Lightningboy2000 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Here's my first completion for 2024. Fantastic kit from Tamiya, brilliant engineering & very accurate. I didn't ever consider the F-35A to be a great looking aircraft & was mostly put off doing one as most kits representing the RAM strips were grossly overscale, but finally here's a kit that looks a bit more sensible than the others. That's my opinion & I'm sticking with it. I hope Tamiya engineer an F-35B & C to this same standard in the One True Scale! Only then will I consider building any other versions. 😉 So I've used the new generation AK acrylic Have Glass Grey which I found to be too light in tone, so a very small amount of black was added to darken it. Then AK FS36270 was used for all the lighter grey panel strips. There are decals for all the RAM strips but they were masked & painted instead. I just thought the grey decals for the panels was too contrasty for the HGG. All the lighter grey panels were then over sprayed with with the HGG. Decals are both from the kit & the Furball sheet "F-35 Anthology JSF Pt.4" This is the flagship airframe for the resurrected 495th FS "Valkyries" at Lakenheath. 19-5495 "Freyja" Only addition is some wire to represent the main wheel brake lines. Just wish that the canopy could have been posed either open or closed but in this scale that would have been a tricky job. Still undecided wether to change it to closed. Next to come is the black tail F-15C of the 493rd 86-0172. 39 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latinbear Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Very nice indeed! The more I read about the F-35 the more it intrigues me. Your post and others have been very helpful in making it clear that painting these aircraft is not as straightforward as it might seem! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 1 minute ago, Latinbear said: Very nice indeed! The more I read about the F-35 the more it intrigues me. Your post and others have been very helpful in making it clear that painting these aircraft is not as straightforward as it might seem! Thank you! No it isn't, but it would be if paints were accurate. I'm just fussy & finnicky so if decals don't look right to my eye then I'm very likely to do my own thing with it until I think it looks right. Just my personal preference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 (edited) That's fantastic! Although 1/72 isn't my preferred scale for jets any longer... you've done a fine job with this one. Love the paintwork as that's a real tricky colour to master. In photographs it seems to change tone quite drastically. I'm my opinion I do think that the F-35 looks better with the canopy closed as the reverse hinge looks really odd! If it was hinged more conventionally then I think I'd like the look of the real aircraft even more. That being said it's slowly growing on me. Now then it's off to rob a bank so i can do one in 1/48th scale! 😬😁 Edited January 21 by binbrook87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 Great work on the model and I think you’ve sold the kit to me! What paint did you use for that green thingie in the front wheel bay? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 4 hours ago, binbrook87 said: That's fantastic! Although 1/72 isn't my preferred scale for jets any longer... you've done a fine job with this one. Love the paintwork as that's a real tricky colour to master. In photographs it seems to change tone quite drastically. I'm my opinion I do think that the F-35 looks better with the canopy closed as the reverse hinge looks really odd! If it was hinged more conventionally then I think I'd like the look of the real aircraft even more. That being said it's slowly growing on me. Now then it's off to rob a bank so i can do one in 1/48th scale! 😬😁 Thanks, much appreciated! I agree it does look odd, still undecided though as to chopping the hinge off & placing it closed or leaving it. The 1/48 kit also looks pretty fantastic & I'm sure will go together a dream. By the way, another kit that doesn't need any filler whatsoever! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 3 hours ago, Fin said: Great work on the model and I think you’ve sold the kit to me! What paint did you use for that green thingie in the front wheel bay? Many thanks! I made my own up using blue, yellow & a bit of russian cockpit green, until it looked right. I needed it to paint that green thingie whatever it is & the cylinder attached to the back of the ejection seat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 You made fine work of this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred piket Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 beautiful build! Now I know which F-35A in 1/48 to buy... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy54 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Nice build, I like it! I also like to see the canopy open and the pilot sitting at the controls. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Lovely build, looks awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 9 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: You made fine work of this. Thank you! ☺️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 9 hours ago, Fred piket said: beautiful build! Now I know which F-35A in 1/48 to buy... Thank you! I'm sure it will be a fantastic kit to build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 4 hours ago, Billy54 said: Nice build, I like it! I also like to see the canopy open and the pilot sitting at the controls. Many thanks, much appreciated. It's something quirky I suppose. Don't often see completed fast jets with the pilots. This could be at the end of his/her first flight at Lakenheath maybe. 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djos Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Very sharp and clean build, looks great Regards, Djordje 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightningboy2000 Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 On 1/23/2024 at 9:27 PM, djos said: Very sharp and clean build, looks great Regards, Djordje Many thanks Djordje! 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Really fine F-35 LB !! Spot on my friend !! Sincerely. CC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Lovely! Miguel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynimal Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Beautiful. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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