1/48 Academy EF-111A Raven

Gallery Article by Victor De Jesus on June 9 2010

 

     This is the third F-111 that I've built, and it turned out to be the best one yet.  I recently began to read up on how the pros make their kits look so good, and I‘ve begun to apply their techniques to my models. Granted, I am nowhere near to the high level of expertise of the master modelers, but I still learning. This is a build right out of the box since I did not want to spend a fortune on resin parts that I have zero experience with. I used Model Masters enamel paints on this build for the two greens with tan camouflage scheme. The instructions called for the two gray scheme, but I just find those colors way too boring. I also painted the undercarriage flat black. I used the decals provided with the kit, and although at first look they appeared to be good in quality, I soon found out this to be the opposite.  Get a nice decal sheet if you buy this kit. 

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      I used an airbrush to do most of the painting. The painting was done free hand (a first one for me), and it turned out to be great since there are no visible left over lines with the usual masking on the kit. I painted the detail inside the wheel compartments, but I failed to realize these areas would be covered in later stages of the assembly (bummer). I painted the cockpit mostly with fine tip paint brushes to capture the fine details of the instrument panels.

      I guess I bought a reject Academy kit since the fitting of some of the components was terrible. The fitting (or lack of) between the front and rear part of the fuselage was notably bad. I found myself filling, sanding, cursing, and repeating the process for quite some time to get it somewhat flush. Because of the severity of the poor fitting, I applied several layers of paint in an attempt to cover some of the faults. This worked to some extent, but not to the level I hoped for. I also applied two coats of Future to help with the texture and the application of decals. I gave the kit two coats of ultra gloss clear coat to cover any final flaws with the decals. I know, I know, it’s not what is supposed to be, but what the heck! I like my models to shine. 

       I usually like to assemble my kits with plenty of ordinance, but this kit brought none. Just four fuel tanks and the ECM pod. It came with a few other parts that I have no clues what are they or where to place them. I attached one of them to the ECM pod, and the other one right next to the ECM pod on the undercarriage of the airplane. I usually build 1/32 scale airplanes, and I have plenty of missiles and bombs on that scale. Since I could not find an F-111 kit in that scale, I had to settle for the 1/48 scale; no regrets though!  

 

      Overall, this is a simple kit to build, and it has very good details. The fitting of this kit was not the usual Academy quality which is typically great fitting. The decals look good at first glance, but when applied, they tended to fill with air between the decal and the model. My final product was good, but I did make a few visible mistakes along the way. I am hoping to post soon my recent 1/32 scale Tornado and F-18 “Chippy Ho” kits. Thanks for taking time reading my first gallery article, and I hope you like it.         

Victor De Jesus

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Photos and text © by Victor De Jesus