Hasegawa 1:72 F-35B. The RAF’s 1st F-35B (BK-01), ZM135.

Final assembly of BK-01started on October 26th, 2009. Roll out took place during Sunday evening on November 20th, 2011 and its first flight April 13th, 2012.

The run of the RAF’s F-35B assigned serial numbers isn’t random – ZM135 is the 1st of the Lightnings II assigned to the RAF and XM135 was the 1st of the the “original” ones to remain in service and is preserved at Duxford (it also has its own interesting history) … XM134 was the actually the 1st production Lightning F1, but crashed – so doesn’t seem to count anymore

Paint as usual is by Hataka – this time Orange Line “Have Glass Gray”. Coastal Kits bases – again as per usual – their new larger size RAF100 and the new RAF HAS with a 2 piece 3D base.