1:32 Denmark F-35A - generic set

The Danish choice and the end of the Viper era

Denmark picked its fifth-generation fighter in the middle of the previous decade and ordered twenty-seven examples. The first machines landed on home soil in southern Jutland in 2023 and so set in motion the departure of the F-16, which the Royal Danish Air Force had operated since the late 1970s. The country had been one of the original European partners in the F-16 program, so after more than four decades a whole technical cycle closed.

Set contents

The sheet covers the fleet as a whole. On it you will find Danish national insignia in a muted rendition matching the finish of the machine, aircraft numbers, unit markings and a full set of service stencils, from the warning texts at the cockpit entry to the labels on the service panels. The selection is chosen so that the builder can pick any example of the fleet without hunting for further sheets.

On finishing the model

The surface of the aircraft is matte and uniform, so the biggest mistake tends to be a glossy patch around a decal. The answer is to polish only the part of the model where the element will go and, once dry, to go over the whole area with matte varnish. On this type the small texts are not repeated in a regular grid as on older aircraft, so it pays to keep a photograph of the real machine at hand. The finished model is close to fifty centimeters long.

Compared with other operators of the type, the Danish markings have the advantage of being restrained and of not complicating the choice of shades. That makes careful work on the surface stand out all the more, and on aircraft with a smooth uniform finish it is what decides the overall impression of the finished piece.