1:32 F-35 Anthology Big Scale Lightning IIs

Sixteen F-35A machines on one sheet

The Lightning II entered service at a time when colorful aircraft markings had long given way to discreet gray lettering. That makes it all the more interesting to follow what does still set the individual machines apart: codes on the fins, squadron badges, small differences in the equipment of test examples. This sheet has gathered sixteen complete variants, a number that is not usual on a single sheet in a large scale.

Where the machines come from

• test and evaluation units from Nellis and Edwards air force bases
• a squadron preparing tactics for the weapons school
• training wings where pilots convert to the new type
• a combat unit with wing markings of its own
• two machines of foreign users, the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF)

All sixteen variants belong to the version with a conventional takeoff and landing, that is neither to the short takeoff with a vertical landing nor to the carrier form. Anyone building a different version has to reach for a different sheet.

In a scale this large every irregularity under a decal shows, because the film is thin and the airframe surfaces are long. So it pays to lay a gloss coat under the markings, to place the decals on a damp surface and to draw the excess water off from the center outwards. A decal softener will help to settle elements over riveted joints and the edges of covers. Neither a kit nor paints are included in the package; the sheet holds the decals and their placement list only.