The Lockheed-Martin-BAe F-35D Thunder

[PR19_Kit]

One thing I'm going to do with this kit could be a tad controversial, but do I care? No.............. 

Almost every F-35 model I've seen has the surfaces covered in decals for those RAM panels it has scattered all over it, and this kit actually has most of them as raised areas, and to my mind that looks silly. On the real thing they're flush with the surface, and you can hardly see them, so my backstory says the -Ds had a revised RAM structure which made them almost wholly invisible (Kit's Rule #2 applies)

So I'm going to0 file and sand all the bumps and raised bits off and it'll be as smooth as smooth, so there!

[PR19_Kit]

Me and my mouth........... 

I checked what the F-35s really looked like before starting the mammoth sanding session and sure enough they're as smooth as a smooth thing, even close up during a walk-around, so it was out with the sanding sticks.

The F-35 is SUCH a strange shape though that sanding it is a nightmare, it's going to take an age, specially on the underside, but I'm getting there.

[Wardukw]

Me and my mouth........... 

I checked what the F-35s really looked like before starting the mammoth sanding session and sure enough they're as smooth as a smooth thing, even close up during a walk-around, so it was out with the sanding sticks.

The F-35 is SUCH a strange shape though that sanding it is a nightmare, it's going to take an age, specially on the underside, but I'm getting there.

Wet and dry under a running tap ..will sand fast and smooth...600 grit works great for this .

[The Wooksta!]

Sanding blocks and then pads.

[Steel Penguin]

dremmel and a grinding head...
no im not kidding,  my first file of choice is a rough as heck metal file,   and the first brush is the second biggest that will cover,  i dont like creating extra work,  its why i put on filler like its gold dust, and with a dental tool, i can finish it with a couple swipes of wet and dry   

[zenrat]

When I remove detail from a car body (scripts, trim, door handles etc) I use a chisel blade in an exacto handle (carefully) then wet & dry wrapped round a piece of hardwood then sanding pads.

[PR19_Kit]

The trouble with doing all that on an F-35 is the very curved shape of the fuselage, it's quite difficult to get the sanding stick, paper or whatever down into the dips etc. But I'm getting there slowly.

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good, Kit. And i obviously like the longer wing idea on the B.

Now, i have to say that IMHO, most kits of the F-35 family, including the recent Tamiya F-35A kit, got it wrong with the the raised detail. The Hasegawa 1/72 kits seem to be closer with engraved panel lines and decals for the effect of the RAM tape that covers the panel lines. BTW, i'm still waiting for Hasegawa to make the C variant.
Academy F-35 kits are a bit better than Italeri kits in most aspects, costs about the same but may not be as readily available, which i know also plays a part in buying a kit, especially when we can't dodge their attacks at hobby stores...  
One other detail is that Italeri only included wing pylons and weapons for the B and the new F-35A "Beast mode". Hasegawa does the normal A and B kits and only has external stores in the Limited edition "Beast mode" kits.
Regarding the C, we'll have to wait for the new tool Italeri kit that's supposedly coming out this year, for comparison with the Orange hobby kit, the only 1/72 F-35C kit yet.

[kitbasher]

Looking good, Kit. And i obviously like the longer wing idea on the B.

Now, i have to say that IMHO, most kits of the F-35 family, including the recent Tamiya F-35A kit, got it wrong with the the raised detail. The Hasegawa 1/72 kits seem to be closer with engraved panel lines and decals for the effect of the RAM tape that covers the panel lines. BTW, i'm still waiting for Hasegawa to make the C variant.
Academy F-35 kits are a bit better than Italeri kits in most aspects, costs about the same but may not be as readily available, which i know also plays a part in buying a kit, especially when we can't dodge their attacks at hobby stores...  
One other detail is that Italeri only included wing pylons and weapons for the B and the new F-35A "Beast mode". Hasegawa does the normal A and B kits and only has external stores in the Limited edition "Beast mode" kits.
Regarding the C, we'll have to wait for the new tool Italeri kit that's supposedly coming out this year, for comparison with the Orange hobby kit, the only 1/72 F-35C kit yet.

In terms of F-35 whiffery a cheaper alternative to all of the above kits would surely be the recent Airfix F-35B?  Very nicely moulded and none of the raised RAM panel issues Kit has previously mentioned.  I have one and i must say it is a very nice kit - yes the parts are simplified somewhat but IMHO it's a great basis for whiffery.  The only slight weaknesses are the simplisitc bang seat (but that can be detailed or replaced) and the integrally-moulded nose sensor 'turret', which should be transparent.

UK F-35Bs are interesting beasties in terms of the colour scheme - no, honest - as the RAM panels, the nose cone and numerous areas of RAM tape are in a lighter grey on the early examples, whereas more recent deliveries have a much more unfiform colour applied.  Not yet 100% up on the F-35C colours ('Have Glass' finish?) but immediate thoughts are that a mix of Humbrul Gunmental and Xtracolour Dark Sea Grey (or maybe Dark Camouflage Grey) may do the trick.  Proportions tbc but thinking 50/50 to start with (comments made having noted Kit's intention to colour his 'F-35D' up).

Following this build with interest - it's a logical whif subject if I may say so.

[loupgarou]

Me and my mouth........... 

I checked what the F-35s really looked like before starting the mammoth sanding session and sure enough they're as smooth as a smooth thing, even close up during a walk-around, so it was out with the sanding sticks.

The F-35 is SUCH a strange shape though that sanding it is a nightmare, it's going to take an age, specially on the underside, but I'm getting there.

But if the real F-35 panels are smooth, for a whif you should have left them raised....  

[PR19_Kit]

Notwithstanding the Whiffiness of the F-35D or otherwise................. 

I've finished sanding down the crazy RAM panels that Itleri moulded into the top of it, and it only took me two days...............

I've still got the underside to do, and that's looks to be even worse than the top, but it's getting there.

[Old Wombat]

I've read several reviews of the Italeri kit & all slammed it for those raised RAM panel tape lines.

[Jakko]

If that's the worst problem with it, I chalk that up to a lot of modern modellers seeming to have very little modelling skills beyond assembling what they find in the box and in aftermarket sets they buy, yet wanting "perfect" models that they can build with that skill they do have.

[PR19_Kit]

It's certainly very well engineered, when I clicked the top and bottom halves together for a test fit when putting the engine-intake-fan in position, it was the very devil to get it apart again!

Those over thick RAM 'panel lines' are just about the only thing I can find wrong with it so far.

[kerick]

I read somewhere that the reasoning by Italeri was it would make it easier for young modelers to paint and decal. Reverting back to the models of the 50s I guess.