Where do I begin with this tale? Well, I bought it on clearance at the PX on our base when I was on deployment overseas in 2005. I never built it there, so I shipped it home to build at a later date. It is boxed as a F-35A JSF. Fast forward 2005, and I am now live no near Luke AFB and see F-35s flying overhead nearly every day, so I am inspired to build this. I open up the kit, start doing research, and see that this it is not a F-35 as it says on the box, but is instead a X-35. Or at least it is closer to a X-35A than to a F-35A. The basic airframe lines are the X-35, although it is missing several prominent features. And it has multiple F-35A features added like weapons bays and under fuselage contours. The wheel wells and doors are something of a cross between highly inaccurate and fictitious. But hey, I got it for cheap, and I wasn’t gonna let it defeat me or throw it away. So I modified the cockpit, creating a proper instrument panel, modifying the kit ejection seat to resemble the seat actually used in the aircraft, and added some of the missing detail to the otherwise large empty shelf behind the seat. I sealed up the weapons bays, as the X-35 did not have those, added the APU exhaust to the fuselage right side, and modified the kit afterburner nozzle from the F-35 multi faceted style petals to the more standard type used on the X-35. I also took an instrumentation boom from another kit in my stash, and modified it to the configuration seen on the X-35A during flight test at Edwards. I also modified the kit canopy to appear like the two piece side opening canopy of the X-35, rather than the single piece item that comes in this kit.
I did not modify the wheel wells or landing gear doors as aside from the nose well, that would have been a major surgery. As would have been correcting the fuselage underside profile. In the end, I have something that looks mostly like a X-35A, aside from the lower fuselage.
Thanks for looking, comments and critiques are welcome.
OK, Stik, here we go. I’m not really a jet builder, especially modern stealth jets. They’re just not very stylish like the early first and second generation jets. However I did build the Hasegawa F-35A back in the spring. The build was dedicated to my brother, Gerry, who was a systems engineer on the F-35 project at Ft. Worth. We can certainly see the similarities between the prototype and the production airplanes.
Gerry lived with our mom and dad in Sun City West while he was at ASU working toward his engineering degree. After ASU, he eventually found his way to Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth and the F-35 program. I wanted to build the kit as a Luke aircraft but instead built it as a 33rd FW at Eglin AFB. I know Gerry would approve. He was very proud to have been associated with the program.
The Hasegawa F-35A kit is an excellent kit and the display stand is part of the kit which is why I chose the kit. Jets just look better when posed in flight.
Ya gotta love companies that put out kits based on prototypes with some fictional details in order to be the first to have a kit on the market. Great job there on modifying the kit and the paint work. Never really liked the looks of the plane but you did a fantastic job on her!!!
Frank, thanks for sharing that build and story about your brothers connection to the JSF program here. That’s a good looking build.
Gamera, it is indeed a bit frustrating about its of “production” aircraft being being based off of the prototype. Especially before the development program is complete and changes from that are incorporated into the final design. Then add to that they added production features onto the prototype airframe. They could have had a perfectly fine X-35 with this and gotten all the shapes right, but… Grrrr… It’s happened before on models, and will happen again.
A really nice, clean build for an interesting subject. I really like the finish and the first photo especially shows nice color modulation. Mind if I ask how you achieved the color modulation (especially on the top side)?
Thank you Gil. The modulation was something of an accident. I grabbed the Neutral Gray and accidentally put a few drops into my airbrush when I was intending to use Gunship Gray for touch ups. Rather than cleaning it out, I added Gunship Gray, turned it into a lightened shade, thinned it out, and used it for faded effect on the top surfaces in selected areas.
