1/72 Hawegawa F-35B Marines

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi folks,

 

I'm back to do a little project that I've been wanting to do ever since I built the Hasegawa F-35A Lightning; namely to build the long hoped for Hasegawa "B" version!.  They have come rhough, and I've gotten my grubby mitts on one.

 

I personally feel that the Hasegawa is hands-down the best 1/72 F-35 out there, first the "A", now including the "B" version. (You might correctly surmise that I'm waiting breathlessly for their "C" version, as well!)

 

Some folks didn't like the Hasegawa F-35A, simply because it had no open weapons bays/missles. Folks -- it's a STEALTH aircraft. All that fluff hanging out in the wind is not the best thing ever, as the radar image would not be very stealthy. Well, their "B" version is the same -- no weapons and no bays.

 

The reason that I feel that Hasegawa is the best model of this aircraft is simply that it's pretty much dead-on accurate, as well as having decals provided for the Ram panels, versus the "sculptured terraces" that everyone else uses for RAM panels, with or without decals. But enough editorializing.

 

I got my kit after a few months waiting for my pre-order to be shipped, from Hobby Search in Japan. The kit looks like this.

 

 

 

 

This it appears to have all the parts needed to open or droop to depict landing or takeoff configurations, as well as the option for in flight mode, for which a very nice stand is also included.

 

This build will start kind of slowly, as I am just completing a couple of home remodeling projects, and have company coming at the first of the month, and the garden beckons, etc.  But I will try to move along as much as I can,  for the near future.

 

See you later,

 

Ed

 

 

[Smudge]

Looks good in the box. The decal sheet looks very comprehensive, should be a big help with all those 'panels'. I like the squadron markings too! 

 

Will follow along with interest.

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello again!

 

Managed to make a little progress  -- finished one home project! -- and made a little progress on the F-35B. This kit fits so well, that were it not for the rather complex painting requirements, you could easily build it in a day or two. But for me, what with life interfering  and masking and painting time, it will take me a little longer!

 

First up, a lot of model parts get painted white. In this case Alclad II white primer:

 

 

Next, some other parts get a coat of Black Alclad II primer:

 

 

To start actual construction of the model, the instructions have you glue together 4 different pieces to cleverly form the tricky intakes for the Lightning II. Everything has been painted white inside. The instructions advise you to add the front lift fan drive shaft and its' corresponding engine front fan to this assembly. I decided to test-fit the drive shaft, and discovered that a little "hump" was missing from the center of the drive shaft, that appears in all photos of this area of the real aircraft that I've so far seen. I added a slice of heat-shrink tubing, held in place with a little glue. The shaft eventually will be painted "Steel" color.

 

 

A small misguidance in the instructions calls for the fuselage intake sides to be painted in FS 36270, known forever in the US as "Neutral Gray", but they show it being painted in a vertical line as shown below. The problem is, the edge of the gray should not be vertical, but instead, should follow the slant of the outer intake. As shown below, the gray paint should extend into the area marked X, in the direction of the arrow, so that the white and gray demarcation line follow the same "edge":

 

 

Next, the instructions call for a few holes to be opened in the upper and lower fuselage halves (shown by the letter "H"), and the arrows show where you add little fence-like parts, that in the end, will sort of snap togther to support and align the fuselage halves, making them almost a "snap-tite" style of fit. The "W"'s show where the landing gears wells have been glued on:

 

 

In the photo below, be aware that the white areas were not masked precisely, as the primer is thin enough that the panel lines won't be filled by excess paint. I just masked then enough to keep if confined to more or less the correct area. I used some gray wash in the wheel wells etc, to "pop" the detail, without being as overwhelming as black would appear, on a new aircraft:

 

 

Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll show how that gray line on the intakes should look, among other things.

 

See you in a couple of days...

Ed

[Planebuilder62]

Another great build kicking off here Ed, really like your style.

 

I’ll pull up a seat for this one. 

 

Regards Toby

 

[Hamden]

 

I'll pull up a seat too if you don't mind I always learn from your builds

 

  Roger

[Duncan B]

I just spotted this kit this morning while looking for new stock to order. 

It looks like a great kit so I’ll be following this with interest and have decided I’ll be importing some of these in my next batch. 

 

Duncan B

[Dave Fleming]

And with new aircraft, the RAM tape is the same colour as the airframe, so even the decals aren’t needed.

 

Fingers crossed for a UK markings release

Edited March 28, 2018 by Dave Fleming

[TheRealMrEd]

Welcome aboard, everyone!

 

In my case Dave, I'm going to do the VMFA-121 version in the kit, and it's still got the old style ram. Wonder if the older ones will be changed, somewhere down the road...

