1:48 F-35B Lightning II cockpit (Detailed edition) for Tamiya kit

Two levels of the same cockpit

This item is the richer of the two sets for the F-35B cockpit. While the basic edition builds on printed layers, the detailed form breaks the cockpit down into more separate castings: the tub, the seat with its harness, the control sticks, the side consoles and the rear bulkhead. Anyone who wants to leave the canopy open usually reaches for this variant, because it stands up close even where things are otherwise hidden in shadow.

The real subject

The Lightning II in the version for short takeoff and vertical landing reached its first operational unit in 2015. The pilot has no row of dials in front of him but a single wide panel whose layout changes with the phase of flight, and a helmet into whose visor the picture from cameras around the airframe is projected. The cockpit therefore looks empty and its credibility rests on the texture of the surfaces and on the small controls along the sides.

The link to the plastic base

The outline of the tub follows the inside of the fuselage of the brand named in the title. The pattern is taken from the molding, not from a drawing of the real aircraft, so the spacing of the mating surfaces holds only for that one box. That is a real difference between interior equipment and accessories derived directly from the machine, such as wheels or armament.

Recommended procedure

First a dry run without glue, then sanding of the mating surfaces, and only after that painting. The opposite order usually ends with the finish sanded away. The small controls on the consoles are brought out with a dark glaze rubbed into the recesses and then a light pass over the edges with a drybrush, which is an evening's work and decides the result more than the shade of the base color.