Quick update.
I decided to go with a closed cockpit for two reasons. One, it's a lot easier to mask and paint, and two, you can still see the vast majority of the pit anyway so it will stay clean in there better that way.
I have the majority of the building done and I have to say that this kit comes with A LOT of very small bits. I mean VERY small, almost too small to work with. But, it adds a lot of detail and looks great once done. On the other hand it can be quite difficult to work with so many small bits that are really easy to loose. So, that's a win/lose situation.
The PE that comes with the kit to make up all the screens is very nice and will certainly make the kit look wonderful once painted. I lost two really small bits and I have Emailed Kittyhawk for replacement fret, no word back yet. I'll keep you informed of their customer service.
One thing to note on this kit is the ejector pen marks have a great deal of overflow and nearly all of them, if not all, will need to be cut off before assembly. Most are hidden once assembled though, so not that big of a deal. Flash so far has been very minimal.
I managed to rig up a jig for my rotor blades to get a tad bit of a droop from them and then used my hot air gun and a few moments of heat to get just a tad of a bend. It worked great and they should display wonderfully.
No real issues with the kit thus far but I can say you really need to follow most of the construction steps in order on the main body or it will be difficult to assemble. I didn't but managed to pull it off.
I did take the time to clean up the intake plenums as they have locator pins that show when you look inside. SO, I removed them and filed the surface smooth and now you cannot see anything that shouldn't be there.
Thanks for looking guys, more to come later.
BK