Pretty early in the construction. This thread will not be a full WIP, but I will post a few in-progress photos now and then. First will be the cockpit tub. The photo-etched panels are the best I have ever had in a kit. Two layers- both color printed. Back piece has instrument faces, front has openings for instruments. It is not flat, it is etched in two levels so instrument mounting bezel stands out from rest of panel surface! The resin ejection seat is wonderful- the belts are molded in, but they are very realistic. Painting the belts was a bit of a challenge even in that scale but it came out fine. Pics in a day or two.
Now the bad news. The fits are as bad as the detail is good. Also have found the first improperly designed part. In the instructions for making the nosewheel well, two side parts glue to a center piece. The instructions show that center piece completely enclosing the back of the well, but the actual molded part, C11, is not complete- about an inch is missing. This would leave a hole into the fuselage nose. It does not look like a molding problem- the end of the part is square and looks fine, and there are no sprue projections going to the missing area. I am enclosing the open area with sheet styrene from my scrap box. Another goof I see in the design is that the nose gear is T-shaped, with the ends of the trunnion going into bearings in the well. But, with the parts of the well glued together, the halves of the bearing are glue together during the well assembly, making it almost impossible to mount that gear trunnion into the bearing!
Typical European design, no pegs or recesses for locating parts. I hate that. That nose gear has no good location depressions or ledges in fuselage- alignment so that nose gear comes out vertical will be a challenge. The detail is beautiful, though. Pics by Monday or Tuesday.