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Greg Baker (strobez)
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AREA 88: "A Dill Hill To Die On" (F-111)

Commenti

1 25 July 2019, 15:17
Greg Baker
Ok... so I decided to join the Aardvark fun too! This project wasn't at the top of my priority list and I've got several others on the go already, but I fell victim to peer pressure... and some from Don too.

Anyway, this F-111 kit is... not good. So I'm trying to decide a couple of things. FIrst off, since there's absolutely not cockpit, I'm thinking of trying to make a bit of a reflective and/or smokey coating on the canopy to obscure the fact that I'm too lazy to scratch build an entire cockpit. I don't want to just paint it though... I'm looking for an interesting solution here.
25 July 2019, 15:31
Greg Baker
Second of all, as per the whopping four pages of story that the F-111 has a "speaking part" in (which I posted), they basically just get immediately shot down by an anti-aircraft mine. So I'm trying to decide if I should try to blow this baby up... or just leave it a moment before impact with the missile on its way. Anyone want to venture an opinion?
25 July 2019, 15:33
Dave Flitton
Did you try Tamiya Smoke? Paint it on the inside and it is a nice translucent color.
25 July 2019, 15:39
Dave Flitton
Also....what happens in the next panel of the comic? You left me wanting more
25 July 2019, 15:40
Slavo Hazucha
Perfect, will add you to the list later today! Yours is the No.11 build, which, provided it's unlikely to reach full 111 entries, is I guess as good as it can get!😉

My humble recommendation would be to perhaps start with the "just before impact" plan - this can still be switched to the "blown-up" option, the other way around would likely be more challenging... Also 2 missiles with curved trails as in the manga would IMO look rather cool 👍
25 July 2019, 16:41
Jeremy Wiltcher
Not to get off subject but when did the F-111 Group Build start? Where is stuff like that posted?
25 July 2019, 17:04
Slavo Hazucha
@Jeremy, the "group" basically started as a lose intention of a few people who decided to build an F-111 and that caused a minor outbreak... I guess because it´s a great plane and a lot of fun to share the experience... That was early July I think... I am not aware of any official "Group build" type of posts, it´s more like seeing all the Varks pop-up in the newsfeed regularly and many of them have the group-builders links posted in the project header text...

Nor am I aware of any start/end (in at least my own case = not soon!!) conditions, no competition, no scale/aftermarket/OOB rules, just build one/more if you feel like it & enjoy all the others being built around you 🙂
25 July 2019, 18:14
Matthew A
Thinks maybe I should build a what if 2Sqn F-111K
25 July 2019, 21:53
Jeremy Wiltcher
Thanks, I've got an old one I'll get started on this weekend I've got an idea for it but I'll keep that a secret for now..... and no it's not another one of my fictional navy aircraft!
25 July 2019, 23:16
Nils Steyaert
looks good, i had no idea there were F-111's in Area 88, i did see a nose section of one in the manga's but that was it. will be following this one closely.
26 July 2019, 07:31
Derek Huggett
@ Matthew A - An RAF bird would make a great 'whiffer' (I think you might need an FB-111 as a base kit). 👍 🙂
26 July 2019, 07:56
Greg Baker
Matthew... I'd love to see that!

Nils, there are a few peeks at the F-111 in the manga, but this scene is the most robust. I've been working on an Area 88 fan website that has lots of reference details. It's still a work in progress, but the vehicles section is pretty robust (and complete, I believe) area88.strobez.ca/mission-briefing/vehicles/
26 July 2019, 15:25
Greg Baker
Ok... so I'm still a bit up in the air about the cockpit... so I painted the inside of the canopy with Tamiya "smoke" and will decide later what to do about that. In the meantime, I've started scribing up a few panel lines to break up the monotony a bit.
29 July 2019, 15:16
Greg Baker
Nice of Trumpeter not to go through the hassle of making two mirror image wings. Instead they just flipped the same wing over and called it done. So I had to get a bit creative on putting in new scribed panel lines. Took a picture of the first wing all done, then flipped it and printed out some paper guides. Glued them on the plastic and traced the lines with a knife. That gave me the guide to scribe. Only real trouble was I forgot to sand down the raised panel lines all the way first. So after I pulled off the paper I had lines going everywhere.
30 July 2019, 09:00
Slavo Hazucha
Great... they basically give you general-direction material, you have to make your model, then build it...
30 July 2019, 10:36
Greg Baker
I'm scared to take a close look at the intakes... everyone seems to be talking about them...
30 July 2019, 12:20
Nathan Dempsey
Nice rescribe work there Greg!
30 July 2019, 12:52
Greg Baker
I started cutting up the fuselage to rework the intakes. Luckily I have no idea what I'm doing...😉
30 July 2019, 14:50
Slavo Hazucha
it's essentially adding 1/4 of a MiG-21 intake on each side...😉
30 July 2019, 14:53
Greg Baker
I think that 1/4 MiG-21 idea did the trick... I used more leftover missiles from my MiG-21 project to do more or less the same thing I did for the intakes on that project... and then sanded them more or less a quarter round. Given the slightly misshapen fuselage, it would've been impossible to do it perfectly, so I massaged everything into place. i'm Pretty happy with the result.
31 July 2019, 14:51
Chris Greathouse
Watching!
31 July 2019, 21:53
Greg Baker
Uh oh... now that Chris is here, I'm going to have to up my game...
31 July 2019, 22:27
Slavo Hazucha
And make it yellow...
31 July 2019, 22:29
Bryn Crandell
Watching
4 August 2019, 16:49
Greg Baker
Now that the Nausicaa project is finished, I dusted off my F-111 project, before I get left too far behind. Not a ton of progress, but we now have lights.
14 August 2019, 16:22
Greg Baker
I closed up the air intakes. Not as elegant as Slavo's effort... but that bar's been set pretty high.
15 August 2019, 14:39
Slavo Hazucha
Provided your plane would almost fit in one of those intakes, your bar is set in it´s own league😉

