The F-35 Lightning II is an ambitious 5th Generation aircraft that aims to meet the needs of different U.S. service arms via three different variants. Tamiya's model kits of the A and B variants have proven to be model fan favorites since their introduction in 2022 and 2023, respectively. They now complete the variant journey with this model assembly kit which recreates the F-35C.
About the F-35C
The F-35C is a carrier-based variant designed for catapult-assisted take-off, barrier arrested recovery operations from aircraft carriers. Compared to the F-35A, the F-35C features larger wings with foldable wingtip sections, larger control surfaces for improved low-speed control, stronger landing gear for the stresses of carrier arrested landings, a twin-wheel nose gear, and a stronger tailhook for use with carrier arrestor cables. The larger wing area allows for decreased landing speed while increasing both range and payload.
Required to Complete:
Features:
- Fuselage parts are newly molded excluding canopy and weapons bay doors parts.
- Fine recreations of Radar Absorbent Material (RAM) are molded into fuselage surfaces.
- Choose parts to recreate: Deployed or folded wingtips (Parts can be interchanged after assembly.) / Deployed or stowed air fuel probe on the right side of nose / Open or closed arresting hook door / Open or closed canopy (Parts can be interchanged after assembly.) / Open or close weapons bay doors. / Deployed or stowed boarding ladder.
- Leading-edge and trailing-edge control surfaces are depicted down. Parts to render wheel chocks are also included.
- Features realistic renderings of pylons (F-35C's dedicated design) under wings and lower fuselage gun pod. (The gun pod is not attached if using RCS enhancers.)
- Features realistic renderings of the following sections: Nose undersurface side details / Y- shaped air intakes / Weapons bay inside details including depictions of wiring / Cockpit and landing gear bays / Engine nozzle (5-piece design) / Martin-Baker US16E ejection seat / RCS (radar cross section) enhancers affixed to top and bottom sections (two for each, four in total) during basic training exercises, but not in live action or more complex exercises
- Choose whether to assemble the model in stealth mode (no external ordnance), air-to-air mode (missiles only), or beast mode (full ordnance).
- Includes various kinds of ordnance: AIM-9X Sidewinder x2, AIM-120C AMRAAM x2, GBU-12 Paveway II x4, and GBU-31 JDAM x2.
- Masking stickers for the canopy and a realistically recreated seated pilot figure with Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD) included.
- Comes with decals to depict 6 marking options (4 from United States Navy and 2 from United States Marine Corps.)
