aftermarket parts

Sometimes companies have a bad habit of including parts from older kits, even thought the new kit is supposed to be a more advanced model, i.e., the RM F-14 D, from what I have heard, it still has the same back contol panels as the F-14A and that is supposed to be diffrent. I am sure there is a lot more of this going on, but sometimes it doesn't show up, until you go to use a PE set and it doesn't fit

Well, when a certain manufacturer sets out to build a model, they first find a its real-life counterpart, and take its measurements. There is not just one airplane that everyone measures and gets the exact same measurement, they measure different ones, and nobody is perfect. Some people may measure a rebuilt one, or go on ducumented measurements. This causes variation between models. AM products may be for just one model because of this. Some will fit 2 or more kits, though. And some AM parts will need modification. I would never let my money ride on a cockpit set, That is the LEAST likely to fit more than one kit. Hope this answers your question. SO YES, if scale is scale, then it would all fit, but it doesn't, there are far too many variables, thickness of plastic is just one, as well as the overall shape. Plus, nobody is perfect.