Tom Murphy Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Hi This is my first time in this discussion forum so forgive me if this topic has been mentioned before. I fancy building an F35 for a while but have been put off by the way the distinctive panels on the aircraft have been represented on the first models to be produced. I can understand that the early examples were of the prototype but since it's now in service the latest photos available in the aviation press show a much smoother skin. The aircraft has stealth technology built into its design from the start so I think the early photographs show panels outlined in a different colour to show ground crew where they are. The early model's had these panels standing slightly proud of the skin. If you scale these panels up 1 to 1 scale then you would have little walls surrounding these panels. It's a stealth aircraft so smooth skinning is vital.So my question is does anyone else think that these panels are a bit over the top in the way they are depicted?The photos I've seen of the Airfix kit once again show these panels standing slightly proud of the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Given that the Airfix F-35 has not been issued yet, it would be hard to say whether the panels have been finished to your expectation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Airfix produced an F-35b as a snap-together kit for younger modellers. The releases for 2023 show an F-35b in three new releases - as a starter set; with the Lancaster to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Dams Raid; & with the Spitfire to show fighter progress over the years. Each of these contains a description citing a ‘new mould’.I think the jury is still out on this being a really new mould. A really new mould would attract more publicity than this has done, and be released as a dedicated kit, not in the three formats I have mentioned above for a first release of such a significant aircraft. If it was to be a new mould, it may well have more subtle panels as you suggest, but we will just have to be patient. Unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty Mediocre Modeller Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Hi, welcome to the forum Tom,I know what you mean about these panels on some model kits, they are way over scale. However, they are not a different colour to show the groundcrew where the panels are, it represents radar absorbent tape that is put on the edges of the panels, as these are the most radar reflective parts of the airframe. At first this tape was a slightly different shade of grey, giving some interest to the finish. Now though the tape is produced in the same colour as the camouflage, so the finish is even more boring from a modelling perspective.I believe the new kit is a new tool, but as part of the starter range that was introduced a year or two ago with the Spitfire Vc, Red Arrows Hawk, Sherman Firefly and Tiger I. So a 'proper' kit with fine surface detail, but simplified details and construction. This probably means it can only be built in normal flight mode, without all the open bits and pieces needed when hovering.Don't know how raised the tape representation will be though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Murphy Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 HiThanks for the replies everyone. I didn't know that about the tape RAM you live and learn as they say.I hate to moan but some of the new kits that have come out, some in 1/48th and some in 1/72nd the price of these can be a bit eye watering.The reason I mention this is because I've seen and read some reviews where they suggest to rub them down a bit to lessen the appearance. Now I'm not a lazy modeller and I like a challenge, it's all part of the enjoyment, and I've been on many a nostalgia trip on some of the older model's so a bit of sanding is definitely called for.The modern kits have surpassed all of this but, in my humble opinion, and like I've stated I'm not going to spend that kind of money just to sand it down to make the model look better.I'll just wait and see what awaits in the future. Happy modelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Murphy Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Just to show what I mean about the ram panels here's a photo of an F35 taking off from an aircraft carrier. I think it's the C variant. Note there are no taped ram panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I think I'm going to give up on this forum, I just got a 'your post contains bad words' when I attempted a reply, although I can assure everybody there was neither invective or anything offensive in it. I'll try again, here's a pic of the starter set model from 'a toy fair held in Germany'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 19, 2023 Share Posted February 19, 2023 I think I'm going to give up on this forum, I just got a 'your post contains bad words' when I attempted a reply, although I can assure everybody there was neither invective or anything offensive in it. It's a sad state when you cannot even name one of Airfix's own kits - the dH Canada swimmimg rodent sweat_smile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Murphy Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 Sorry Ratch this reply comes a bit late and yes, at the time I did jump the gun slightly but alas I've been proven right, the RAM panels stand out too much for my liking. Do you remember the matchbox kits from the late seventies early eighties. A lot was mentioned then about their panel lines being way to deep for their scale well in my humble opinion the F35 kits on sale today from most manufactures suffer the same problem regards those panels. As I understand it the RAM panels were marked in special tape or paint on the prototypes to help the ground crew treat them carefully so they didn't damage these areas. Now that the aircraft is in service the panel taping/paint is gone and the fuselage looks smooth in comparison. I still hope that Airfix and all the other manufactures bring out an updated version soon.here's an example of what I mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Isn't that the picture you posted last February?I have since built the kit. All modelling is about compromises - you might also say that the canopy is too thick for example. For a Beginner Kit (i.e. simplified) it doesn't build up too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Thomas Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I thought this post might benefit from a picture I found recently. It shows two F-35Bs. The closest one being a relatively recent delivery coded ZM158/024, and the furthest being from the first few deliveries coded ZM140/006. The point is that the panels to which you refer are very prominent on the oldest airframe, yet hardly visible on the most recent. Perhaps the earliest kits with the prominent panels should only be used for older airframes, if the modeller is not going to remove the panels …. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul71 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Dominic has posted a picture of the RAF F-35B which is a short-take off and vertical landing (stovl) aircraft, simply its a new version of the harrier technology of taking off and landing this aircraft has an opening on top of the body and an opening underneath blowing air down and a roll post one each side with the engine nozzle being able to point down directing thrust from the engine straight down, the harrier having four nozzles two on each side directing thrust from the engine.Tom has posted a picture of the american F-35C which is the carrier variant, which is a catapult assisted take-off but arrested recovery (catobar) aircraft, same as the F-14 F-18 aircraft as seen in the top gun films, it does not have stovl capabilities. As tom has posted a picture showing the top of the aircraft and saying how smooth it looks and no tape or paint on the panel lines as for as i know this is because there is no opening panels there like on the F-35B.The F-35 A/B/C are all slightly different aircraft sharing the same basic airframe, as for the tape im not 100% sure but i think it was used on the edge of the opening panels so as to help reduce the chance of them sending a signal back on radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peebeep Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 The Airfix kit does not have raised RAM panels, they are depicted with engraved lines, you can see them in a review on the Key Model World pages: https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/airfix-new-tool-172-f-35b-lightning-ii-full-build#:~:text=This%20starter%20set%20was%20a,hardly%20any%20need%20for%20filler.This actually makes it fairly unique, because everybody else seems to be doing it with raised panels.You really need to use reference photos to check any particular airframe in real life, some have it, some don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul71 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 F-35B taken by me in 2016ZM137 you can clearly see the RAM tape around edges of panels and leading edges engine air intake all the panels are flush only the RAM tape sits proud a little bitlooking at ZM137 nose on you can see how flush the panels are and the RAM tape hardly shows being only slightly proudF-35A AF 125058 again taken by me in 2016 you can see how flush everything isF-35B taken by me in 2023 ZM155 if you look closely you can see the RAM tape the colour is now much closer to the colour of the aircraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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