HobbyBoss 1/48 F-111 EF Raven

[LifesGoodDH]

Hey Guys,

Been meaning to work on this beauty for awhile now.


The EF-Raven is one of my favorite aircraft. A derivative of the F-111 Aardvark, she has no weaponry as she carried a giant anti-radar machine to knock out ground based radar. She was used in the opening stages of the first Iraq War to blind Iraqi radar allowing the powerful punch of American airpower to do their work.

If you watch the TV show Dogfights, they walk through how a single EF-Raven lead 30 F-15 and F-16s into Iraqi airspace and jammed all Iraqi radar. Not only is that awesome but she also contributed to a kill despite being weaponless by inducing an intercepting Mig to crash into the ground at low altitude

She's since been retired, replaced by the Growlers but her role in the Persian Gulf War should be recognized and appreciated.

This is a massive kit. The box is ginormous and probably on par with any 1/32 box. For comparison, the box is about two 1/32 Tamiya Mustangs stacked on top of each other. Loads of runners, detail fantastic throughout, no flash. I am a bit concerned it might be overly complicated but I will find out soon enough.

Tons of runners, no photo-etch though. 3 sheets of decals. From what I can tell at the moment, she is engineered to be variable wing after construction.

Working slowly since I'm in the process of moving but will post some photos of the cockpit I'm constructing atm. Decals are supplied but I want to try and paint the controls after seeing a bunch of you guys do it. Plus I have reference shots for the Raven which I took when I visited the USAF museum last weekend.

Coupla notes:
I hand brush small areas. Big areas use rattle cans. Use Tamiya sprays and tamiya acrylics + regular art acrylics to supplement missing colors. (Sorry don't have access to Paul's warehouse )

This is my first build in 1/48 scale. I am expecting a lot of mistakes along the way but I hope that doesn't take away from the thread too much.

Lastly I want to thank Lee and Pau, Coen, Bill in El Paso and Schoof and all the other great members of this forum for their inspiration and contributions to ISM. I started Modelling in January to get past some hard times and this community helped me deal with stress and I pulled through and have come a long way. Don't want to get all touchy-feely but even though I haven't interacted with specific people directly ISM as an entity has helped a lot. Thanks again I hope to contribute in time as well.

[grover]

I love the Raven (and F-111) too. Be keen to see how the build progresses.

[DBMiller]

Looking forward to this build as well. I have an FB-111A that I'd like to get to some day.

[UKguyInUSA]

Thanks for the history lesson on the Raven, I'd never heard of it and cannot for the life of me remember it being mentioned or acknowledged for it's role in the Gulf. That's pretty awesome that it was capable of jamming radar thus leading and clearing the way for the US Air Power.

Looking forward to seeing you build this, looks like a big kit!

Cheers

Martin

[LifesGoodDH]

A lot of work during the construction, followed by a big dumb mistake I missed, followed by me trying to fix it.

First up is the cockpit work. Like I said, I would forgo the decals and try to paint it all in.
She's not perfect (I need to get my hands on some Zoukei Mura brushes!!!! ) and seat belts are still a stiff stiff challenge (I tried and whiffed here), but overall I'm content with the results.


(About halfway through)

Overall construction was OK. This kit is probably a bit over engineered. There's a lot of detail and time spent on things that will never see daylight.
Fit is pretty good - not quite Tamiya level but way better fit than the 1/72 Revell kit monstrosity I worked on a few months ago.







On Sunday, having a lot of free time, I churned through the build, assembling most of the big parts. And here's where I ran into trouble.

Part of it is my fault for going into auto-pilot mode (maybe 3rd hour running). But part of it is the fact that the instructions are lazy.
The instructions only inform you that the wings should be full extended and with air flaps all down (since this is a variable swept wing aircraft).
As I was cementing on the top layer of the fuselage, I realized that this wasn't the configuration I wanted for several reasons.

