Builder's Comments:
Well, I wanted a challenge and I found one. When I started in May, I never dreamed it could take this long. I wanted to build an aircraft OOB with no resin cockpits, etc. It's only my second build and I wanted it all old school.
I learned a lot and got some great experience. I made some mistakes and learned from them. Some of the decals are not that great, with air bubbles trapped underneath. I thought that the Micro-Sol solution, applied after the decal went on, would tighten up the decal and make the bubbles disappear. I thought wrong. But once it's on, that's it.
Compared to other military models, I can't imagine one with more detail to be achieved. When you do a tank, there's no underside to weather, no endless cockpit details, no intricate weapons with tons of facets to be masked and painted. And very few decals.
But since I took this up as a challenge, I left no stone unturned in trying to achieve a level of detail that will never really be seen as the thing sits on a shelf; things like the deep interior of the engine. Not satisfied with my early efforts, I did it three separate times, painting it anew and using a new method until I liked the result. And the cockpit can't even be seen unless up put you face six inches away.
For this build, that's okay. It was part of the point.
That said, it will be a long time until I do it again. If I am going to exert this much effort, it will be on things that can be seen.
I've had fun and am pretty satisfied with the outcome. Building a kit like this has been a dream of mine since I was twelve.
Thanks for all of the support along the way.