42
Parts Included
1
Skill Level
1
Scheme Options

design file screengrab which clearly illustrates the size 

As the largest kit produced in our new breed of Starter Set kits, the new Airfix F-35B kit will be coming into contact with many thousands of novice and more experienced modellers and therefore not only has an important role to play in the future of this famous brand, but also the wider modelling hobby.

showing the full shape data from his new Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning tooling design. We think this kit is going to be a rather popular addition to the range.

skeleton model for the F-35, with the extruded sections highlighting areas which will require individual parts to be designed, or in this case, additional detail to be incorporated into the major components.

F-35B project design files. This first image shows the cockpit detail and the additional depth of parts design into this largest Starter Set project to date.

With the inability to break the design into separate assembly sections, a Starter Set design brings a unique set of challenges for the designer, particularly when it comes to the depth of parts the tooling mould has to incorporate. This is the cockpit design viewed from below and part of the main to fuselage/wing mould.

A view of the lower fuselage section from inside, showing designed the lower front (cockpit) section as a separate component and how it joins to the main section. You will also note the A1 mark moulded on the inside of the part, this is because it is so large that it will be supplied as a free part and not on any part tree and therefore needed to be identified for assembly instruction purposes.

The same lower fuselage/wing component viewed from the outside, showing all the detail include in this particularly large part and where the lower nose part is attached to the model.

A thing of Starter Set beauty. It can be quite the challenge to keep the part count low, whilst at the same time including all the surface detail Airfix kits are famous for. I think we can already see that this kit will build into an impressive scale representation of this distinctive and highly capable multi-role aircraft