The EF-111A Raven
was an unarmed Electronic Warfare version of the F-111 Aardvark. Instead of
using bombs or missiles to fight the enemy, the Raven used its extensive
electronics in combat. For self defense it relied on flying fast, far, and low.
Capabilities it still had from its fighter bomber days. Developed by Grumman in
the late 70's, a total of 42 were converted from F-111A's with the final one
being delivered in 1985. The Ravens went to two USAF units, the 390th ECS based
at Mountain Home, Idaho and the 42nd ECS based at RAF Upper Heyford in the UK.
The EF-111 got its
baptism of fire during Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986, the retaliatory
attack on Libya. It was also used during Operation Just Cause in 1989 over
Panama. When in 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait, it was time for the largest deployment
of the EF-111A force ever, like it was for so many types of planes. Both the
390th and the 42nd ECS sent planes to the Gulf theater, with the 390th going to
Taif in Saudi Arabia, and the 42nd going to Incirlik in Turkey. From these
bases, numerous missions were flown in support of coalition forces. On one of
these mission during the first night of the war, a Raven from the 390th ECS even
managed to get a "kill". After being jumped on by an Iraqi Mirage F.1
fighter plane, the crew of the Raven hit the deck, its best defense. The
pursuing Mirage couldn't keep up and flew into the ground.
After Operation Desert Storm, the Raven flew for a few more years in support of
actions in the Middle East and former Yugoslavia. By this time the EF-111 force
was concentrated in the 429th ECS at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. In 1998, 15 years
after being accepted by the USAF, the days for the EF-111A were over and all
remaining planes were sent to AMARC or put on display.
Click on
images below to see larger images
For this build, I
used the excellent Hasegawa kit. Part of a whole family F-111 kits, it has the
typical modularity we see more in Hasegawa kits (F-4, anyone?). Detail is good,
panel lines are recessed and very fine. The only minor nitpick is the lack of
detail in the cockpit, only decals are supplied.
The kit goes
together without much trouble, and only a little filler was needed on the mating
of the front and rear fuselage. Flaps and slats are provided in the kit, and the
instructions only show the option of these fully deployed with spread wings. It
is still possible to pose the wings in a different position, but this requires
some surgery. Mind you, the real thing only had its wings fully spread with
flaps and slats down with engine power on, so you might want to add a crew to
the cockpit. I didn't notice this until the build was almost finished and
decided I could live with it. The Raven only had one paint scheme throughout its
career, being FS 36492 for the lower surfaces and FS 36320 for the upper
surfaces. I used Humbrol 196 and 128 for this. Other surfaces like the radome,
wing-gloves and tail panels were painted with various other grey shades, some
custom mixed. Various ModelMaster Metallizer paints and Alclad II were used for
the exhausts.
I decided to build
mine as 67-0035, a Raven based at RAF Upper Heyford and deployed to Incirlik.
Markings were done with a mix of kit decals, Superscale decals and a roundel
from a Wolfpack sheet. Weathering was done using a pastel wash to get a subtle
effect.
I really enjoyed building this
EF-111 model, and I hope you will enjoy the result.
Thanks for looking.
Pjotr van der Ploeg
Click on
images below to see larger images
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