Tamiya 1/48 F-35A Lightning II part 4a

[@lesgl]

Turned out great..a masking ''Tour De Force''

[@TheModelShed]

Thank you 👍

[@mickrobinson1112]

excellent work on ram masking

[@TheModelShed]

Cheers Mick

[@bucknertarsney7674]

That masking…….OMG. 😮

[@TheModelShed]

That’s what I thought when I started doing it 😬😬😬

[@daveabbott]

Missed you tonight on the 'Tamiya Masking Tape Show' - such patience!

[@TheModelShed]

😂😬

[@FinsburyPhil]

The word meticulous springs to mind Steve!

[@TheModelShed]

😬😃😂

[@boomerdiorama]

I love to see modelers mix their own colors.😁

[@TheModelShed]

Hope they’re right 😬🤔

[@finlayfraser9952]

What a lot of work!

[@TheModelShed]

Sure was Finlay hope it’s worth it

[@jerryplews1023]

That masking is artwork in itself. Nice job steve

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Jerry 👍

[@garryprettyman8927]

I understand your apprehension about using Tamiya decals, but I have to say they went on beautifully, with no issues what so ever. The only problem was that there is so many of them. Love your work, and love watching you do what you do. I am enjoying this build the same as I enjoyed the 1/32 Mosquito build, of which I am working on at the moment.

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Gary I guess the decals would have taken a lot of time as well?

[@reconranger1370]

I've had my challenges with tamiya decals. perhaps the ones that came with this kit are a little better. 🙂

[@usssaratogacv3lefevre978]

Great detail painting, Steve. I think the masking looks much better than the decals would have been.

[@TheModelShed]

I’m sure it is and overall about the same time I reckon

[@dlthomson5287]

That was a lot of masking, I don't want to guess how many rolls of tape you went through! One thing you can't argue with the results all that masking really paid off. Keep up the good work.

[@TheModelShed]

Thank you - about 2 rolls I reckon 😬😬

[@phillipsiviter2024]

The things we do for our hobby three days of masking, 1 hour in the booth, finish - worth it.

[@TheModelShed]

I hope so Phillip - thanks

[@dalesmith924]

Looks like Tamiya should run a promotion: Buy rolls of tape and get a free model.

[@TheModelShed]

😂

[@paulmanuse2353]

Amazing paint work!

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Paul.

[@reconranger1370]

really nice work. I don't think I have the patience to do that much masking. That being said, my hats off to you, as it looks fantastic and thanks for sharing.

[@TheModelShed]

Thank you 👍

[@garylee6321]

great job on the painting and masking. your video is the first one I've seen showing the tamiya lp color mixes clearly.

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Gary 👍

[@johntreloar8203]

Amazing masking job and the paint looks great, well done Steve excellent work.

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks very much John 👍

[@woodsidevideography8119]

Well Steve if you’re going to do it then you do it right, you nailed it. Fabulous craftsmanship and looking forward to the next instalment

[@TheModelShed]

Thank you 👍

[@mgarizona9939]

You have the patience of a saint ! A lot of very different builds on the go at once excellent build excellent editing .

[@TheModelShed]

Thank you👍

[@andrewgillis3073]

Wozer! Great job. Too bad there aren’t aftermarket masks available. Hint, hint. 😉 I’m used to planes being roughly the same on both sides. This was an eye opener.

[@TheModelShed]

Eduard are to release a set it will be quite expensive I think but I would have had one to save three days work 😃

[@andrewgillis3073]

@@TheModelShed looking at their website, it appears it will be several sets, used together. But who knows! I agree it would be worth it!

[@twelve_birds]

I'm in the process of decaling the RAM panels and you're totally on point when it comes to the time required to do it: I'm into the third session now and as usual with Tamiya decals they need some work with different solutions to settle. I'll have to see how things look after I add a varnish on top - but opting for masking and painting the panels is certainly not a more time-consuming process. It's as you say - if you go for that scheme, you need to commit to it. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build!

