F-35B Lightning II - 1:72 Fujimi

[Paul A H]

F-35B Lightning II

1:72 Fujimi

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, sometimes also known by the name of the American led multi-national Joint Strike Fighter program to which it owes its existence, is a fifth generation multi-role aircraft. The Lockheed X-35 prototype flew for the first time in 2000 and went on to win a competitive process ahead of the rival Boeing X-32 design. There are three variants of the F-35, the A, which is the conventional land-based strike fighter, the B, which is the navalised VSTOL model equipped with a lift fan, and the C, which is the navalised cat & trap variant fitted with arrestor gear and a larger wing.

The F-35B is the variant selected by the Government of the United Kingdom for the RAF and Royal Navy. It is the most complex of the three variants as it relies on a lift fan installed between the pilot and the engine for its VSTOL capabilities. The nature of this design continues to provoke discussion as outside of take-off and landing, the fan becomes dead weight, reducing range and payload. Make no mistake, however. The F-35 is still an incredibly potent aircraft, packed with cutting edge technology, the latest avionics and weapons systems and low-observable design. It has two internal bays that can be used to carry munitions, as well as six external hard-points for when stealth is a lesser consideration. The first of the evaluation F-35Bs was received by the RAF in July 2012 and the type is expected to be operational by 2018.

Despite being a relatively new design, there have been several kits of the F-35 from manufacturers including Italeri (X-35 and then latterly F-35A) and Academy, with more kits on the way from Cyber-Hobby, Hasegawa and Kitty Hawk. This kit is one of the first from respected Japanese manufacturer Fujimi for some time. It first appeared in 2010, but owing to the difficulty of obtaining Fujimi kits on this side of the globe, relatively few have been seen on Britmodeller. Now Amerang have signed a deal to import Fujimi kits to the UK and the kit is much more widely available.

The top-opening box is adorned with a simple picture of an F-35 demonstrator (complete with dodgy English translation) and contains eight sprues moulded in grey, metallic dark grey, white and clear plastic. Altogether there are almost 70 parts, as well as instructions and decals. Moulded detail is generally very fine and sharp, with recessed panel lines and rivets/fasteners. The combination of multi-coloured plastic and state of the art mouldings leaves you with the impression that this is some kind of glorious cross collision between Tamiya and Matchbox!

As usual, contruction starts with the cockpit and lower front fuselage. The cockpit tub, seat, instrument panel and side-stick are all moulded in white plastic. The detail on the tub and instrument panel is pretty reasonable, but you'll need to make use of the instrument decals in order to complete this sub-assembly. The ejection seat is a bit of a letdown as it is very basic and bears little resemblance to a Martin Baker Mk.16. Once completed, the tub fits into the lower front fuselage, which is moulded separately to the rest of the airframe.

Next up, the lift fan and drive shaft have to be assembled. These are relatively simple (although nicely moulded) but I'm not sure how much of them will be seen once sealed inside the fuselage halves. Construction then jumps to the internal weapons bay. The bay itself is ver nicely moulded, with plenty of structural detail. The weapons are a different story and appear almost clunky when compared to the rest of the kit. The AIM-120s will probably pass muster, but the JDAM bombs are very basic indeed. I'd recommend replacing them with items from the spares box. Fujimi would have you assemble the landing gear at this stage too. These parts are better than the weapons, but still a little basic when compared to the rest of the kit. The wheel hubs are quite nicely detailed though, and the tyres have flat spots moulded in place.

A fairly complete engine is included, made up of the fan/low pressure compressor, a choice of two engines (in conventional or angled vertical takeoff configuration) and a beautiful exhaust section which I can't imagine will be bettered by the aftermarket manufacturers. Once the lift fan, engine, cockpit and weapons bay have been installed, you can close up the fuselage. On this occasion I would advise you not to test fit the join between the upper and lower fuselage halves as they are pretty much snap-fit and you will have terrible trouble prising them apart again.

Once the fuselage has been assembled, then the remaining parts of the airframe can be added. The horizontal tails are one-piece affairs, as are the vertical tails. The nose cone is last in place and it doesn't look as though any nose weight will be required. A choice of doors are provided for the lift fan and undercarriage, designed to make life easier depending on whether you want to finish your model gear up or gear down. The engine just slides in through the opening in the rear of the fuselage, allowing it to be displayed alongside the aircraft if required.

A choice of two canopies is provided clear and tinted. Both are extremely well produced and very clear indeed. The quality of the canopy will make a replacement ejector seat all the more necessary.

The decal sheet is nicely printed but includes markings for just one aircraft the F-35B demonstrator shown on the box artwork. A full set of stencils is included, alongside a large number of Remove Before Flight tags.

Conclusion

Whilst it has one or two weak spots, on the whole this is a very appealing kit. The overall fit and finish looks like it will be very good and the outstanding surface detail more than makes up for the odd dodgy ejector seat. The kit looks accurate too. The ordnance options won't set the world alight, but that shouldn't be too much of a worry. The only other downside is the price. At around £35 it isn't cheap, but until the Kitty Hawk kit arrives, it's the only real option for a B model. I'm know I'm certainly looking forward to building mine.

Review sample courtesy of UK distributors for

[Basosz]

Great review. Looks like an interesting kit. The price is a bit steep indeed, but for that money you get a box that you can show to all your friends and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh...

[Tabio]

I thought I'd like one of these, but the price rules it out!

[Julien]

Nice looking kit.

Interesting that Amerang are now the Fujimi importer!

[Paul A H]

Interesting that Amerang are now the Fujimi importer!

Yep, they have imported some Phantom FGR.1s too. We'll be reviewing one soon, although of course it's already a very well known kit

[Julien]

A double edged sword then. They will be more available but at an increased price.

Julien

[falcon]

Actually looks very good when built up too.

[-Neu-]

Built one too, in the hawks -533 scheme.

The kit has two major issues. #1 the rivet holes are overdone and really not present on aircraft. Second, the Auxillary air inlet is molded close. That's okay if you're going to build one in normal flight/at rest, but it will not be accurate if you want to build it in STOVL mode.

Despite these issues, I really like the model.