Tamiya F-35A-WIP

Got my stuff from Germany, and I'm very impressed with the quality.  The wheel set is especially nice, with the smallest details crisply replicated...even brake lines and safety wire are molded in.  Here are some pics...only took about a week to get here.

Eagle, I'm really going to school with your build here. Seeing how you are accomplishing this build is giving me the confidence to attempt this kit later this year. A few years ago I attempted to build the Meng F-35 kit and what a nightmare. As expensive as the kit was, I eventually consigned it all to the recycle bin.

Keep the hits coming.

weighted wheels....  is this a tail sitter?

Thanks for stopping by, Frank.  I'm definitely deviating from the instructions on this one, because the order they have you do things in doesn't necessarily always make sense.  One more gotcha I found out about is the side panels for the weapons bays.  They fit very nicely, but they are also kind of a flimsy part that is very easy to get slightly out of alignment when cementing them in place.  They also lend to the rigidity of the whole fuselage, so until the cemented plastic re-hardens, that can ALSO throw things out of whack.  Heh...maybe if I hadn't deviated from the instructions for ease of masking/painting that part, it would have gone a little more smoothly.  I guess I can't fault Tamiya on that one.

Mr. Rabbit, thanks for stopping by.  I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

Eaglecash867

Mr. Rabbit, thanks for stopping by. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

A tail sitter =  A model that is too heavy in the back so to get it to sit on its landing gear you have to weight the nose

I understand that, but how does that relate to the other part of your post about weighted wheels? 

one of the pics you posted of aftermark stuff shows "weighted wheels"  Ive never seen those before.  Are they weighted to act as a counter weight for a tail sitter?

Oh!!  Nope.  Weighted wheels are made to have the slightly flattened bottom section that the tires on real aircraft do.  They're made to look like there is weight on them, rather than the magical zero gravity wheels and tires that come in most model kits. 

got it.  Thankyou for the clarification :)

Got the main gear wells detailed this past weekend, so I did another mockup with that assembly and the weapons bay.

Also started working on all the parts for the exhaust nozzle.  The test fit on that went well like I was expecting it to.  Got the Flory washes done on the ceramic white interior pieces, and gave those parts a final coat of MRP Super Clear Matt.

Coming right along. Good progress, nice work.