GMK Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) Just received my Hasegawa 1/72 F-35A Lightning II (or CTOL JSF). No real surprises in terms of quality - fine surface details, no raised RAM detail. Points of interest: Cockpit tub molded with the upper fuselage. Front landing gear bay molded with lower fuselage. Weapon bays molded closed with seemingly no provision for cutting the doors open. First molding comes with a tinted canopy & EOTS cover. No canopy seam - detail is molded on the canopy interior to interior supplementary framing & is supplemented with three decals. Canopy molded with separate two-piece interior framing. No external stores or pylons, with no skinned over holes for the same. Full length intakes - with four ejector pin marks on each of the outboard intake halves. No detail in the burner trunking. Gear-bay doors have ejector pin marks on their interior. Gear-bay detail is sparse. Pilot kitted with the original (now discarded) helmet that looks like the Master Chief from Halo. Decals provided for instrument panel. Decals for RAM panels. 18 remove before flight decals provided in two styles. Comes with display stand. Canopy can be posed open or closed. Undercarriage can be posed extended or retracted. All in all, this looks like a quick & easy build. Edited March 31, 2014 by GMK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MusicOn Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I'm looking forward to picking this one up as a quick and easy "motivator" since I've been frustrated by some overly complicated projects lately. I'm interested to hear what paint choices you go with, especially which dark gray and which light gray matches the decals. Also, there was some discussion about the forward fuselage chines not being "sharp" enough - what's your opinion on that? Happy building! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GMK Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks - I was worried about the sharpness of both the chines & the nose. Noting that both halves are still on the sprue, the look pretty good to me. Greg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 The F-20 of 2045... A good idea whose time never came :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 The F-20 of 2045... A good idea whose time never came :)/> :huh: :unsure: -Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 The difference being that the F-20 was *actually* a good idea. The F-35, not so much. Possibly the biggest taxpayer boondoggle since, well, I don't even know what. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Not sure what brining up the F-20 has to do with the new Hasegawa F-35A kit..... Got my F-35 yesterday; ordered from HLJ. Price point wasn't horrible, especially compared to some of Hasegawa's other 1/72 offerings. There's a canopy seam that I'm not looking forward to (just don't have a lot of experience with them is all). I'm interested to hear what paint choices you go with, especially which dark gray and which light gray matches the decals. Same here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GMK Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) There's a canopy seam that I'm not looking forward to. Just realised it's not a canopy seam - it's part of the canopy detail & supplemented with decals (#79, 80 & 81). The seam wouldn't make sense as the F-35A cockpit isn't a bubble cross-section. WRT to paint colours, I guess the important thing to keep in mind is the colour of the decals compared to the paint used. I intend on using the kit decals: as such, I'm gong to use the recommended Gunze shades to get the same contrast as the company build. NFI what I'm going to do about the metallic shade though.... Edited March 31, 2014 by GMK Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trigger Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Just realised it's not a canopy seam - it's part of the canopy detail & supplemented with decals (#79, 80 & 81). The seam wouldn't make sense as the F-35A cockpit isn't a bubble cross-section. Well kiss my grits... I never noticed that on the canopy before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GMK Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Okay - some from my phone: Burner trunking & MLG bays: Burner: Wheels & turbine details: Intake halves: Canopy: Decal sheet: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GMK Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Cockpit: Upper surface: Canopy framing: Vertical stabs & gear-bay doors: Underside & front gear-bay: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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