 

Ed

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi everyone,

 

A  small update.  As promised, here is a view of what the gray/white demarcation line in the intake assembly should resemble:

 

 

The shot on the right, above shows the installed engine front, which is connected to the drive shaft noted earlier.

 

Next a shot of some of the other fans and the engine, all shot first with Alclad II black primer, then magnesium or other colors, followed by a black wash. They actually look much better than my poor photos. One thing, the kit instructions call out "Burnt Iron" for most of these parts, but both Alclad II and Metalizer's burnt whatever colors looked too dark. I went with the magnesium color to allow a little detail via the wash to show in the end. Not that I would imagine that the magnesium would be used in real life, as that burns really well! There's a shot I've seen of a B-36 that burned into ash following a crash, courtesy of loads of magnesium used in it's construction...

 

 

Some day, I really have to figure out how to photograph metallic surfaces!

 

Plenty of other detail painting is needed. Here is a shot of the wheel masks, added to the white hubs, prior to shooting the tires black:

 

 

Next, more construction -- showing the rear engine mount and the intake/lift fan assembly glued into the fuse halves. Weldon #3 was used throughout.  The "X" marks an area that the kit instructions call out a "burnt iron", but MOST photos show this area as white, which I used. You're on your own with this call!

 

 

Here's where the first gremlin shows up -- the nose halves don't want to go together!

 

 

I tried sawing off the little "fences" on the nose part, but that wasn't enough. Finally, I just softened the glue connection with more Weldon #3, and removed the thing from on half of the fuse entirely:

 

 

This solved the problem, so the rest of the fuse was glued together, and everything fit precisely!  One thing to note about this kit is that the entire cockpit assembly snaps into place after-the-fact, so painting becomes much easier -- relatively....

 

As I got ready to begin the next step, I ran smack into the major problem on this kit -- as well as most, if not all, other F-35 kits out there!

 

I will ponder the cure for a while, and catch up later on. Thanks for watching,

 

Ed

[missile-monkey]

Forgive me if this is a daft question......but can you do the RN Lightning II from this kit?

 

Regards

 

MM

[Cookenbacher]

Glad to be along for this one Ed, I haven't tackled the F-35 yet, and your build has already yielded some great information.

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi missle-monkey!

 

As far as I know the F-35B and the RN Lightning II are the same platform. Undoubtedly we will see a Brit version released, or at least some decals. As Great Britain is only in for four right now, it may take a while.

 

Things to be aware of however, I don't know whether there's any talk of a Brit engine version (I wouldn't think that likely), as well as any difference with whatever weapons may be carried. Since there are no weapons in the kit, that's a moot point for the present!

 

Welcome aboard, Cookie! I built the Hasegawa F-35A a couple of years back, and it too was an outstanding kit -- again with the "no weapons" proviso. I have, however, set up a little "surprise" down the road...

 

Ed

[Duncan B]

We already have 12 flying as of December 2017 so I'm not sure where you get your 'only in for four' from? 

Some distinctly non Hasegawa type fitting parts you've had to deal with there.

 

Duncan B

[Richard E]

On ‎28‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 5:26 PM, Dave Fleming said:

And with new aircraft, the RAM tape is the same colour as the airframe, so even the decals aren’t needed.

 

Fingers crossed for a UK markings release

Hannants have given us Xtradecal Sheet X72216 (RAF 2014 Update) which includes markings for ZM137

 

Xtradecal X72216 - RAF 2014 Update

[TheRealMrEd]

Duncan B

 

I stand corrected --- the article I quoted came up in a search for another matter. Guess I just failed to notice the date of that report -- whenever it was!

 

Ed

[Dave Fleming]

12 hours ago, Richard E said:

Hannants have given us Xtradecal Sheet X72216 (RAF 2014 Update) which includes markings for ZM137

 

Xtradecal X72216 - RAF 2014 Update

 

Yeah, but I’d rather not spend £8 for 8 decals... 😀

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello again!

 

Perhaps I should begin by correcting myself. What I am going to describe is not actually a major problem on this/other F-35B kits -- it's just a major problem to ME! The problem is that while this kit provides two sets of flaps as well as various doors to allow either in-flight or takeoff/landing mode, the tail-planes or horizontal stabilizers are molded only in the "straight" position, not "deflected" for take-off/landing poses. On VTOL, the various doors, covers, etc. are opened, the flaps are dropped, and the tail-planes are deflected. I've only found one photo showing the leading edge slats deployed, but that may have been during a short or ramp takeoff, etc.

