Nose counter weight of a 1/72 Italeri F-35 JSF?

[Swede]

I'm gonna break out of my comfort zone and build two modern jets, one Italeri F-35A (no specific aircraft as of yet, more just to "learn how to do it") and one Italeri F-35B (The RAF one), both in 1/72.

Maybe I can find some RAAF decals for the Model A one when this Corona thing is over. I tried to order one such decal set through a Swedish' online hobby store, who can order pretty much anything out there, but even he was unable to get hold of the Aussie F-35 decals!

Now, the kits look great! But as usual with Italeri they are some what fuzzy regarding the instruction manual, and they do not state how much counter weight is needed in the nose.

The Model A is gonna be built completely with out any ordinance, with all of the weapon bay doors closed, and the Model B is gonna be built with the whole ordinance range, including the laser-guided bombs underneath the wings.

I guess this means that the Model A needs less counter weight in the nose than the Model B? How much counter weight is needed for each one?

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[mozit]

Decals from Steve at Roningraphicsaustralia (also *models on ebay). Dunno about the weight - yet!
Cheers

[enfield38]

I don't think any nose weight is required, the main landing gear is sufficiently aft of the bulk of the kit plastic.

[Swede]

Thanks!

I'm gonna start these builds during the Spring of next year, but building modern jets requires more from you as a modeller, since they are manufactured in modern day factories, with a higher production standard compared to the propeller aircraft of WW2, that I've built so far.

I'm also gonna build a Me 262 with detailed engines, but first I have a few other kits to turn into finished aircraft.

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[Swede]

I'm continuing in this thread, since the aircraft in question is the same.

I'm wondering about the armament of the F-35.

The Model B kit contains an AIM 120 AMRAAM and a GBU-31 JDAM in each internal weapon bay plus the option of using up to six GBU-12 Paveway II on external hard points underneath the wings.

Is the JDAM really that common or can either the AMRAAM or the Paveway II be carried in its place?

As I wrote, the Model A will probably carry no visible armament what so ever, which leaves me with two AMRAAM and two JDAM more for the Model B.

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[SpazSinbad]

Not sure what your question will be OR IS however any answer can be complicated. This thread with links to other threads may help:

http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=52570 Post-SWAT weapons bay dimenions (esp. F-35B)

[Swede]

Thank you!

That really helps.

Cheers, Morgan // Swede

[Swede]

I'm continuing here since it has to do with the F-35.

During Christmas I went through both of the Italeri F-35 kits and have decided to only build the Model B. The Model A kit will have some parts used for the planned F-35B, which should work since both are made by Italieri.

While going through the two different kits, I noticed that the Model B contains two Sidewinder missiles intended for the outer hard points underneath the wings, located next to the two Paveway laser-guided bombs underneath each wing.

Now, the decal sheet for the Model B doesn't have any decals for the Sidewinder missiles, and thus I don't know how these should be marked.

Does anyone here know?

I may use the two AIM-120 missiles instead, since these do have the proper decals on both decal sheets, even though these are somewhat different when comparing the two Italeri kits.

But do the hard points underneath the wings look the same for both the AIM-120 and for the Sidewinder? Or does the AIM-120 have different rails than the Sidewinder?

Also I'm interested in how the cockpit in the F-35 looks like, since the Italeri instructions only dictate the use of matt black for this entire area, including the ejection seat!

But this can't be right, can it?

Cheers, Morgan // Swede