Alan P Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Slightly late to the party - I wasn't intending to start this build yet, but I moved it up because for once I wanted to actually finish before the deadline! This is my first groupbuild entry in flippin' YEARS so I'm looking forward to it! Here's the much-maligned Kitty Hawk F-35B in 1/48: The kit has a poor reputation with bad fit at the top of the list. Let's see if I can beat it into shape! There's a lot of plastic in this - all of the weapons bays are capable of being displayed, and the lift fan and main engine nozzle are intended to be deployed in the hover configuration. It's well-presented with a colour instruction book and some very nice decals for about eight different options. Because the kit isn't challenging enough (ha!) I'm also going to use the Eduard Big Ed set. It's not exactly their usual Smörgåsbord of goodies, this one is quite cheap and just contains the interior and exterior plus masks and the RBF tags (completely redundant for this build!) The weather's very nice, so I might as well waste it and do some undisturbed modelling! Alan 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 I managed to get some done today - pics have suffered due to the bright sunlight... I intend to display this in a dynamic air show pose, hovering for the crowd, so the cockpit will be all closed up with the pilot seated. So I started in the cockpit: The kit detail has been erased in preparation for the Eduard PE, although the kit detail isn't bad (a bit vague and not as crisp as premium brands). All this goes in the cockpit alone! It all goes on pretty well. As usual, it lifts the whole look of the cockpit. The kit luckily includes a pilot figure (yay!) so I assembled him and made sure he fitted both the seat and the consoles. You can see I've already fitted the flightstick and throttle controls to his hands. I had to cut off his hands to position them correctly. (One of my major bugbears is models posed flying with 'hands-off' pilots. I know the F-35 has an extremely sophisticated automatic flight control system, but I'd be sure in an airshow display pilots are required to manually fly the aircraft!) And the poor fella also lost his feet in the quest for fitting in the cockpit. I believe the actual aircraft also has a pretty stringent height requirement due to seat and helmet restrictions, but I hope nobody's had to take such drastic action! Cockpit parts assembled and ready for paint. Seems to be going well so far, but there are some intimidating build stages to come... Alan 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 I've planned this build as a kind of what-if - the aircraft will be an 809 squadron display bird from the future. It'll be an inflight pose as if it was doing its hovering demo at RIAT. I'll be doing it as a standard grey 809 bird aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth with a surprise display scheme! With that in mind, I have to chop up the landing gear as it will be dropped to the limit of its oleos. Starting with the nose leg - when I cut, this will be the point of no return! (I can't do a closed up, gear up version, that would totally blow the USP of this hovering STOVL variant!) Okay, we're committed! This has to work or I've flushed about £70 down the toilet. Yeah, go on, you knew it would work! (Much relief up here!) I used thick garden wire for the extended oleo as it won't be weight-bearing. Just the main gears to go - and of course, it all has to look straight and level in the end... Made a good start, can't ask for more than that! Alan 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Cracker of a start! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronKSJ Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Nice, looking forward to the surprise paint scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 10 hours ago, helios16v said: Cracker of a start! Thanks 👍 7 hours ago, AaronKSJ said: Nice, looking forward to the surprise paint scheme! Thanks, it's not going to be super creative or anything 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nocoolname Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) Have all of these shenanigans in the stash so will be following your progress. I too would like to build a RN bird but so far disappointed that there’s been little in the way of exciting or even half interesting scheme designs shown off, just the rather boring two tone doughnuts (roundels). You’d think that if the Russians could cope with plastering splinter dazzle all over their ‘stealth’ aircraft (Su-57) the RAF/RN could cope with adding a little pezaz to theirs? Edited April 23, 2019 by Nocoolname 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Have you checked with Patrice @TEMPESTMK5 about your marking plans? It says no WHIF in the GB rules dude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 The Navy are pretty good at special display schemes, I won't be at all surprised to see some colour on their display Lightnings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 23, 2019 Author Share Posted April 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Hockeyboy76 said: Have you checked with Patrice @TEMPESTMK5 about your marking plans? It says no WHIF in the GB rules dude. Oh, okay. It's more of a 'not yet' rather than a 'what-if' but if it's a deal breaker I'll move it out of the GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEMPESTMK5 Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 9 hours ago, Alan P said: Oh, okay. It's more of a 'not yet' rather than a 'what-if' but if it's a deal breaker I'll move it out of the GB. Good morning Alan Well I think that in this case this build is not a ''what if'' as the 809 NAS is planned to be the first Royal Navy unit to be equipped with the F35 in the near future .. Have fun with your build Patrice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 1 minute ago, TEMPESTMK5 said: Good morning Alan Well I think that in this case this build is not a ''what if'' as the 809 NAS is planned to be the first Royal Navy unit to be equipped with the F35 in the near future .. Have fun with your build Patrice Thank you very much Patrice! 👊😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bradley Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 (edited) A little inspiration for you: I have more reference photos from my visit to the Yuma airshow in February - PM if you are interested. Edited April 24, 2019 by Paul Bradley 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 That's a great start, and another builder who is happy to cut at plastic that he's not 'supposed' to cut! Looking forward to seeing this progress... