Zar
Thanks to both of you for the info. I am a shake and baker, not into sanding and filling and I believe model makers should make their kits to fit properly. Maybe that is why Tamiya is my favorite model maker, and Pegasus snappers too! LOL!!!
I've never had a kit that didn't require at least SOME sanding & filling; i.e. seam lines on elevator leading & trailing edges, prop seam lines, guns, sprue gates (attatchment points)... Tamiya, Dragon, Hasegawa, ICM, you name it... Recently, I built two P-39s, one a 40-year old Monogram, the other a fairly recent Eduard release... The modern, high-dollar Eduard kit required filling a 1/16th inch gap in the wing root, while the "inferior" Monogram kit fit tighter'n a tick throughout that area...
Like Stik pointed out, you're really limiting yourself in both kit and subject selection and skill progression if you only do Shake & Bakes... Plus, you'll never be able to expand your horizons into other areas, like scratch-bilding, figure modifications, kit-bashing (Kit-bashing means combining two or more kits or parts from two or more kits to make one unique version of a particular subject, not BMWing about the kit's shortcomings, BTW), and the like... Ain't gonna tell ya what to do, but I will say that you're missing out on a lot personal satisfaction opourtunities and chances to build your personal modeling skill-sets to a level that exceeds "Beginner"...
It also means that one day, maybe soon, you'll read or hear about a kit that's a "Shake & Bake", pay 100.00 for it, but you'll get a "Monday Kit" that has a "short shot" sprue and/or some flash in a bad area and be really disappointed in it because you won't be able to "throw the glue tube into the box and have a model pop out"...
Anyway, you'll decide on what you want to do, or not do, but to call the Marauder a "POS", even given its shortcomings would be a diservice to the kit... It will build out to an acceptable B-26 without sanding & filling, but it'll be a "Four Footer"... Meaning that it'll look OK from four feet away...
OH, BTW...
Here's what Shep Paine did with the "POS" B-26 when it first was released...
Fixed that "Cowl problem" without a single drop of putty...