45DegreesModelling

Thank you Rob. Love it Dave, for a few years I worked on a desk in my spare room until I decided that just after covid Id build my own bench in my garage. It’s taken me a while, buying little bits each month but it’s steadily getting there. Tom

I recently re laid some vinyl in my booth, prob why it’s a bit clean at the moment, the bench I always give a organise and clean after each model and sometimes in between!

Thank you, as frustrating as the masking was, it was worth it! Thank you!

Thank you ‘cuffed it’ is slang, like ‘to wing something’… do it without preparation or thinking too deeply about it.

thank you. To be fair, every time I finish a model I have a bit of a clean up ready for the next one!

Final update on the aircraft. Once I had completed the paint job I gave it a gloss coat in X22 clear and applied the decals before then re sealing them in with X22. I didn’t manage to get back to the bench for a week and when I did I discovered one of the decals had suffered badly from silvering. As it was already looking pretty bad I thought I would try and rescue it anyway. I slit the decal with a sharp blade and carefully applied some Micro Sol and this seemed to do the trick. With that complete, I sealed the decal again and applied a dark wash and some oil paints. I have since made a Ready For Inspection post here so you can see the final images. If you’d like to see my build video then you can do so. Thanks for reading and following if you got this far. Tom

Hello everyone, I’d like to share my finished F-35B from Italeri/Tamiya in 1/72 scale. I built this for a friend as he said he didn’t have the time or skill and asked if I could do it for his young son… he gave me some after market decals so the plane could represent an aircraft from the 809 NAS. In hindsight and with a bit more research I could have made this plane slightly more accurate I.e. removed some radar tape etc… basically what I’m saying is, I cuffed it! I made a WIP post here. If you’d like to see more images then you can also find them here. And here she is on my bench while I have a coffee admiring her! Thanks for looking. I also made a build video for those that would like to see. Thanks for looking. Tom

I cannot state enough how much I love this. Going to search out your channel now! Brilliant building.

I’m just about to start a diorama inspired by the teachings of Uncle Night Shift. I hope mine comes out half as good as yours. Great work!

Thank you for your feed back guys, it’s useful information to know, The Tamiya instructions don’t seem to be clear in these points. As the end is in sight there is a few things that I’d change in hindsight and one would be the grimey look in the weapons bay (I’d tone it down a bit) and also the colour of the radar tapes as the Royal Navy F35‘s don’t look to have a contrasting radar tape. Cheers, Tom

Small F35B update: I gave the model another coat of XF24 Dark Grey. Next came the masking for the radar tape. I purchased the Eduard masking set CX562… boy did this take a long time. It felt like an absolute chore but I eventually got it done. And I’m glad I did as I was extremely happy with how it came out. I sprayed XF53 neutral grey for the radar tapes. The Humbrol Maskol was brilliant for the awkward shapes when it came to masking. And finally before spraying the model with X22 Clear, I made sure the armament was painted. Im really enjoying this build, but I’ll be happy when it’s complete. If you got this far, thanks for reading. Tom

Another update on the F35B: With everything prepared I began masking the cockpit, air intake, landing gear bays, weapon bays etc… this took some time and was helped with Humbrol Maskol. I finally got my hand on Mr Hobby Mr Finishing 1500 Black. I was extremely satisfied with the result, I don’t think I’ll be going back to Vallejo primer. To add some variation under the surface I mottled the aircraft with XF2 White. I did this with all the sub assemblies as well. Next I had opportunity to play around with the exhaust. I gave it a prime of Vallejo Black Gloss (Begrudgingly) then some X10 Gun Metal, XF56 Metallic Grey before carefully spraying the tip and edges with XF84 Dark Iron. When this had dried, I sprayed some X27 Clear Red and X23 Clear Blue in the areas where it would potentially heat stain. There was also a coat of XF2 White on the inside of the exhaust. This was all spontaneous to be honest and I was pretty happy with the result. At this stage, all the armament has been given a coat of XF19 Sky Grey. And all the sub assemblies are complete (barring decals and wash). With all that done, I finally managed to spray the aircraft XF24 Dark Grey. I sprayed in light coats, careful not to cover up the pre shading too much. I’ve managed to get quite a lot done this week and I’m happy with the progress. Thanks for reading. Tom

Blimey, that sure looks good. Great work.

Love the model and love the photography!

An update on the F35B: With the fuselage together, I got to work on the weapons bays. After a coat of grey primer and XF2 White, I gave the main piping a coat of Vallejo 70.819 Iraqi Sand and the wire detail a touch of Vallejo 71.033 Yellow Orche. Once dry I gave the whole bay a wash of Tamiya Panel Line Accent Colour Black and rubbed away any excess. There was a few learning points with this and hand on heart, it isn’t my best work but it will be mostly hidden so I’m not loosing too much sleep. The tail/rear wings were added next. I really like the low profile of the F35. I then decided that before I began any sort of priming, I’d complete and organise all the sub assemblies which Includes armaments, landing gears and the bay doors… this took quite a lot of time. There was no issue with fitting, just a bit of sanding and construction. And now she’s ready for a coat of primer… after I’ve done some masking of the cockpit, air intake and weapons bays! Thanks for reading, Tom