated and used the old Revell 1/72 TFX kit, using the included extended wingtips. That said, mine was an RNZAF K rather than an RAF-operated machine but still to the same specs.

PR19_Kit · October 21, 2015, 03:32:00 PM

I think that orange thing in the bomb bay on the 2nd pic I posted is the unit's air transportable barbeque table. When did you last see a USAF base that DIDN'T have one, eh?

Interesting thing in that pic is that the wheels quite definitely cant inwards at the top. If you built one like that everyone would assume the kit's wheels/axles were moulded wrongly or something, like the Airfix TSR2.