 

One other thing I have learned by watching many videos is that the weapons bay doors seem to only be opened during periods of maximum thrust; that is just as lift-off occurs, or just prior to actual landing, they are opened for a few seconds (or maybe a minute -- haven't timed them). As I plan on depicting my model just prior to take-off or just after landing, the fact that the kit's weapons bays don't open won't be an issue.

 

In any event, after a little study and measuring, the simplest solution for the tail-plane positioning was to cut off a tiny wedge at the lower front of each tail-plane, shown marked in pencil on the first photo below, while the second photo shows the dirty having been done:

 

 

This was not cut, but sanded with a ladies foam fingernail file.  When all is said and done, it looks like this (note dropped flaps):

 

 

From below, then from above:

 

 

 

 

Next, a gratuitous shot of the little modified driveshaft, because I think it's cute!

 

 

Next the necessary doors are temporarily installed with white glue, for ease of later removal by soaking in water. First, on top:

 

 

Then, the underside:

 

 

It should be noted that most of the "closed" or in-flight doors simply snap into place. Hasegawa has really engineered this kit! Also, in reality it's a very simple kit, albeit with quite a few parts.

 

Now, after 24 hours dry time on the glue, it's off to the paint shop, for all the fun THAT entails!

 

Later,

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Hamden]

 

Coming together nicely and quickly as well!

 

     Roger

[Cookenbacher]

That is coming together quickly Ed, and the drooped stabilizers really add to the effect.

[missile-monkey]

7 hours ago, Dave Fleming said:

Yeah, but I’d rather not spend £8 for 8 decals... 😀

.....Here here..........

 

MMM

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello again,

 

When last we met, the F-35B was headed for the paint shop.  Upon arrival, the fuse and other interested parts were given a thin coat of Alclad II Grey Primer. After that had dried the next step was some ram-coated areas (the lighter color of the main two body colors). Normally, when painting a model, most of us first paint the overall or "base" coat, then trim colors or details -- Invasion stripes, etc being the main exceptions.  However, when building the Hasagawa F-35A a couple of years ago, I learned on this family of aircraft paint schemes, it was easier to paint the "trim" first, follow by the base or overall color. Even this method will require a wrinkle, as you shall see.

 

In the photo below, the lighter color is the Alclad primer, with the darker being FS 36270 Neutral Grey, in this case by Model Master. I shot the Neutral Grey freehand with an airbrush, just over the areas on the model (and some parts) where this color was needed:

 

 

Next the Neutral Grey areas were masked off with Tamiya-like tape, and on the nose, with Parafilm "M":

 

 

One thing worth mentioning here is the use of the Parafilm "M". This is a classic place where this stuff is without peer. There are only very fine lines on the fuse that delineate the zig-zag edges of the nose cone, so much so that care must be taken not too build up very much paint here, or you won't find them at all! (I'm not at all certain that this kit COULD even BE hand-painted, because of this one thing...)

 

Anyway, because of this, you couldn't make a masking tape rubbing pattern, so there are really only two choices I can think of to paint the nose -- Parafilm "M" or hand painting. (I'm not at all certain that this kit COULD even BE hand-painted ...) But, if you have any other ideas, it would be good to mention them here for folks who build this model later on. It won't help me, because I wrapped this puppy's nose in two layers of Parafilm, got out my trust hi-powered magnifying set-up and a new, sharp # 11 blade --- and before you know it -- Bob's suddenly hanging around again!

 

Here's the masking picture from the bottom side. By the way, Hasegawa must have added a lot of new decals in this kit, because while they look the same as the A version, there's a lot less detail painting needed:

 

 

Now to again digress for a moment, there is a masking technique that I had to use when I built the Hasegawa F-35A, and was sure that I would need here. I did, but not as much as I had feared. 

 

I don't know what you'd call this method, but what got me thinking about it was the folks who mask canopies by first masking all the vertical frame lines and painting them, then removing the masking from the vertical frame and repeating the whole process with the horizontal frames. For lack of a better term, I'll call it "Layer Masking". In the photo below, I have masked the entire front wing flap area, to protect all the Neutral grey areas there, as well as some unpainted base color areas. So, I have masked some areas that need it, according to the final finish, and some that don't:

 

 

In the right-hand photo above, the darker area has non been sprayed, and the original masking removed. Fine so far. The problem is that between the leading edge of the slat or flap  and the ram panels at the back edge of the slat of flap, there needs to be a small strip of the darker grey. My choices were to try to cut, install, and seal down tiny .xxx" width strips of tape in between, or do it this way:

 

 

Because of the size differences in the two photos, it looks more confusing than it it. I actually just masked off part of the newly-added dark grey, as well as some of the original Neutral Grey, leaving exposed the tine strip of primer surface that needed

to also be dark grey, but I didn't have to try and cut fiddly little strips of tape, or cut Parafilm "M" with a knife of the model's surface. I just had to use decent width strips of tape that were pretty easy to get to lay parallel. The version on the right is the final product.