I think I understand where this effort is going, if I am right it´s going to be seriously cool 👍
15 August 2019, 14:45
Greg Baker
Thanks Slave. Let's hope it gets there. business end of a file to the canopy. Does that look better? Compared to pic 12... should I keep going, or is that close enough?
16 August 2019, 12:19
Slavo Hazucha
IMHo this should do fine, once the distinctive cross frame is painted on the canopy it should blend into the overall shape nicely. Happy polishing!😉
17 August 2019, 11:04
Matthew A
That does look a lot better.
17 August 2019, 12:37
Matthew A
Anyone know if the British F-111K would have had a US recon pack like the RF-111C, or one based on the TSR.2?
17 August 2019, 12:45
Greg Baker
I'd hate to have to blow up any real pilots, so luckily I had a couple of safety dummies to put in the cockpit instead.😉. They'll be practically invisible inside anyway.
23 August 2019, 00:28
Slavo Hazucha
This time they even have legs! 👍
23 August 2019, 05:10
Greg Baker
They actually have quite a bit of leg room... but it's hard to see through the windscreen... almost like I planned it that way. The cockpit is now put together, may the sanding begin!
24 August 2019, 04:30
Greg Baker
Finally time to get some paint on this one. I did some pre-shading. It's a little hard to see in the pic because I wanted to make sure it was subtle, but it looks pretty good up close and personal. Now for some camouflage masking...
28 August 2019, 15:36
Daniel Klink
111, 111, 111,111 hm Aardvark pandemia... And now Greg goes for the smallest and tiniest examples..
Following 👍
28 August 2019, 15:38
Greg Baker
We might not be big, but we're small...😉
28 August 2019, 15:40
Daniel Klink
And as all of your builds full of live, special effects and fantastic skills even in this small scale. 👍 Especially with this crappy kit .respect mate
28 August 2019, 15:47
Slavo Hazucha
I thought pre-shading in this scale is basically an on/off decission for the whole model 🙂 This looks good, looking forward to the scene & action!
28 August 2019, 16:21
Daniel Klink
MAde my DAy Slavo..MAster of the right words at the right time 🙂🙂
28 August 2019, 16:26
Spanjaard
interesting, as always
28 August 2019, 19:47
Greg Baker
After a couple of rounds of masking and painting... we have camouflage. Not quite happy with it, but too lacy to try and repaint it.
31 August 2019, 14:29
Matthew A
I am impressed
31 August 2019, 15:11
Lost_Erik
👍
31 August 2019, 15:22
Nathan Dempsey
Nice camo Greg. It certainly has that Area 88 feel 🙂
31 August 2019, 17:01
Chris Greathouse
Cool camo!
31 August 2019, 18:09
Spanjaard
nice camo
1 September 2019, 08:19
Nils Steyaert
i agree, the camouflage looks really good 🙂
1 September 2019, 08:38
Greg Baker
Thanks guys. I appreciate the encouragement. I got the last bit of painting done, gave it a panel wash and attached the fireball and base... looks like I survived the SCM F-111 Aardvark GB after all.😉
1 September 2019, 14:36
Stephan Ryll
Good idea and work on that dio Greg 👍
1 September 2019, 15:39
Donald Dickson II
How I missed this I dont know. Looks great as always!
1 September 2019, 16:12
Chris Greathouse
Um... Greg... Your marshmallow is on fire 😛 Another fine craft by the one and only Greg 😄

Question about the electronics and lights in general. How did you learn how to do it all? Do you have background experience with electronics? Where did you learn?
1 September 2019, 17:33
Matthew A
Eject eject eject!?!
1 September 2019, 17:42
Lost_Erik
Fantastic result Greg.
1 September 2019, 18:27
Greg Baker
Thanks guys.

Chris - thanks! Now I can't unsee the marshmallow!😉 As for the lights and electronics, my only background in them is flipping the switch when I enter/leave a room. 😄 Necessity is the mother of education. I had a goal and I learned enough to reach that goal. It's really not all that hard. Most of my projects are very simple circuits. 2-3 LED lights, a 5v usb cord as a power source. All you need is to solder a few wires and a resistor together. Are you interested in a basic tutorial?
1 September 2019, 22:33
Chris Greathouse
I was just wondering where your skills came from 😄
1 September 2019, 23:10
Greg Baker
I have also wondered that... but they're almost undetectable, so probably not worth the time it takes to track them... 😛
1 September 2019, 23:15
Greg Baker
BTW - In case anyone's interested, I've updated my blog with this build. Same pics, more rambling commentary... but a bonus page of the manga story! strobez.ca/wp/index...l-to-die-on-area-88/
1 September 2019, 23:37
Slavo Hazucha
A rather flamboyant ending to a basically "scratch-build with use Trumpeter parts" project... Going down with style 🙂 It's a pleasure to watch your Area 88 builds, looking forward for more 👍
2 September 2019, 05:49
Spanjaard
Great job Greg, as always
Maybe you could put together that training, I am sure a lot of people could make use of it😉
2 September 2019, 06:52

Album info

Eric and Harrison, in their F-111 Aardvark are the first victims of Project 4's anti-aircraft mines.

Part of the 2019 F-111 Group build!

32 immagini
1:144
Completato
1:144 F-111E Aardvark (Mini Hobby Models 80416)

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