1) Why do I want a braking aircraft
2) This is when the bird is flying its slowest
3) Wide ass wings means there's no place to store it.

The thing is that the kit comes completely with all the parts needed to build the EF-Raven in her high speed configuration. Wings swept all the way back, flaps all tucked away etc etc... BUT THEY DON"T TELL YOU.

But my cement had already tried, so I had to x-acto the fuselage apart. Even resorting to the nuclear option of using my tamiya cutters for the most stubborn parts.

Here's the aftermath of the carnage. I know she looks rough.


I will take a few days break from this. Finish, sand and fix everything and then reconfigure the kit in the high speed configuration. I will rebuild this bird! Later...

On vacay this week. Will keep this up in earnest.

[grover]

Good luck. Apart from that hiccup its looking pretty nice. I saw this kit for sale so its on my radar for payday next month.

[LifesGoodDH]

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I have been working on this project on and off.

Turns out that many of the pieces I thought would allow a high speed mode configuration were slightly off in their spacing so I had to do a lot of filling, sanding, scratch building. But I finally managed to assemble her. Next step on to the priming, before painting! Hope to do this soon before the weather gets too cold!

[grover]

How will you handle painting the wings? will you do them separately? I remember building an F111 as a kid and the paint scratching away from rubbing with the wing glove. Mind you that was an age ago where both paint and models were smelt in the industrial forges of the english countryside, and came out as Humbrol enamel and Monogram.

[LifesGoodDH]

I have the Tamiya spray cans. Planning to go with Insignia White as the base color, there shouldn't be any problems.

I should note that the ending configuration of my F-111 is NOT the standard HobbyBoss form. It has the wings fully extended outwards with all the flaps out as well in full braking position. I pulled the wings inward and thus had to work around making all the adjustments.

[grover]

Big job. It wasnt an option with the kit?

[LifesGoodDH]

Unfortunately no. Well not completely. I think in the F-111A version they allowed a choice and so because they reused some of the parts, there are hints of allowing the wings to be pulled inwards. That's why I thought initially there were options for both. The biggest issue is where the wings meet the rest of the fuselage, because the angle where the wings come in is different.

Had I planned it all beforehand though I think the whole process would have been much smoother to make the transition. So as long as you are aware you need to do some extra planning and checking instead of mindless gluing and following the instructions like I did, you should be able to get any configuration you want without too much effort.

EDIT:
I will be using this photo that I took at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio as my main reference.



EDIT2:
I just noticed I will need to add the second pair of ordnance racks

[cib2265]

Thats good to know Ive got this kit in my stash and want to build her in the wings swept back configuration (probably with wheels up too)!

From memory did the Raven carry any ordnance? I thought they were unarmed?

[LifesGoodDH]

She doesn't carry weapons but in their place she carries the various guidance pods and other electronic warfare components. Some of which can be carried where missiles would be.

If you want to build her completely wheels up you can do that. They include the parts to completely close the bottom up. I was thinking of doing the same but just fell in love with the landing gear and rubber tires included, I thought it would have been a waste not to use them.

[LifesGoodDH]

Hey Friends,

It's been awhile and you all probably think I only work on Gundam but I don't. Finally finished the EF- Raven, though in hindsight I wish I were better skilled.

The kit is indeed over engineered but she is a beauty. Here are some pictures but I didn't max out the potential of this kit. It's part of the hobby - you suck and suck and suck and gradually get better so I'd definitely consider doing this kit again when I get better but here it is. It's a fantastic kit - not perfect and the instructions are not that clear but you can make a marvelous kit with the right skill level.

[UKguyInUSA]

That's a nice big bird, great job mate!

[EagleOnyx]

You did a great job on that! I think it looks awesome! I think everyone has been there with having to cut something apart because of a missed detail, part or botched installation!

[grover]

Great work. Came out really well after all that struggle. Well worth it

[LifesGoodDH]

Thanks guys! Means a lot!