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Marc it was a lot of work but it’s the only F35 I’m going to build so it had to be. Good luck with the decals I’d be interested to hear how they go for you.

[@twelve_birds]

@@TheModelShed It went okay(ish) after all, most of them look good under a flat coat. I went through most of the setting solutions known to mankind to get a somewhat decent result - tamiya mark fit strong has proven to be the best option after all. The result is still not perfect and if I'd do it again, I'd probably opt to mask/paint the scheme as well.

[@lesthiele7645]

That has turned out perfectly, well done my friend, I was thinking of getting the F-35 at some stage but have gone off that idea as I really don't think I could be bothered with either the decaling or painting as you have done, looking forward to the nest installment, best regards from a Kiwi living in Australia.

[@robbroy]

Les don't give up on the F-35 as all the late production (and refinished early production) jets now have very minimal RAM panelling. Much simpler - !

[@TheModelShed]

Give a later version a go Les if you really fancy an F35 - less work than this.

[@stevesstuff1450]

Stunning masking there! 👍 I'm currently building the same kit; have it all decked-out in a dark slightly metallic grey, and I'm using a few of the decals/transfers from the kit, for the darker schemes, as I'm also going to use a set of the Carracal decals to give the RAF Lakenheath version, which I see on a daily basis as I work on the civvy side of the base in the BX (equivalent to the NAAFI). They are an incredible sight to see with some of the manoeuvres you see these things skid/drift into!! 😆 I love watching the F-15E's as well, but these F-35's are just that bit more slippery when off the ground, and you wonder how the hell it can that!!! The Tamiya decals actually go down very well, although they are a bit thick (no surprise there then!!), but with a fair amount Micro-Set/Sol, they settle really nicely - I wouldn't relish doing the entire RAM tape patterns with 'em though! Luckily the Lakenheath birds don't use that scheme, being later versions... 🙂

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks Steve I’m glad I did the RAM work now but boy it was a trial. I’ve since tried a few of the Tamiya decals and they are thick but settle down well.

[@t.s.127]

realy awesome 👍👍👍 top 👍👍👍

[@TheModelShed]

Thanks👍

[@davidpalmer4184]

Thanks Steve, I am so glad you have gone with Cartograf decals. I love Tamiya engineering but their decals suck the big one. Please listen TAMIYA!

[@TheModelShed]

I’m glad I went that route David - hope the decals work ok.

[@-gdt-]

I guess I must have missed the part where you give the ratios of paint for the RAM coating to match the decals. If you could share that information I'd be most grateful!

[@TheModelShed]

Hi can’t remember now but I just followed the ratios in the Tamiya instructions and they worked well I think

[@kevinlong8076]

Great job, I thought I would try the decals and it is a big pain

[@TheModelShed]

I’m sure they are Kevin lots of them too

[@reconranger1370]

BTW, I just subscribed to your channel!😀

[@TheModelShed]

Welcome 👏

[@BearBaillie]

Awesome masking job there sir, still waiting on mine to arrive had to pre order I guess everything takes longer to get to Australia 😂. Was wondering if using pinking shears (serrated scissors) when masking the rams would help or are the bias on them too big? Anyway thanks for a great tutorial and can’t wait to do or try mine. Cheers

[@TheModelShed]

Hi Matty. Nice idea about the pinking shears but I'm afraid it wont work: the zigzags are not a regular pattern so they have to be individually cut. Shame.........

[@johnboy384]

Flippin heck! That masking! smh!

[@TheModelShed]

😬😃

[@1965GJS13]

F-that for masking. Sorry, but I just don't have the patience for that. Decals for the ram panels are the only way I might consider doing that, although the newer paint schemes for the F-35 have the RAM panels the same colour, so no masking/decaling required at all.....?

[@TheModelShed]

Probably the later schemes are better if you don’t want the work of the RAM panels. There will be a ready cut mask set available soon though which will save a lot of time