Since this keeps coming up (and with such fervor), I’ve gotta be the unpopular one and say I don’t think it’s a big deal. Yeah technically they’re too tall and out of scale. But when one considers all the other similar issues with these toy airplanes we enjoy so much….might be time to get over it. 
Not said to be obnoxious at all! Just being honest. Our paint work is more unrealistic than anything about the kit!
Very true. I just wish it were more subtle.
That’s very fair.
I don’t see your comment as obnoxious. Just another opinion.
and yes, our skills (definitively mine) are often too limited to make a perfect, realistic looking model. However, that doesn’t stop me from trying! If starting from the viewpoint that our models are just “toy airplanes” then anything goes including the kit monstrosities that were produced back in the 1950’s.
What I really object to is that kit manufacturers are making it impossible for us to make a realistic model and that it is a lost cause even from before the modeller starts putting it together. I see this as sabotage.
The same for reviews that describe this Tamiya kit as fantastic and “the best kit ever”. It may be engineered perfectly, contain fantastic detail but it misses on the key aspect of a model kit: it is NOT an honest attempt to correctly represent the real thing.
which is a key aspect of the eal plane to maintain stealth. the raised panels in the models should have been decals.
As a thought…. could you place a piece of paper on the fuselage and make a rubbing with a pencil. Sand off the offending area. Then cut out the section and use the paper as a stencil to spray the pattern if decals are not supplied?
Wow! I would think this pencil rubbing or sanding on the plane would get you kicked off of the production line floor and possibly even a loss of clearance to work on F-35’s ever again. 
Yes, there are some people that go through the painstaking effort of using the raised panels first to make their own stencils, then sand away the raised panels, then use those stencils to airbrush these patterns on…
Hence, we are back in the 1950’s style when Hawk models were having raised panels where the markings (decals) had to be placed. We’ve come a long way since those days. Now companies such as ICM, Special Hobby … bring kits to the market with subtle panel lines, beautiful rivetting….
The Tamiya (and other companies) F-35 is a monstrocity that belongs back in time.
After going to several aircraft museums, I have started sanding my kits to match the real item. If panel lines and rivets are obvious, I leave them. If not, they go under the sandpaper.
Does anyone make a decal of the tape for the F35? seems like a no brainer.
That decal sheet is no longer on their web site.
