F-35B Lightning II

Bath time for the two grey pointy things. 

I'm not having much luck of late! Managed to lose three parts of my 1:48 Meteor, my 1:32 Storm Shadow was missing a part and now the F-35 turns up (direct from Airfix) with a cracked windscreen.
Have contacted their spares department, fingers crossed, otherwise it'll be a call to Autoglass 😉 

Bit of nose weight (to the right) - didn't ask for any in the instructions but got a dose of liquid gravity and superglue just in case. 

Grumble, grumble, white paint, grumble.

... and what's worse, I've realised that the underside vertical lift fan doors (bottom centre) didn't need to be white anyway!! 

Plodding along... some assembly coming up next. 

"What do you think?"
"I think your attempt to scratch-build the wiring on the directional thrust piping is well intentioned but a tad overscale"
"Shush, you're not even a real pilot. Your hands are fixed to your knees, how are you supposed to fly - telepathy?" 

Doors are going on... 

All over bar varnish, decals and canopy now - still waiting for Royal Mail to deliver the replacement canopy that Airfix sent a fortnight ago. Have got the cracked one painted and ready to go if it comes to it. 

I do like the "shadow stand".
Also, please note my little addition of the union flag under the lift-flap 😉 

Just to prove she can stand on her own three feet too! 

Let's give it a sepia wash and a brown filter to reproduce that weird "Have Glass V"-like metallic sheen, he says. What could possibly go wrong, he says.

Currently have the world's first rusty F-35 and a wishing for a real world CTRL Z function. 

Fixed - sanded it down a bit, thinned coat of 164 grey back over it. Still see hints of the brown, so maybe I am partly achieving that metallic effect in the end... 

Bit of masking, finding another way to screw it up 🙂 

Hurrah, that replacement canopy has arrived! Has take nearly a month (first emailed Airfix on 12 Sep, today 7 Oct), because the Royal Mail managed to lose the first one. 

Can anyone spot the problem with this replacement canopy for my F-35? 

I was very specific about the missing part and the kit it came from. OK, I mentioned my Typhoon in the email once, but really??
I don't have the heart to go back to Airfix and tell them after all the trouble and expense they've gone to getting this (wrong) one to me. I guess I'll be going with the cracked canopy... 

All finished, despite the trail of disasters that made the plot of Armageddon seem uneventful. 

All finished, despite the trail of disasters that made the plot of Armageddon seem uneventful. 

All finished, despite the trail of disasters that made the plot of Armageddon seem uneventful. 

All finished, despite the trail of disasters that made the plot of Armageddon seem uneventful.