New Tamiya 1/48 F-35B & Grumman FM-1

[Stikpusher]

Eeeeeh.... never was a big fan of the F-35. Would I build one? Maybe.

Once you see and hear them fly, they tend to grow on you… I wasn't a fan either… until I was.

[Gary Brantley]

That F-35 kit looks great! I used to think of the '35 as an ugly duckling. But, I've begun appreciating it more and more in the past couple of years. And I suspect that when the F-35 does get into combat, it's going to rewrite the book on the subject. I would hope we never find that out, but all of us surely must feel that's inevitable. Working with the Raptor, it's going to be a real handful for our adversaries.

[keavdog]

I was hooked when the first time I saw the B do it's transformer thing

[tempestjohnny]

The F-35 to me is a jack of all trades, master of none. Is it a great aircraft, yes. But the top brass is trying to get way too much out of one airframe. It is a cool looking beast. And yes I'll build one or 6

[Stuart]

nah, I'll pass. I'm starting not to mind the actual aircraft, but as a model subject, God it was boring - especially trying to paint Haze Grey... (So I didn't). Anyone what an Academy F-35A?

[Stikpusher]

Oh I do like the F-35 in late Cold War wraparound camo! Beautiful work Stuart! Much more exciting looking than the original X-35...



I'm going to be getting one of those Tamiya F-35Bs... one way or another.... and wondering who will come out with a C, and when...

[Stuart]

Is that the XF-35? I do lie that two-tone grey scheme - much more interesting!

Thanks Stik, it was a bit of fun - it's still 617 squadron, which are the initial users of the RAF F-35Bs. It just goes to show that anything looks good in RAF wrap-around Camo. I have toyed with the idea of painting up my F-35A kit in Vietnam era SEA camo.

[Stikpusher]

Stuart, that is the prototype X-35, not even an F in there. The two tone scheme is similar to those worn on F-16s when the X-35 went into the fly off all those years ago.
Yes, just about anything looks good in a wraparound camo scheme. I like how the USAF went to them using SEA colors in the early 80's on F-4s and the last F-105s, before the greens and gray Europe One scheme came into service. The all light and medium grays are great for a sky camo, but the ground colors just look meaner.

[Stuart]

The all light and medium grays are great for a sky camo, but the ground colors just look meaner.

100% agree - throw in some high-marking too and most aircraft would much more interesting!