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BTW, that old Monogram F-111 was originally an Aurora kit from a time when the F-111 was barely even on the line yet, and it has unfixable outline problems. It's pretty much a toy. Academy is, I'm told, the best bet for Aardvarks.
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Actually that's not true. The Academy (and it's Zhengdefu offshoot at half the price and quality of molding) suffers a _lot_ of problems, ranging from a canopy that doesn't open to a cockpit which isn't even close, to various combinations of intakes (both in each kit) which are off in detail for a powered down jet, nozzles which don't reflect any particular TF30 model and a lack of appropriate ordnance for particularly the later model F-111F and FB-111A/F-111C/G.
It does not have an open weapons bay and the details (gun pack and muzzle, Pave Tack fairing, recce pallet, nuclear bomb stowage etc.) are simply not there.
The landing gear bay, which is astonishingly deep on the real jet, is very shallow on the Academy kit and it's impossible to ignore because the speed brake is part of the MLG door system, and remains partly deployed when the struts are extended.
And of course, it doesn't have dangling high lifts of any sort (to some, including me, this is a feature, not a bug).
The forward and aft fuselage segments don't fit and leave a spongey, quite noticeable seam behind the cockpit which is best braced with part of the variable sweep Y-bracket (right in the area a scratch built weapons bay would have to go) and things like the variable sweep/swing mechanisms are fragile to the point of unworkable.
Overall, the plastic used is pebbly and doesn't like cement unless it's rubbed down to open up the pores beforehand.
However; perhaps the kit's greatest flaw is that it's squat. As in short of side elevation profile, by almost 1/8th of an inch.
Though you don't always pick up on it because of it's massive sprawl with the wings spread and everything drooped; the F-111 is also quite a tall airframe that rides high on it's gear when it isn't fueled and weaponed. And this is particularly obvious when you are trying to do an F-111B conversion and the jet fits inside the profile outlines so that the entire, slab sided, area between the cockpit and intakes (including the LEX) is just too short.
Given the HBoss is a 90 dollar model that somehow manages to be worse than the 40 dollar Academy it's based on in several places (curved-in windscreen, nose profile etc.) we have yet to see a definitive F-111 kit and particularly an F-111B which was the prettiest of all the 'Varks.
If Revell wanted to split back into Revell-Monogram to compete again in TOOLING KITS instead of sitting on their laurels, they could easily redo the majority of their Vietnam and WWII era aircraft kits with similar, minimalist, parts count, recessed lines and no toy bits and wipe the floor with the competition which relies entirely too much upon CAD/CAM and no research with experts.
The F-111B and F-14/15/16 would be good places to start, provided they kept the prices in the 20-30 dollar range like they should be for younger modelers.
As an aside, the A-4 is a great kit but it is partly let down by a couple of factors:
1. The canopy is squashed, even for an A-4E/F and nothing near the A-4M. It's not as bad as on the ESCI but it is an issue.
2. The tail fairing and the intakes have the wrong profile and the slats, which were wired up in the Mongoose and other Adversaries which are most popular, are very hard to fit correctly too the wing (usual issue of 'a bay' where there isn't one). The same can be said of the speed brakes which were hardly ever opened, on the ground.
3. The wing has some minor dings and sink marks (which can be corrected with sprue'n'glue and sanding) but this poses a MAJOR issue with rescribing around the raised vortice generators and access hatches.
4. If you want to do some interesting Israeli versions of the E/H/N Ahit, there are some minor mods to antenna fit, guns and of course the later nozzle which are again, simply not present.
5. The NLG strut is a literal weak link that doesn't want to stay squared with the fuselage.
Overall, the Monogram Scooter is every inch the worthwhile first model of an A-4, provided you do nothing to it as a basic OOB build.
But if you want to really bring it up to standard, it requires a lot of hard to source (now) resin parts, a good set of decals and some real patience with the scribing, wing root and a couple other areas. You are talking enough time and money to make the recessed line Hasegawa or Hobbycraft (if you can find them) kits competitive, at least until you add A/M metal gear and cockpits to them as well.
Particularly if you are doing one of the earlier A-4B/C from the Falklands or Vietnam era, go with the Hobbycraft. The detail isn't as sharp but it is recessed line which makes it easier to deal with. Hasegawa with their typical 'once every blue moon A-4E and none of the other variants ever again' release schedule is up around 40 bucks by itself.
For the value and variant spread, the best A-4s kitted are the 72nd Fujimis.