 

This "Layer Masking" technique is quite useful when you've got diddly bits to mask, but you don't want to account for every last shape at one time. Helps preserve the ol' sanity, don'tcha know...

 

BTW, the upper and lower surfaces on both wings all have the same little dark line needed, even through either top or bottom strip was about 1/3 mm or so thinner than the other. That's why I went this way!

 

In the end, the fuse painting looks like this:

 

 

I will first decal, then install, the vertical stabilizers later on. 'Though not shown here, the nose gear doors and the doors under the jet nozzle at the rear are shown painted here as the darker color, in reality, they will be the Neutral Grey color, thanks to the fact that two-piece open door were provided in the kit, and are painted properly still on the sprues.

 

Here I should like to give a shout-out to Jamie over at Sovereign Hobbies. I used a tin of his Colourcoats ACUS41 Camouflage Grey (FS 36170) as the main color, and I think the paint match is dead on. I'm becoming more and more of a fan of his colors for the main colors on Modern U.S. aircraft, as well as the Vietnam Camo colors. Good on yer, Jamie!

 

I should mention, for those that have them to compare with, the kit instruction merely calls this color out as "Neutral Gray", but it is DEFINITELY NOT U.S. Neutral Gray! They call for Mr Color #13 or Hobby Color 53. I do't have these colors around, but be wary. I can vouch for the Colourcoats!

 

Even though the paint a glossy, I have a bazillion decals to stick on, so after drying overnight, the model will still get a coat of Future and some more drying time, before that process begins.

 

Later,

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

[Cookenbacher]

That's looking great Ed.

 

Glad to see that Colourcoats 36170 looks spot on, as I just bought some!

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello all,

 

What with visitors over the Easter Holiday and other various misadventures, I have been somewhat delayed on this project, as expected.

 

I have moved along a little bit. The airplane has been painted and given a coat of Future. I began applying decals, the first batch looking like so:

 

 

Right here, I began to notice a problem. First off, ;et me say that these are hands down the best decals I with which I have ever worked. They are thin, laid over a nice white layer to maintain their color over dark surfaces, and tough enough to move around on the model without tearing. Despite the saw-tooth edges, long, skinny single strands and so forth, I experienced zero tears. Kudos to the maker, which is unknown to me.

 

However, the problem is that they appears way to stark against the dark grey paint! Compared to the Hasegawa "A" model I built a couple of year ago (using my own custom paint blend) these decals really stand out -- too much. I all fairness, I did see one photo on-line of another Marine F-35B squadron, where this contrast looks about right. All the photos of this squadron VMFA-121 "Green Knights" seem to show the ram markings more subdued. See below:

 

 

I think some of the problem is due to the nature of the paint itself; it seems to change color based on angle of the light, etc., and even though the ram panel decals on the two aircraft appear the same, the contrast is stark.

 

Normally, I would just over-spray with a thinned bit of the dark paint, which would darken the decals while not affecting the paint color, but these decals have too many interwoven bits of green and white to get away with that!

 

As Richard E. said above, perhaps the drill is to just wait for all the aircraft to come through with same-color ram panels and model that. Other than that, if I were building THIS scheme again, I would slightly lighten the 36170 dark grey to reduce the effect. As for this model, I think I'm going to have to live with it...

 

At least, the top half is decal-ed, (that's the version the Spell Checker liked!) and given another coat of Future to seal the decals. When that dries later today, I'll began the rest of the decal application.

 

Bye for now,

 

Ed

[Richard E]

33 minutes ago, TheRealMrEd said:

As Richard E. said above, perhaps the drill is to just wait for all the aircraft to come through with same-color ram panels and model that. Other than that, if I were building THIS scheme again, I would slightly lighten the 36170 dark grey to reduce the effect. As for this model, I think I'm going to have to live with it...

 

I can't take credit for that information, it came from @Dave Fleming

 

On ‎28‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 5:26 PM, Dave Fleming said:

And with new aircraft, the RAM tape is the same colour as the airframe, so even the decals aren’t needed.

 

Fingers crossed for a UK markings release

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Richard E

[Cookenbacher]

Very nice Ed, Here's a pic that seems to match the contrast you've achieved:

http://nationalinterest.org/files/styles/main_image_on_posts/public/main_images/28126647113_2497f2a7b6_k_0.jpg?itok=zhMKrz5V

 

Here's a link to a thread about the new "tapeless" scheme:

http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=53014&sid=2cb6359d0ee3dd4a40dfd85d966c33fb&start=15