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Greg Kittinger
122 articles

Italeri 1/72 F-111A Aardvark

June 12, 2017 · in Aviation · · 15 · 4.8K

Built OOB except added crew, and swapped out 1000 lb iron bombs for r******d bombs. Was a pretty nice kit - a bit difficult to get the exhaust nozzles snuggled up next to the fuselage once everything was put together. I used a panel line wash and in hindsight wish I'd have just used post shading, as it came out a bit stark. I tried using pastel chalk powders to lighten the center sections of most panels - I used a dirty white on the tan and a light grey on the green sections. It looked pretty good until I top coated with dullcoat, and then the grey turned darker and the white disappeared! Once I was done with everything, I went back over the tan with the white powder and this time did not top coat - you can see the subtle lightening, but I better keep this one out of the rain! Not a lot of weathering except the panel wash, usual post shading with various colors of pastel chalk powders, and a bit of staining underneath and on rear section with Tamiya weathering kits and Tensacrom. Couple of shots of the crew in the cockpit, since you can't see much in there once closed up. Kit decals for a 1972 Thailand-based .

Reader reactions:
8  Awesome

11 additional images. Click to enlarge.


15 responses

  1. Like I said at the meeting, Greg. Fantastic build.

    You guys wont believe that he does this with either a hairy stick or rattle can.

  2. Looks great--always liked the Vark, even saw one fly in a show at 14 Wing. Noisy bird for sure.

  3. I like these jets mate, there's something cool about them. I think it's the side by side seating.
    Nice build, very good finish.

  4. Good-lookin' build, Greg...nice detail work! I like it.

  5. Nice job Greg, well painted, unusual to see models "in flight", but great effect.

  6. Very nice job Greg! 🙂

  7. Fine work indeed Greg,the weathering is first class.also all the small touches add,I enjoyed looking at this build.thanks.

  8. Nice job. I flew 67-065 for five of my combat missions during that war when I was in the 428 TFS based at Takhli RTAFB.

  9. I know that kit, Greg, and you've done a h*ll of a job to get such a great model out of such a 'challenging' kit.

    Ian.

  10. She looks fine Greg! I like the way you got the right seater to pose for the camera.

  11. Greg, fine work. Where did the crew figures come from? They really look good!

  12. Great build and awesome work. Takes me back to the time of the raid over Libia in the 80's. The only Aardvark shut down on that mission was piloted Puertorrican Captain so it hit close to home. Thanks!

  13. Always nice to see another Pig Greg, well done.

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