Page 69 - Tamiya Model Magazine - Issue 292 (February 2020)

Test shot

LIGHTNING STRIKE

1:72 F-35 B Lightning II STOVL Version (1425)

This is a new tool kit which provides fantastic detail for 1:72nd scale,
you can nearly feel the uplift from the engine fan behind the cockpit.

The JSF Joint Strike Fighter program was set up to develop a new generation of all-weather
multirole combat aircraft able to replace the existing United States and NATO strike-fighters.

The F-35B Lightning is a fifth-generation combat aircraft, based at RAF Marham. The
short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capability allows it to operate from the new
‘Queen Elizabeth’-class aircraft carriers, vessels of allied nations and short airstrips. In
July 2012 the government decided to purchase an initial batch of 48 aircraft. By 2015 the
Strategic Defence and Security Review confirmed the UK’s intention to buy 138 Lightnings
and undertook a massive infrastructure upgrade at RAF Marham. Britain currently has 17
F-35B’s & operational sorties have been flown over Iraq and the Levant countries. Successful
trials have also been undertaken aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth and it is expected that full
carrier strike capability will be achieved in 2020. The last of the initial 48 Lightnings are
expected for delivery in January 2025. In the meantime a schedule for the remaining 90
aircraft and further squadron formations are likely to be put in place. The F-35B is capable of
conducting air-to-surface, electronic warfare, intelligence gathering and air-to-air missions
simultaneously, making it the RAF’s first multi-role supersonic stealth aircraft.
Model kit features:
• High quality, highly detailed kit
• Engine with two thrust nozzle positions, straight and rotated 90 degrees
• Panels may be opened to view interior detail
• Weapon carrier trolley included for dioramas
• American version with rocket pillars included
• Four different versions of roundel decals

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on www.hobbyco.net Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8PG
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