Has anyone built a F-111? If so who makes a good kit.
Hey mate,
It’s been a while (over 15 years) since I built a 1/72 Hasegawa F-111, but, from memory, I found it to be a pretty good kit. No weapons came with it, but the moldings were nice and crisp. as you expect on 1/72, the cockpit lacked any substantial detail, but there was substantial detail in the wings with respect to leading edge flaps/ailerons etc. The only problem is, i think Hasegawa only release their f-111 kits it every now and again, hence, they’re not always available.
I also have in my stash of unbuilt kits: the Academy 1/48 F-111C and the HobbyBoss 1/48 F-111C.
Whilst they are unbuilt, the HobbyBoss appears to beat the Academy hands down in terms of detail (and it garnered a pretty good review in an FSM last year), however, it was twice the price of the Academy.
Hope this helps a bit.
Chris.
It seems there’s a dearth of F-111 kits in 1/72.
If you want 1/72 scale, you definitely want a Hasegawa kit (late 80’s early 90’s vintage). However, as mentioned above, they are mostly OOP and reappear at irregular intervals. Your LHS may have one hiding on the shelf or you may have to resort to Ebay to track one down. Hasegawa kitted all of the varaints, IIRC ( FB-111A, F-111A,C/D/E/F/G, EF-111A) with the exception of the cancelled Naval F-111B.
Airfix issued kits of the -A, -D/E (and -F?) and the -D/E found its way into MPC boxes back in the 80’s. However, I believe this kit is long OOP and, having originated in the mid-late 70’s is perhaps best forgotten.
AMT (ESCI?) did an F-111A and EF-111A in 1/72 and these kits may also be found in Italeri boxes. I believe AMT also did the -A in 1/48, but I’m not sure if Italeri has reissued this.
Revell has also issued the EF-111A in 1/72. (and also issued the A, C and B many decades ago - these kits are best left alone)
At the present time, the easiest kits to obtain (in 1/72) appear to be the AMT/Italeri EF-111A, F-111A and Revell EF-111A.
In 1/72 scale, the Hasegawa kit would be a first choice of mine, though they may be hard to find. A recent trip to my LHS a few months ago did uncover a couple of C’s (the Aussie export version). They are favorably acclaimed by many reviewers on-line as, though not perfect (no kit is), the best in this scale. (One reviewer went so far as saying it was his choice as the best ever overall kit, of any subject, in this scale. Hasegawa should wake up and re-release these kits. They are a bit complicated to build for beginners (171 pieces for the D/F version in my stash but that represents parts for both versions-an EF version has 96. I also have EF versions in both Emt/Ertl and Italeri. They are the same kit which is not surprising as Italeri acquired many of the AMT/Ertl molds and re-released them. I can’t speak as to the build, fit or accuracy as they have never been started. I currently have the FB-111A completed, with an EF and an F-111D/F (being built as an F) in various in-progress stages. E-bay has many offerings, but I have heard that the Monogram should be passed up.
In 1/48th scale I can’t say as I don’t do this one. The kits are much more available (Squadron lists 8 or 9 kits total in F, EF and FB versions) Perhaps these reviews would help:
This is probably my favorite plane so I had to respond, but I admit I am no expert by any means…