Hi guys… Has anyone built the Hasegawa FB-111A ?.. If so, I am at the stage of assembling the front and back halves together, and notice that they are way out with a huge gap… What did you guys do to rectify this, or am I just holding my tongue the wrong way?.. I am guessing the 1/48 scale model of this bird is the same?
Chris in Japan
I`ve built a couple Hasegawa EF111s and have had to fill the Gap with putty.
Not much but the halves do ap a bit.
good luck with yours
Phil/Rt4957
Hmmm.
I built Hasegawa’s F-111G (reissued FB-111A kit) recently and had no such problem getting the front and back fuselage halves together. They met up nice and flush, no filler required.
I didn’t do anything special, just followed the instructions.
Try to glue a piece of styrene
Just to give you guys an idea as to what I am talking about, I took a pic of the area that I am having problems… I have outlined the gap in red…
Now after further inspection, I think I will be fine. As after all of the air intake section is completed, it will cover up any gaps that may be present… I have also found that as the landing gear bay box doesnt sit 100% strait, it too has added to the bad fit…
To be honest I think I got a little excited and thought it was worse than it was… Thanks for your help gentlemen!.. As for this kit. I am very interested in discussing it with whom ever has built it… I would love to see your aircraft aswell!
Chris in Japan
New update guys… I have just finished placing the side parts on. And I must say that every time I do another Hasegawa kit, I simply become even more amazed!.. The gap is supposed to be there, as it allows the side parts to fit on, and then they slide everything together… Just great engineering!.. After it is placed on and fitted. Everything fits well, and there is no gap!
Chris in Japan
Well, if you’d like to discuss the model, I’ll be happy to tell you my thoughts on it.
The only complaints I can make about it are:
1: Wing flaps need work and trimming of the actuator arms to keep them from interfering with the ordinance load. They hang too low if left unmodified.
2: Lack of ordinance choices, though this is typical of any Hasegawa kit, its their way of getting you to spend more money and buy their seperate ordinance kits.
3: Cockpit detail is quite sparse considering what you can see through the canopy.
Of those complaints, I’d say the first is the most serious as it will hamper even the basic out of the box modeler, not just the detail freak.
Are you building it as an actual FB-111 or are you going for the G model as I did? If you’re doing the G then you have to do some covering in of the astro tracking disk on the nose just ahead of the cockpit. It was standard gear on FB-111s, but I’ve never seen it on an F-111G.
Here’s a few pics of my completed Aussie Vark:
The kit took me about a week in construction and another three weeks for paint and decals (all those stencils![:(]) Beyond replacing the pitot tube with a small length of metal, its totally straight from the box.
I’ve been told that Hasegawa decals are specialy engineered to work only with Mr. Mark Softer setting solution, but I had no problem getting mine to work with Micro Set/Sol.