F-35A Lightning II

I may not be happy with the efforts to replace the A-10C with the F-35A in real life, but I am happy with this build. Academy put out a highly detailed kit. From the cockpit to the weapons bay, this kit is filled with details. Another highlight were the options that came along with it. There were decals for three different aircraft as well as a great selection of ordinance. The only fault that I could come up with, and it is quite petty, are the rear wheels. I felt that they could have looked a little better. Some resin wheels would have been great. But really it’s not a big deal given the rest of the kit.

Painting this kit proved to be an interesting challenge with all the masking involved. It wasn’t as labor intensive as doing the digital camouflage scheme but it still came with difficulties. My choice to use Scotch Tape was certainly unorthodox, but I am glad that I tested it out. It will come in handy on my future builds. 

The paint was a first for me. Mixing the silver in was trial and error at first. I ended up adding about 1 1/2 eye droppers of silver to about half a bottle of gunship grey. It’s not exact but I think it worked. I am not sure if you can see the shimmer to the paint in the photos, but it does show up. I chose not to do any weathering on the  F-35. I didn’t want to take anything away from the paint. It’s a fairly new jet so it won’t show much age anyway. 

This build was fun. It challenged my masking and painting skills as well as provided a stable kit to build.