Italeri 1/72 F-35 B Lightning II
- Thread starter Archetype
- Start date
Archetype
FAA plane builder
Thanks chaps!
I was in two minds about whether to sand the whole thing smooth to avoid major surgery and potentially rendering the thing unusable, but I’m glad I did it and patience was key.
But....sooooooo much effort for a single little bit that is unlikely to be seen very often!
More surgery required later on the stabilisers...but that should be it.
I was in two minds about whether to sand the whole thing smooth to avoid major surgery and potentially rendering the thing unusable, but I’m glad I did it and patience was key.
But....sooooooo much effort for a single little bit that is unlikely to be seen very often!
More surgery required later on the stabilisers...but that should be it.
Archetype
FAA plane builder
A small progress update.
Although the kit is made well and the parts fit very well, the instructions are a little less well thought out, particularly as far as consideration for painting goes.
The instructions show to fit sidewalls to the lower fuselage and then fit the engine and exhaust, which will obscure this area once assembled. It's not unusual for me (or anyone I suspect) to deviate from the instructions but I felt it worth highlighting that these instructions need a little extra examining than some others I have recently used.
This is where I am at with the area around the exhaust. From image searches this area appears to be white.
All the bays and intakes / exhausts painted and washed.
Wheel wells and struts painted and washed. The intakes were painted in white and then assembled and when I dry fitted to the fuselage I realised the parts now in black should be light ghost gray
, which I thought I had but don't! So an order with Scale Model Shop placed and progress stalled until this arrives. I'll paint the grey then mask and rewhite.
Here's the engine assembly all painted, washed and treated to a dark steel pigment. It's a shame that almost none of it will be visible.
Once the grey arrives I'll be able to finish the internals painting and assemble everything.
Although the kit is made well and the parts fit very well, the instructions are a little less well thought out, particularly as far as consideration for painting goes.
The instructions show to fit sidewalls to the lower fuselage and then fit the engine and exhaust, which will obscure this area once assembled. It's not unusual for me (or anyone I suspect) to deviate from the instructions but I felt it worth highlighting that these instructions need a little extra examining than some others I have recently used.
This is where I am at with the area around the exhaust. From image searches this area appears to be white.
All the bays and intakes / exhausts painted and washed.
Wheel wells and struts painted and washed. The intakes were painted in white and then assembled and when I dry fitted to the fuselage I realised the parts now in black should be light ghost gray
, which I thought I had but don't! So an order with Scale Model Shop placed and progress stalled until this arrives. I'll paint the grey then mask and rewhite.Here's the engine assembly all painted, washed and treated to a dark steel pigment. It's a shame that almost none of it will be visible.
Once the grey arrives I'll be able to finish the internals painting and assemble everything.
Swagman 070
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Looking great Chris.
Archetype
FAA plane builder
The swift (as usual) delivery from Scale Model Shop meant I could finish the repainting of the intakes and in turn finish up all the internal white areas before closing up the fuselage.
Here's the finished intakes and then the same mounted inside the fuselage to demonstrate the need for doing this in advance.
I also finished up the white for the area around the exhaust, which is a best guest based on the best references I could find, and then another shot of the same area after I applied a little of my new soot pigment, also from Scale Model Shop.
Finally for today a shot of the mounted engine, just to show how much of it will be hidden away. As part of the fuselage assembly the main undercarriage is fitted and luckily I remembered I had to remove the kit moulded brake lines when adjusting the oleo's and torque struts, so I reinstated these with a little fuse wire.
Next will be the stabilisers, fins, ailerons, canopy and if I get all that right masking for painting!
Here's the finished intakes and then the same mounted inside the fuselage to demonstrate the need for doing this in advance.
I also finished up the white for the area around the exhaust, which is a best guest based on the best references I could find, and then another shot of the same area after I applied a little of my new soot pigment, also from Scale Model Shop.
Finally for today a shot of the mounted engine, just to show how much of it will be hidden away. As part of the fuselage assembly the main undercarriage is fitted and luckily I remembered I had to remove the kit moulded brake lines when adjusting the oleo's and torque struts, so I reinstated these with a little fuse wire.
Next will be the stabilisers, fins, ailerons, canopy and if I get all that right masking for painting!
Archetype
FAA plane builder
Update No. 9.
I've been toiling away at the ailerons and stabilisers. I want to model them pitched but the kit makes no allowance for this, so I've had to modify them. There is precious little I could find on the internet about the mechanism, but some videos suggest that the mechanism is a barrel like hinge which means that there is no obvious external mechanism. Good for me because it just means the model needs to 'blend'!
Here's a shot of how they fit OOB.
Here's where we are now. Some sink marks in the ailerons that needed sorting out too.
Whilst watching videos of these things landing I noticed that the top fan cover that the instructions told me are white are in fact black, so I repainted it. Needs a lick of varnish to remove the sheen.
Cleaned up, adjusted the fit very slightly and kleared the canopy. This is yet to be fixed pending final inspection of the cockpit.
Finally I cleaned up all the bay doors and engine covers. There are alot!
I've been toiling away at the ailerons and stabilisers. I want to model them pitched but the kit makes no allowance for this, so I've had to modify them. There is precious little I could find on the internet about the mechanism, but some videos suggest that the mechanism is a barrel like hinge which means that there is no obvious external mechanism. Good for me because it just means the model needs to 'blend'!
