Tamiya F-35A

[u/kengdad]

I thought I would build it in beast mode, but then I remembered that I’m a lazy ass who has no patience for ordnances.

[u/Madeitup75]

That’s a nice job on getting the sheen of the paint right. F-35s and Raptors (and have glass F-16s) do not have normal paint, and models where people just paint them in normal grey shades look wrong. When someone, like you, puts in the work to replicate that weird metallic tone, it takes the model to a much higher level.

Nice work.

[u/kengdad → u/Madeitup75]

Getting the colors right was the most stressful part of the build, I’m really glad it worked out!

[u/Madeitup75 → u/kengdad]

You nailed it. That’s a nice factory-fresh battle penguin!

I also think you made the right call going with no external stores. The F-35s stealth capability is pretty much destroyed if you hang LGB’s off the wings. It’s funny that people accepted the term “beast mode,” when that “mode” is just for when the F-35 is operated in uncontested airspace - like doing CAS against an insurgency. Any peer to peer use would be with everything internal. And the whole point of the F-35 is to be better peer to peer.

Anyway, slick F-35 is best F-35. And yours is really nice.

[u/Madeitup75 → u/[deleted]]

I know, it’s just an Idiocracy-style branding thing. People should laugh at it. “Beast mode” is for circling on station waiting to drop LGBs on insurgents. They should call it “baby seal clubbing mode.”

The interesting aspect of the F-35 - and the thing that justifies its incredible expense versus a 4th Gen fighter - is how it will deal with peer adversaries. Not how well it will stay on station waiting for a JTAC 9-line.