Lockheed F-35B Lightning II - 1/48 Kitty Hawk - Full scale model kit build

This is a full build video of a Kitty Hawk 1/48 scale model kit (ID KW80102) of the Lockheed F-35B Lightning II, the VTOL version. Sadly Kitty Hawk doesn't exist anymore, so you have to find it online on ebay or similar sites.
I wanted to build a 1/48 F-35B, and in 2020, this was the only kit available. Today, I strongly recommend you to go for the Italeri kit (released in 2022), or wait until Tamiya maybe makes one. If Trumpeter (who bought Kitty Hawk I believe) re-boxes this kit without retooling it, do not buy it.
This is a mould from 2012, and it's not great. Plastic is too soft, instructions come with inconsistencies, mistakes and omissions, lots and lots of ejection-pin marks, and overall just below average quality.
Bad engineering decisions plus bad fittings meant, for instance, that wing root seams will be terrible unless you are a master on filing and fixing seams, while retaining the detail. Stabilisers also suffer greatly from that. Overall,
While the Black Dog resin parts and Eduard's BIG set really help to add some missing details, you still have to scratch build the exhaust nozzle to take it to acceptance levels.
This build was above my skills, and with the timeframe that I had, I rushed it and wrapped it up with little care as it was not an enjoyable build.
My clumsiness around CA glue made a big mess on the canopy, and I still found ejection pin marks later in the build. Overall, this build helped me to work out on many details I am bad at, like masking, gluing or being more methodical on the proper assembling steps.
The good:
- It didn't finished in the trash can, that's a win
- Eduard PE set is a must. The lift fan looks way better with it, so the great cockpit.
- Scratch building the exhaust nozzle was fun
- Decals have a lot of options, although there is little info on some of the versions
The bad:
- you get what you paid for. For this complex airplane, just pay whatever Tamiya will ask for it - it is work every dollar if you don't have to worry about fittings, seams and ejection pin marks through the whole build
- no decal info, you have to use pics as reference, or Italeri instructions
- misleading/no color info on instructions for the kit, on the mask, on the resin parts
Enjoy this video.
The Eduard BIG set used has the ID BIG49230, and it is discontinued. You can see it here:
www.eduard.com/eduard/big-ed/...
The Black Dog resin set used has the ID a48018, and can be seen and ordered here: blackdog-model.com/a48018-1-4...
The Topnotch masks have a SKU: TNM48-S014 and can be found here:
topnotchmasks.com/shop/ram/f-...
Details of this build can be found at my website, neverapro.wordpress.com
Pictures of this build are logged on my scalemates page:
www.scalemates.com/profiles/m...
Disclaimer: The kit and all tools, paints and materials were paid by me. This is original content, I am the one who is assembling this kit and editing the video.
These are the tracks used in the video, in order. They are all from the RUclips audio library, and as such, royalty free and copyright free:
Dream It - TrackTribe
Natural Light - Chris Haugen
I Had a Feeling - TrackTribe
Six Seasons - Unicorn Heads
For the end - Would it Kill You? - Mini Vandals
Thanks to all RUclips scale modelling channels for their amazing videos. You make me a better modeller.
Thanks for Kitty Hawk for making this kit.
Thank you for watching.

[@hidalgohouse3815]

Was kinda hoping he'd left the cheesy RUclips music behind. It's all about chit chat or narration now. I'll check back!

[@kevinburt44]

WOW.... A silk purse frow a pigs ear! Impressive build, looks great. I also got this kit when it came out, now also have the tamiya F35B. Am going to attempt to build KH kit, but, if all goes to crap, then I luckily have the tam one! Thanks for all the info on build issues with KH kit.

[@8bitgamer85]

Tamiya is coming out with a 1/48 scale F-35B VSTOL version.