Well. New to the forum but read through and saw some questions regarding this kit. I got the Air Force version in (F-35A in the instructions, but F-35B on the box - go figure) today from Squadron and would like to give a quick review.
Now - how can I give a review when I haven't built it yet? Well...I built the Italeri kit last year as a gift for a mentor of mine (along with the X-32, but that is another topic.) and this kit is 99% a scaled up version of that kit, with all the inaccuracies inherent in it. It is a generic X-35 as used in the flight test program. That means it has the STOVL canopy, STOVL doors, etc. Thus it is highly different from the AF variant which has a larger canopy, a gun mounted on the left side of the aircraft, a simplified engine duct and fewer panels. The duct included is a straightened modification of the 3BSD (3 bearing swivel duct) in the Italeri kit. The 3BSD was modeled wrong there to begin with, but again, off topic. The STOVL intakes on the Panda kit are deeper and have softer detail than the Italeri kit. But the part breakout is identical down to the locator pins. The cockpit is VERY basic and is pretty bad. I plan to do some research and add a different ejector seat. The detail is engraved and pretty good although it doesn't match the prototype version because it adds some sawtooth shapes on the panels and exhaust area.
Now - that being said, I think this will build into a pretty decent kit with some work. First of all, the kit is BIG. I haven't checked scale size, but it is close to a foot long. The Italeri version had some issues with fit that involved a LOT of filler work. As noted, in previous posts, the decals are extremely thick but look very opaque. The scaling up has resulted in some soft detail, but I plan to augment that with photos and a trip to Pax River to photograph the prototype. Finally, the horizontal stabilizer construction is less than optimal. I can explain more if you are interested.
JSF has undergone some changes since the X-35 days to include changes to the STOVL doors over the lift fan (single door opening from the rear hinge) and some mold line changes. Also the Navy version is pretty different with much larger wing area, so that is why I imagine we haven't seen one of them yet. I am not sure how to handle the cockpit issue so at least I will build this one as the prototype. Overall, I give this kit a B- with the hopes that some careful detailing will result in a good model.
Feel free to email me with questions, etc. I am at umiami91@hotmail.com
Michael Dahlstrom