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some more F-35A help Please


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6 hours ago, Mstor said:

Well, here are two REAL photos of the single color scheme (just larger photos of the one Shane posted). Hard to see the RAM panel tape on these too but, if you look close, its there.

 

F-35AnewPaintSideFront

 

F-35AnewPaintSide

 

 

Just goes to show you how exaggerated the RAM panels are on the kits. Same with the F-22 kits out there.

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There was a discussion about the RAM tape with information on what was done to make it the same color as the rest of the aircraft. Something to do with a new manufacturing process. I can't find the discussion (don't even remember if it was in ARC, its a b**** getting old). Apparently it saves time (and money?) in the painting process. Whether it has the metallic sheen, well the photos above sure seem to have it in the areas that normally would have RAM tape, but I can't tell for sure. We need some "expert testimony" on this one. Certainly in the old scheme, the RAM tape does not appear to have the sheen.

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It makes me chuckle that many people are saying finishing an F-35 just got easier with the matched RAM tape. Looking at it I think it just got more difficult. In almost every picture of the new scheme you can still clearly see the RAM tape, only now you have to be a lot more subtle in achieving the required look. I can see a slew of models with no representation of the tape at all because they now "match" the main color, and the resulting models looking very bland, and failing to capture the look of the F-35 completely.

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8 hours ago, Dmanton300 said:

It makes me chuckle that many people are saying finishing an F-35 just got easier with the matched RAM tape. Looking at it I think it just got more difficult. In almost every picture of the new scheme you can still clearly see the RAM tape, only now you have to be a lot more subtle in achieving the required look. I can see a slew of models with no representation of the tape at all because they now "match" the main color, and the resulting models looking very bland, and failing to capture the look of the F-35 completely.

 

Chuckling aside, what would you suggest? Maybe subtle dry brushing?

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3 hours ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

 

Chuckling aside, what would you suggest? Maybe subtle dry brushing?

 

If you enlarge the pics I posted and look very closely, you can see that the RAM tape is still a VERY slightly different shade or is reflecting light differently (I think this is what Dmanton300 is getting at). Which it is, I don't know and how to replicate on a model would be challenging. What would be great is if we had someone who has actually seen, at a relatively close distance, what the RAM tape now looks like with the new scheme, or someone who has knowledge of what has actually changed with the RAM tape and can share, if not classified, what is actually going on.

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16 hours ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

 

Chuckling aside, what would you suggest? Maybe subtle dry brushing?

Nope, that will get an uneven finish. It's matched, but very sharp - IMHO you'll still need to mask and spray it all, using a very slightly lighter grey, and then maybe even go back over and mist coats of the base colour to blend it even more. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, RichardL said:

I'm currently putting one together, and everything fits great so far.  Why can't kits from other manufacturers fit like this?

 

This is good to hear. I have one waiting. I wish KASL would do its cockpit and weapons bays for it. The weapons bays they did for the KH F-35B are very nice looking.

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On 2/14/2018 at 1:41 AM, Mstor said:

Well, here are two REAL photos of the single color scheme (just larger photos of the one Shane posted).

 

 

Not unless they over painted the 3Sqn RAAF markings with USAF ones it's not

Shane

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15 hours ago, Mstor said:

 

This is good to hear. I have one waiting. I wish KASL would do its cockpit and weapons bays for it. The weapons bays they did for the KH F-35B are very nice looking.

 

Check this build out. I've had mixed luck with KASL and would rather spend the time wiring it up myself.

http://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/02/construction-guide-lockheed-martin-f.html#more

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On 2/14/2018 at 3:37 PM, Mstor said:

There was a discussion about the RAM tape with information on what was done to make it the same color as the rest of the aircraft. Something to do with a new manufacturing process. I can't find the discussion (don't even remember if it was in ARC, its a b**** getting old). Apparently it saves time (and money?) in the painting process. Whether it has the metallic sheen, well the photos above sure seem to have it in the areas that normally would have RAM tape, but I can't tell for sure. We need some "expert testimony" on this one. Certainly in the old scheme, the RAM tape does not appear to have the sheen.

 

https://a855196877272cb14560-2a4fa819a63ddcc0c289f9457bc3ebab.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/17563/f35_weekly_update_4_13_17.pdf

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That is spot on. I would like to point out this part of the statement:

 

"If you've seen an F-35 flying, the saw tooth paneling is visible to the eye. Through a new coating system, the team was able to give the F-35 one uniform coat that saved a significant number of hours per unit in defects and rework."
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1 hour ago, sweier said:

 

Not unless they over painted the 3Sqn RAAF markings with USAF ones it's not

Shane

 

Ahh, you are correct Sir. I didn't look closely enough. Its just the setting that is very similar that threw me off (that and the fact that is is small photo and my eyes aren't what they used to be).

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8 minutes ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

That is spot on. I would like to point out this part of the statement:

 

"If you've seen an F-35 flying, the saw tooth paneling is visible to the eye. Through a new coating system, the team was able to give the F-35 one uniform coat that saved a significant number of hours per unit in defects and rework."

 

Even so, it you blow up the pic in the pdf you can still see many variations in the shade of panels and some taped areas. It is subtle but still there and noticeable. Look at the main landing gear doors and the panels below the leading edge of the wing.

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5 minutes ago, Mstor said:

 

Even so, it you blow up the pic in the pdf you can still see many variations in the shade of panels and some taped areas. It is subtle but still there and noticeable. Look at the main landing gear doors and the panels below the leading edge of the wing.

 

Looking at a photo or computer monitor is still not accurate. Lighting, monitor calibration etc come into play and it may be the result of the surface of those panels being slightly raised in comparison to the rest of the aircraft. The fact is that it is still a "one uniform coat" being used. Not wanting to create an argument, I'm just pointing out variation probability.

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1 hour ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

 

Looking at a photo or computer monitor is still not accurate. Lighting, monitor calibration etc come into play and it may be the result of the surface of those panels being slightly raised in comparison to the rest of the aircraft. The fact is that it is still a "one uniform coat" being used. Not wanting to create an argument, I'm just pointing out variation probability.

 

Tis true. As I said in one of the other posts, we need someone who has actually eyeballed on of these new schemes or has intimate knowledge of the actual process being used (I know, not likely and they probably wouldn't be able to talk about it anyway).

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13 hours ago, Mstor said:

 

Even so, it you blow up the pic in the pdf you can still see many variations in the shade of panels and some taped areas. It is subtle but still there and noticeable. Look at the main landing gear doors and the panels below the leading edge of the wing.

 

FWIW the landing gear doors are probably parts manufactured elsewhere and not yet completed using the new coating. You will also see it on fins - made in Australia - and weapon bay doors for a while. This was also made clear in the original LM presser (which, infuriatingly, I can't find, but I'm looking!)

 

Shane

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