Military Veterans GB

Ok.  My camera isn't the greatest as you all know. Will be getting a better one @ the first of the year so bear with me.  This one is almost bagged and tagged.  A couple of small things to attach and then when my decals finally get in, i'll put em on and coat it and call it complete. As always let me know what ya'll think

wow your f111 is coming along nicely

cant wait to see what comes of her steve , i just got the tamiya 1/32 F16 CJ have to start on that one too

john sorry to hear that it hasnt come in yet

i have been stagnent on my build alot of stuff going on but i will be working on her this weel (i hope)

Your F-111 is coming along nice. Interesting to hear your historic a/c info. Do you have any contact with the people your dad served with, if so maybe they can help you with the info you need.

Steve, got the same F-16 kit so I will be following your build for helpful info.

Me, still stuck waiting for my part, called MRC yesterday, they said that the shipment just came in and they will try ahd get my part soon(not holding my breath, checked LHS on Wed, they did not have the kit in stock)

Academy 1/48 scale F-16C Block 25 - VTANG 50th anniversary markings. 

Here's the pre-build pictures of the box, contents and the decals I'm going to use:

I've got the cockpit assembled but I seem to have lost the throttle. I'll have to jigger one up I guess, the kit's wasn't very accurate anyway.

I also assembled the intake and slathered the poorly fitting seams with lots of thinned 3M Acryl Blue putty.

Next up I'll add some lead foil straps to the seat and do a little painting.

Mark, very nice work on the flaps and slats. It takes a lot of patients to get work like that done and well worth it when you are finished. Great job, keep up the good work. Also thanks for the history lesson of your Dad, I always enjoy a personal touch to a build. I am sure he will like it when done.

Steve.

Hi Guys,

I've finally made some progress worth showing.

This is the right hand wing of the F-111C I'm building for my dad.

I've finished scratch building the flaps and slats to show them in the extended position as I intend to display the aircraft on the ground with the canopy open.

I've only done the one wing as this is the first time I've ever done anything like this. I figure I'll be able to apply what I've learnt from this one when I do the next and  hope it'll be a lot easier.

To get this far took over 2 weeks, several trips to the LHS and many, many beers.

Too late to back out now!

Leading edge flap

The trailing edge flaps

Before and after.

The real deal!

My dad flew F-111's with the RAAF for over 10 years. When he retired he was XO of 1 Squadron in 1988.

He was involved in the conversion of the RAAF 111's with the Pave Tac upgrades as well as the Harpoon Anti Ship Missle Program.

In 1982 He and his navigator won the Best F-111 crew in the SAC Bombing contest. I'm trying hard to find out which aircraft he flew during the comp as I want to make this a model of that aircraft. It's really hard to get this sort of info from him without giving away his christmas present.

I have a feeling it was one of 4 ex USAF F-111A's that we recieved as attrition replacement airframes which makes this even harder because they were bought up to the 'C' spec over several years. (2 of them still don't have the 'C' model wheels and brakes after 20 years!) As an interesting note, all the 'A's' we recieved saw service in Vietnam.

Thanks for reading my long winded post.

Mark

Thanks for the comments Mark T. The hump on the A-4 is for the F model. All previous models did not have it. It is an advanced electronics package for weapons. Some models after the F did not have the package depending on it's capability. I would presume for export reasons to other nations that would not have the same weapon capability or for that matter desires. Perhaps Neucelar etc. I am not too sure about that though?. From what I was told it would and is not too hard to convert it back withouth it. That might explain why a G model would not have it.

Steve

Your Scooter is looking really good Steve.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is in the 'hump' on the spine of some A-4's? Is it a fuel tank?

The RAN ended up with a few ex Marine Skyhawks and the photo's of them in US service showed them with it, but the later photo's is Australian service as A-4 G's showed them without.

Is it an easy job to remove?

Thanks John and Kenny, I appriceate your comments. I am enjoying this one but wish it had more detail in the panells. Also the easy part is over with and now I have to think of how to do the squadron colours.

John, hang in there, I hope your parts come in soon.

Steve.

steve she is looking awsome .

john sorry to hear you are still waiting on your part.

i thought i was gonna get some done this weekend but i didnt have permission i had to paint the apartment instead :(

Hey Guy's, Here is the latest update on the A-4. Due to work etc and the fact it took about 3 day's to dry no work was done until tonight. I gloss coated it with Testors and it stayed tacky forever. Anyway, it's all painted and assembled except for all the fiddly bits, tonight I hope to get most of the decals on except for the squadron colours etc which I am going to have to make myself or paint them on.