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted April 26, 2019 Author Share Posted April 26, 2019 On 4/24/2019 at 1:37 PM, Paul Bradley said: A little inspiration for you: I have more reference photos from my visit to the Yuma airshow in February - PM if you are interested. Thanks Paul, great shot! I have a bunch of photos from Farnborough last year so I’m covered, but thanks very much for the offer 👍 16 hours ago, Jasonb13 said: That's a great start, and another builder who is happy to cut at plastic that he's not 'supposed' to cut! Looking forward to seeing this progress... I may live to regret it...😂 Thanks again, Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 1, 2019 Author Share Posted May 1, 2019 I started this quite quickly but it's all slowed down as I've been finishing a 1/32 Messerschmitt in the scant few modelling opportunities this week! The cockpit components got a coat of Mr Surfacer 1500. I also changed the shape of the pilot's helmet with blutac to better reflect the Gen 3 version in current use. I tried to replicate the carbon fibre weave by pressing into the blutac with a fine cloth. I'll try and get a better photo if I can focus that close! One of the things I've learned about this kit is that it's quite overengineered (in common with the last Kitty Hawk product I started, the 1/32 OV-10A Bronco) but this is a first - not just ejector pin marks but ejector columns of plastic still attached to the parts! The detail faces of the parts are largely free of ejector marks, which is good, but this part of the jetpipe will need a thorough prep! I also assembled the gear bays and weapons bays - I've decided I've got enough time in the GB to thoroughly detail these areas as there won't be any weapons in them: I mentioned before, the Eduard set isn't as comprehensive as others (I've also got the Academy F-22 Big Ed set which is massive in both scope and price!) but it still adds some sharp detail in these areas. I've decided to steal this display idea from Britmodeller member @RMCS from his excellent build of this kit HERE - it's exactly the kind of pose I've been looking for! Cheers, Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted May 1, 2019 Share Posted May 1, 2019 Awsome job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 Very quick update - I've ordered the KASL Hobby weapons bays but I will be detailing the wheelbays myself. Having seen the quality of the KASL product, I'd be nuts not to use them for this build! Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 So, these arrived... Soooo much detail Of course that puts the rest of it to shame so I'm committed to adding that missing detail to everywhere else now! Added some pipe and cable detail to the wheelwells, I'll add the rest of the wiring after painting using enamel wire. Set up ready for priming: Also prepared the interior engine parts for paint: The lift fan detail and the ducting has been replaced by the Eduard PE. The turbine, guide vanes and fan drive shaft are all kit parts. The fit of all this stuff is very hit and miss - the engine halves are practically seamless while the drive shaft hole needed enlarging to almost double its size to fit over the pin on the engine face. CAD, SchmAD. Still, it's good to be back at work on this thing, it's like some sort of fiendish puzzle. Alan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Looking nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 After painting with Mr Surfacer 1500 Black and AK Extreme Metal paint: Not exactly the right colours, but the real engine face and shaft are a fetching shade of boring light grey! After priming I also detailed up the STOVL jet nozzle which turned out pretty well... Just used scrap PE and some wiring which I wove together using a hand drill and pliers! Looking forward to some assemblage on the parts next - I genuinely don't know how all this is going to fit together, I have a new respect for Lockheed Martin getting it all to work on the real thing! Alan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 18 minutes ago, Alan P said: After priming I also detailed up the STOVL jet nozzle which turned out pretty well "Pretty well" yes indeed I'd say, what a great collection of detail parts, one of these is on my to do list, the only sticking point (fly in the ointment) is an authentic paint finish, this shouldn't be rushed, I'll enjoy this regardless of the time it will take, love that engine nozzle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Thanks Hewy, I'm searching out some good tips for the paint finish - at the moment I've got Colourcoats FS36170 Camouflage Gray for the base coat but I've also found that MRP paints do an FS36170 with a Have Glass overcoat which I'm going to try out first. I'll test a few different techniques and show the progress as I go... Alan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 16 minutes ago, Alan P said: Thanks Hewy, I'm searching out some good tips for the paint finish - at the moment I've got Colourcoats FS36170 Camouflage Gray for the base coat but I've also found that MRP paints do an FS36170 with a Have Glass overcoat which I'm going to try out first. I'll test a few different techniques and show the progress as I go... Alan I really hope it turns out Alan, you'll agree its a make or break, there was a chap on arc forums who did a f22 have glass finish, sorry can't supply a link or a clue to it but it was a complete success according to the experten on such matters😁, all the best, I shall follow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 Still getting the odd hour or so a day to work on this, so the progress continues... I reviewed some of my reference photos and decided the STOVL nozzle needed a bit more detail: Again, just using scrap PE and phone cable wire. Painted the wheelwells and weapon bays - the KASL stuff is pretty awesome. Also applied the Eduard PE to the cockpit - and obviously had to repaint the Eduard interpretation of cockpit colours Someone really needs to buy Eduard some updated colour chips for Christmas this year. Their light blue panels look like no Dark Gull Gray I've ever seen. Started fitting the forward lift fans as well - looks pretty good with the PE fans: The louvred exhaust is also made from the PE set: Ah - I meant to putty up that inside seam. Too late! Last but not least - got the base metallic coat on the STOVL nozzle, still lots of detail painting to do! I used Alclad Jet Exhaust with some Magnesium. Anyway - I'm growing in respect for this kit - it's over-engineered as hell but Kitty Hawk have done a really good job making sure all the unique features of the B-bird are visible and well-represented. Cheers all, Alan 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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