Subject: Re: 1/48 F-35 Review
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Stephan Eggers" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2007 20:37:15 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Stephan Eggers 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 11:54 AM
  Subject: 1/48 F-35 Review

  "1/48 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter" 

  by "Steve Eggers"
  --------------------

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  From the JSF Website: "The selection of Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the concept demonstration phase was made in early 1997. McDonnell Douglas was eliminated and their team was dissolved. In the spring of 1997 Northrop Grumman joined the Lockheed Martin team and at the 1997 Paris Airshow, British Aerospace was added.

  The Concept Definition Phase of the program saw the name changed to Joint Strike Fighter, with a mandate to develop flying demonstrators for possible production. 

  Between the CDP contract award in 1996 and the first flights in 2000, literally thousands of meetings and technical reviews took place as the Boeing and Lockheed teams worked towards finalizing the designs for their X demonstrator aircraft and continued refining what would become their final program proposals.

  The X-35A CTOL demonstrator successfully completed first flight on 24 October 2000, taking off at 9:06 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time from Palmdale. The initial flight profile included check-outs of the on-board systems, handling characteristics and down-link connections for the constant stream of critical data-transfer to the flight-test technicians at Palmdale and Edwards Air Force Base. The X-35 climbed quickly to an altitude of 10,000 feet, maintained an airspeed of 250 knots while accomplishing a series of figure-eight maneuvers to demonstrate key handling qualities and to validate design predictions.

  The X-35A CTOL program was completed on 22 November 2000 with all objectives achieved or exceeded. 

  The X-35A (aircraft 301) made its last flight to Palmdale, where it immediately began conversion to the X-35B STOVL variant. The flight LiftFan 3D had just arrived at Pratt & Whitney for acceptance testing from Rolls Royce North America.

  At 9:23 a.m. PST on 16 December 2000, Lockheed test pilot Joe Sweeney launched the X-35C from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics plant in Palmdale, Calif., and flew the plane for 27 minutes before touching down at Edwards Air Force Base. The aircraft climbed to 10,000 feet and accelerated to 250 kt (288 mph). Sweeney cycled the landing gear and performed aircraft flying-qualities evaluations, including rolls, sideslips, and overall systems checks. Primary differences from the X-35A include a larger wing and control surfaces, the addition of ailerons and a special structure to absorb high-impact landings. Two additional flights took place on 19 December in preparation for commencement of FCLP testing.

  The Lockheed Martin JSF team completed installation of the JSF X-35B's flight-ready propulsion system - including the shaft-driven lift fan and engine - on May 12. Following these modifications, the aircraft was towed to the hover pit and British Aerospace test pilot, Simon Hargreaves began operating the flight-ready system in the aircraft on May 24. 

  On 23 June 2001 at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, the X-35B conducted its first press-up, marking the first time in aviation history that a shaft-driven lift fan propulsion system had lifted an aircraft into the sky. On that day, Hargreaves took the aircraft up to 15-20 ft for several minutes and then conducted a vertical landing. The following day, Hargreaves again engaged the LiftFan propulsion system, and the plane rose straight up to a stabilized position at an altitude of about 25 ft, while Hargreaves checked to ensure the flight controls responded properly before returning the plane gently to the ground.

  On 06 August 2001, during the aircraft's 66th and final test flight, Tom Morgenfeld piloted the X-35B. The aircraft left the runway at Edwards AFB at 1009 PST. Several test cards were performed and the aircraft was ferried back to Palmdale for storage. The flight lasted 3.7 hours, during which Morgenfeld went through six aerial refuelings. Six touch and go landings were conducted at Palmdale before Morgenfeld brought the aircraft to rest. At the end of its testing, the total amount of flight time on the X-35B was 48.9 hours.

  Following the completion of their flight test periods, the X-35 demonstrator aircraft were retired to museums. The X-35A/B is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution and is on display at the Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center near the Dulles International Airport in Virginia. The X-35C is now in the permanent collection of the United States Association for Naval Aviation and is on loan to the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum in Lexington Park, Maryland."

  .

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  The Kit

  Panda Models was the first, and so far, the only scale model company to release an X/F-35 in 1/48 scale.  The kit consists of seven trees for a total 71 parts. All of the parts are very clean having no flash on the parts. The kit does, however, have a light grainy surface.

  The first thing that I did notice about this kit is that it is almost part for part, a scaled up 1/72 Italeri X-35. But it doesn't have the characteristics of a kit that has been scaled up, notably, the engraved panel lines. The panel lines are very sharp and crisp. Unlike the Italeri kit, this one has the internal weapons bays and the weapons to place in them.  The clear parts, the canopy and the HUD glass are molded very clear and scratch free.

  The decals look to be okay for Belgium and Danish markings. I didn't plan on using them, so they are going to get put in the decal scrap bin.

  The instructions are in five steps for construction and painting instructions. 

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  Kit Construction

  I built this kit basically straight out of the box. I added on small box behind the pilot seat.

  The fit of all the components is very good. With my kit, I probably could have gotten away with no filling of any of the components and done some light sanding around the joins and called it good.

  The cockpit is VERY basic and not correct at all! Once again OOB, I left it alone. From what I've been told is that the Monogram F-117 cockpit fits in like a champ. If I do another one, that is what I will do. The ejection seat leaves a lot to be desired. It actually looks more like a Russian ejection seat and it isn't even close to the seat in the F-35, but once again, I did this OOB, so I just left it. 

  Since the version I was going to build is not a STOVL version, I closed and filled all indication to the lift fan and doors. Now, if you want a STOVL version, keep them open.  I also opted for closing the weapons bays. I honestly don't know if they are correct anyway for either an X-35 or an F-35. Unlike other kits, closing these door, posed no real challenge. I put them in place and glued them from the inside out prior to mating the two fuselage halves.

  The upper and lower fuselage halves already have the wings attached. I took this as a plus on the kit. I didn't have to worry about a seam where the wings join. 

  I found that the aft engine doors require a little filling work, as did the intakes.

  Other than those areas mentioned, this kit goes together quite well.

          
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  Paint and Decals

  I liked the look of the F-35 roll out scheme, which appeared to be an overall FS36118 Gunship Gray with FS36375 Light Ghost Gray nose radome. With that being the case and proceeded to paint my aircraft, I did take some artistic license with paint.  I really didn't care for the racing stripes in the wing tips, so I left those off. I wanted to have a "factory fresh" look to the aircraft. The landing gear, wells and inside of the doors were painted white. The engine was painted using MM Metalizer Gunmetal. I did paint the flat area behind the intakes black and the interior of the intakes white.

  The decals are mainly an Aeromaster F-18 data sheet and decals from a left over 1/48 F-22 attempt that went horribly wrong. I placed the decals in there correct locations according to F-35 photographs. I decided to put an Air Combat Command badge on the tail. 

  After painting and decaling, it looked good, but something was missing. The more I looked at it; the more it looked like a dark gray blob sitting on the bench. I decided to do some post shading to break up the expanse of gunship gray. I don't think it turned out too bad.

  Conclusions

  After reading some reviews on this kit, I decided to jump in and buy one. I figured for $15.00, what do I have to lose, right? This is NOT a bad kit. It goes together very well. Not any worse than any Monogram kit, in some aspects better. This is the only kit of this aircraft in 1/48 scale and in my opinion worth every dime of it. I think I pick up the actual X-35B USAF and build a correct X-35.

  Click on images below to see larger images

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