Some small paint touchups are still needed but that will come later.

Steve.

Thanks Jim for the review of the build so far. I have always liked Hasegawa and I always hear mixed reviews of the different manufactures of F-14s so I have not been able to make up my mind which one to buy. Thanks.

Steve

sidure wrote:

Welcome onboard Mark, good to have ya with us and good luck your build. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Mist, for a decal it sure looks good. Refresh my memorie on what manufacter it is. I would be interested in what you think of the kit as I want to build one soon and looking for input and recomdations. Steve.

It was a 1987 Hasegawa kit.  I thought when i got it, that since it was a Hase kit, i'd have a great detailed pit.  Was kinda disappointed with the decal thing.  But it looked alright.  Other than that, the kit is going together very smoothly.  The fits are good except for the AIM-54 Missile.  Have to putty the seam on that.  The IP fit is a pain when you close the office, but all in all, a fun build so far

Jim

Welcome onboard Mark, good to have ya with us and good luck your build. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Mist, for a decal it sure looks good. Refresh my memorie on what manufacter it is. I would be interested in what you think of the kit as I want to build one soon and looking for input and recomdations.

Steve.

hey steve glad to see you made alot of progress

mark glad to have you on board with us all .

thanks john there are spots i still see the base color but she is coming along.

the background is a timberland shoe box lol never thought that would come in handy

grandadjohn wrote:

Mark welcome, your's is a special build so do it as you want. Kenny, paint looks good so far. Mist, PE and resin are more intensive to use, do so when you are ready.

Thanks John.  When i get a couple more builds under my belt and the basics down pat, then i'm gonna jump in the AM pool with both feet.  Since i don't need the aggravation yet, i won't even try

Mark welcome, your's is a special build so do it as you want.

Kenny, paint looks good so far.

Mist, PE and resin are more intensive to use, do so when you are ready.

sidure wrote:

Great looking front office you have there Mist. Is that a PE set or did you paint it yourself. Great job. Steve

Neither really.  They are decaled.  It's straight outta the box and had NO details.  So i put on the decals, Set'd & Sol'd.  When they were dry, i futured them then painted certain details in.  THis is only my 2nd build and I'm not ready for AM parts yet.

Thanks Kenny, John and Steve.

Being included in this makes the build all that more special.

I'm taking my time with this and have spent the last week scratch building my flap and slat set to display them in the extended position.

I could just buy them but I feel doing it the hard way makes it all the better.

I'm also doing all the 'boriing' stuff first like landing gear and making the intake trunks.

I'll post some pics when I've got something worth showing.

Thanks again.

Mark

Hey Kenny nice looking progress there. looks very nice and ready for some detail work. I especially like the background of your photo. I got a lot of work done on the A-4 this long holiday weekend, she is all painted and assembled. I have it drying from a gloss coat as we speak. Hopefully some photos around mid week when I get the camera back. How comes the hard part and have to make my own decals for it as there are none on the internet that I can find. Glad it is a more simple tail colours.

Steve.

hope they get there soon for you john

just a couple of pics threw a light coat of paint on her need to go over her aagain a few times and off to try and paint the camo :) 

hey john glad you are back and ok sorry to here that you are hurting like that hopefully you will get better real fast .

i am a yes on the vote for mark too.

i am sure most others if not all will vote yes so welcome aboard :)

Hey John good to have ya back with us, sorry it did not go as planned but glad to hear that you are ok.

On the subject of Mark joining the GB my vote is welcome and thanks for honouring your father as a veteran. I think that is in the spirit of things.

I did the same thing myself years ago and built a M-48 for my Dad. As a matter of interest the A-4 I am building is going to my friend who flew the aircraft and was planning on doing it for a while, this GB gave me the push to do it. I serviced it and he flew it, funny world eh.

Steve

Hi guy's I'm back, things didn't go has planned an me being the 1 in a 1,000,00 where somethings goes wrong. Artery where they cut blew open after the took off the pressure bandage, mt lower abdomen is one big, ugly bruse and it does hurt. I'm OK, but must think about more surgery.

As for Mark wishing to join the build, I vote yes since it is to honor his father

hey mark i am glad to see you are proud of your dads service and that you are building the f-11c for him.

seeing as this is a community build i would like to have an overall vote on the matter. i don't want to just say yes or no because everyone here is prior military. so once the others of the build give there opinions i will let you know.

sorry to do it that way i would rather be democratic than a dictator :)

i would say you have a good idea for a group build yourself to honor someone in your family that was in or is now serving in the military.

kenny