Here's a shot of how they fit OOB.
Here's where we are now. Some sink marks in the ailerons that needed sorting out too.
Whilst watching videos of these things landing I noticed that the top fan cover that the instructions told me are white are in fact black, so I repainted it. Needs a lick of varnish to remove the sheen.
Cleaned up, adjusted the fit very slightly and kleared the canopy. This is yet to be fixed pending final inspection of the cockpit.
Finally I cleaned up all the bay doors and engine covers. There are alot!
Looking very good Chris, some very nice work indeed.
Archetype
FAA plane builder
Update No. 11 - Masking
For those of a nervous disposition that don't enjoy hours of tedious work; look away now.
I was plodding along with this build with the confidence that the eduard mask set would make life easier when it came to painting the panel lines. NOPE.
This is where I was with all the eduard masks in place.
I had wrongly assumed that these would not require any modification and anticipated only filling in around them. The pattern around the nose and canopy needed quite a lot of modification and in the photo on the right you can see a complete lack of masks for the underside. All the images I have found indicate that these also have the lighter grey edges.
This is where I am stopping. I have had to create masks on both sides of the nose and the masks to the underside wing leading edges were wrong, according to the Italeri instructions.
I have blanked off the entire underside for now. I will review how visible this is once I have completed this round of paint. I suspect I have some extra work to do on the tails anyway so a second round is inevitable.
Despite the few areas of adjustment I am thankful for the eduard mask sets. It seems a shame they only did half a job though.
I was considering a second one of these in 'beast mode', but after all this masking I think I'll leave that for a while!
For those of a nervous disposition that don't enjoy hours of tedious work; look away now.
I was plodding along with this build with the confidence that the eduard mask set would make life easier when it came to painting the panel lines. NOPE.
This is where I was with all the eduard masks in place.
I had wrongly assumed that these would not require any modification and anticipated only filling in around them. The pattern around the nose and canopy needed quite a lot of modification and in the photo on the right you can see a complete lack of masks for the underside. All the images I have found indicate that these also have the lighter grey edges.
This is where I am stopping. I have had to create masks on both sides of the nose and the masks to the underside wing leading edges were wrong, according to the Italeri instructions.
I have blanked off the entire underside for now. I will review how visible this is once I have completed this round of paint. I suspect I have some extra work to do on the tails anyway so a second round is inevitable.
Despite the few areas of adjustment I am thankful for the eduard mask sets. It seems a shame they only did half a job though.
I was considering a second one of these in 'beast mode', but after all this masking I think I'll leave that for a while!
Wow! Top marks for patience chris ! That looks like a real ball ache , even with the mask set . Its going to look fantastic when it emerges from its masking tape chrysalis ! Cheers tony
Hi Chris. This is a lesson in patience, and it shows just how complex modern jets are. Your rendition is near perfect though. Well done!
Archetype
FAA plane builder
Thanks for the compliment Tim, very much appreciated.
Doing this gave me something to do at 4am. My son has been up all night coughing and we'll be in all day waiting for his C19 test results, so I'll be getting somewhere with this today.
Doing this gave me something to do at 4am. My son has been up all night coughing and we'll be in all day waiting for his C19 test results, so I'll be getting somewhere with this today.
Hope he’s OK Chris. Covid is a nasty little bug.....
Archetype
FAA plane builder
He'll be fine. I'm sure it's a cold, but nowadays you have to be certain.
boatman
SMF Supporter
Yea Chris hope your son is ok as you dont want that at xmas or any time come to that
all best wishes from us for your son
chris an jen
all best wishes from us for your son
chris an jen
Jim R
SMF Supporter
Hi Chris
Rather late to this - sorry. Firstly I hope your son is OK.
Cracking work so far. Love the cockpit and pilot. Well done with that exhaust. I have seen dimples reinstated with drops of CA but your patch is neater. Good job on the undercarriage legs and I hope the tyres come out OK. Fingers crossed for the masking.
Jim
Rather late to this - sorry. Firstly I hope your son is OK.
Cracking work so far. Love the cockpit and pilot. Well done with that exhaust. I have seen dimples reinstated with drops of CA but your patch is neater. Good job on the undercarriage legs and I hope the tyres come out OK. Fingers crossed for the masking.
Jim
Archetype
FAA plane builder
Thanks all.
The painting on this gets better....
So I have applied the lighter grey and it is almost white.
Started to set myself up to repaint in a darker shade and thought I'd better check references first, and now I am unsure what to do!
Here you can see the colour isn't too far off.
But in this one it seems darker than the primary colour!
It's certainly down to the coating that gives it a strange irridescence, which Tony mentioned much earlier in the thread. It would be nice to do this but I wouldn't know where to start!
The painting on this gets better....
So I have applied the lighter grey and it is almost white.
Started to set myself up to repaint in a darker shade and thought I'd better check references first, and now I am unsure what to do!
Here you can see the colour isn't too far off.
But in this one it seems darker than the primary colour!
It's certainly down to the coating that gives it a strange irridescence, which Tony mentioned much earlier in the thread. It would be nice to do this but I wouldn't know where to start!
Sounds like a very specialist paint type Chris. There are chromatic shift paints available for model cars, but not sure if you’ll find what you want. Try someone like Hiroboy or Zero paints?