Area 88 1/144: A Dill Hill to Die On (F-111)

[strobez]

So Brad's South African Aardvark inspired me to get this project moving as well.  There's a bit of an impromptu Aardvark GB going on at Scalemates that I'm more or less participating in (although it got sidetracked as I was finishing up my Nausicaa Ohm dio).  Anyway, as with most of my aircraft builds, it centres on a (small) scene from the Area 88 manga.  In this case the forces of "Project 4" have entered into the Asran civil war as the first step in their arms merchant plot to create a perpetual state of global war.  After the amphibious landing near "Dill Hill" disappears into the sand, an F-111 is dispatched on a recon mission... only to run into Project 4's "Air Mines" system - basically a minefield of small missile launchers buried under the sand.  If an aircraft flying overhead fails to transmit the friend signal... BOOM.

Here's the scene from the manga, to get you in the correct mood... 






Now, on to the build.  There seems to be a choice of bad or equally bad in a different way for 1/144 F-111 Aardvark kits.  So I went with the easiest one to get.. the Trumpeter one.  I was thinking of Nils as I ordered it off his favourite store on Aliexpress.com. The box... slightly crushed as always when ordering from China...



So yeah... the sprues... Not a ton of details on these sprues, but we can fix that. 



Quick dry...fit...ish proves it will look more or less like a 'Vark when it's done. This one's gonna need some love.



The canopy on the F-111 is pretty distinctive, so and this is not it - even after I added a bit of framing to the canopy... we'll need to explore Plan B



First thing to do is start scribing some panel lines... like... ALL of them. Painted the interior of the canopy with Tamiya Smoke (X-19) just to see if it's going to work.



Conveniently, Trumpeter decided to off only one wing for both sides instead of a mirror image.  So I had to make a copy of the scribe lines I'd already done, make a mirror image, and then glue some paper onto the wing and scribe out the details.  It worked, but it was an unnecessary pain in the butt.



Let's get to work on the air intakes... another distinctive 'Vark feature... which was also largely incorrect on this kit.



A bit of cut tubing covers most of the gaps.



A bit more plastic sheet and some missile tips sanded to about a quarter round (but not quite) seems to have done the trick.



Yeah, I think I can live with that. Still a bit more scribing to do on the nose though.  The canopy just looks wrong though.



Heh, you knew this was coming... let's add some lights...



Yeah... I think this'll work.



Closed off the air intakes.  I also managed to break off the wing posts, so now they're glued in place.  Oh, well.

[Spey_Phantom]

looks good so far, i will have to take up some notes on your work as i have 3 of these waiting in line (including an EF-111A).
as usual, im looking forward to seeing it finished 

[TheChronicOne]

Oh yeah!! This is coming along well, it could be said to be coming together well. Coming together like a set of butt cheeks! ha! 

Intake issues, I see! lmao   

This is going to be a killer build. I'm looking forward to seeing it finish, although I think if I choose to build one of these myself in 1/144 I'll try a different kit perhaps?

[NARSES2]

I have to remind myself this is 1/144  Great work 

You've also reminded me that I need to look for some larger "pin drill" holders at Telford.

[strobez]

Thanks for the support, gentlemen.  This project was passed a couple times by my other concurrent builds, but it's still moving ahead slowly.

The first thing to do was to take the business end of a file to the awful canopy.  The bulge really makes the 'vark look strange.  I was intending to make the canopy semi-opaque, so this just helps that along.



I think that looks better. I couldn't bear to blow anyone up, so these two safety dummies will be practically invisible inside the cockpit.



Everyone nestled safely in place, so time for some putty... and sanding!



Does anyone have a good method for cleaning out scribed panel lines?  I can't seem to keep them clean and empty.

[PR19_Kit]

Once you've scribed the line try running a brushfull of liquid cement along it, MekPak being my cement of choice, but you may not be able to get it out there of course. That tends to wash out the crud or it all picks up on the brush.

I have NO idea how to stop it getting back in there afterward though, bar continual re-scribing and cement washing.

[TheChronicOne]

*I use a toothpick. Sometimes you have to sharpen the end to make it sharp/small enough to fit the lines. Also, for some thin areas I use the side of sandpaper. It's thick enough to work for a while and you can run a corner through a few panel lines before it starts to get weak. I have my own device, and I dunno what it's even called, that I use from time to time, too, when necessary. It's also what I use to do actual scribing (along with padded metal rule):


The four cleaning points.


The Awl-Hook. I have no idea what this is called, what it is originally intended for, or who made it so perhaps y'all can help me with that.   


*Perhaps these methods I'm mentioning are considered "scribing" though? It's how I clean out panel lines, scribed by me or otherwise. But, it's very likely I'm missing the point. If so, I have other possible suggestions like using a spray bottle. The pressure and water blast with each spritz could be enough to power out the grim that sticks in those lines and might be a swift way to clean them. Or, hell, I've been known to take my model to the kitchen sink and use the power washer attachment thing to clean away sanding debris and it can power things out of them lines, too, potentially. Runs the risk of water getting inside and showing up outside later in the build, though.. I prefer to hang mine out in the 100 degree heat for a few hours to dry it up inside and out after I wash things like this.

I hope I'm not preaching to the choir and all this is helpful, although it seems obvious to me so I'm probably missing the point and off the mark here..   

[Rick Lowe]

Nah, it's all useful, and sparks other connections too.

What about scrubbing them out, using a Toothbrush-Under-Running-Water (Native American Name...  )
One of those ones that's touted to have thinner bristles.

[zenrat]

The Awl-hook looks like something one would use to make nets. Or rugs.  Or maybe crochet.  But heavy duty man-size crochet using wire.  Crocheting electric blankets maybe...

[TheChronicOne]

Well, it was inherited from daddy who used to do welding stuff. He was a welding inspector and way way back worked on things like Disney World and the Alaskan Pipeline. It came with his crap when he died a few years ago and was with some tools he bought from someone that had a fair amount of metal working stuff for machinery and what not so seems appropriate.

I like it.... one time I used the hook to fish out a part I dropped inside a model and at that moment felt like a badass. 

[strobez]

Hey guys.  Thanks to all your advice, I was able to get the panel lines sorted.  I think they're probably the best ones I've scribed to date.  Which is lucky, since this kit was basically a blob of vaguely 'Vark-shaped plastic.  Anyway, after that it was a quick roll down hill to the finish line.

First I got coat of paint on.



Then... skipping ahead after a couple of rounds of masking and painting... now it's got camouflage.



The lights still work... whew! I always have a phobia about that.



Final bit of paint... now to work on the base.



Base done, panel line wash, check. Explosion fireball, attached.



Looks like we're done here.



And now... the glamour pics...

[PR19_Kit]

Woah! Time to test out that escape capsule! 

That came together very quickly once you got the paint on. 

[strobez]

Thanks Kit. After the paint was on it was more or less just mask, spray, peel, wait, mask, spray, peel...

I had a thought to saw it in half and make the explosion bigger, but since I only put a light on top, I figured I'd settle for just a fireball.

But if any kit deserved to be sawed in half...

I've updated my blog - http://strobez.ca/wp/index.php/2019/09/02/a-dill-hill-to-die-on-area-88/ - same pics, more rambling commentary. But there's also a bonus page of manga to enjoy.

[PR19_Kit]

But if any kit deserved to be sawed in half...

Yeah, I've had a few of those myself too!

But only ever actually did it once! 

[zenrat]

Another excellent build.