Yes, I have the 1/48 kit, and I was very much looking forward to building it until I opened the box. I found the black plastic to be very soft, with lots of bumps and nicks. When I tried to dry fit the 1st two parts, it was clear that they were warped, so I glued them together, and I've spent 2 nights filling and sanding the gaps, which is scratching the hell out of the plastic, but I'll sand that further with a finer grit later. From what I can see, I'm going to be doing a lot of that as this kit progresses.
My instructions aren't all that bad, and yes there are a bunch of black and white pics. However, I am not an engineer. The other kits I've built have always pointed to the portions to be painted, and shaded the areas to be painted if the whole part is not going to be one color. Simply telling me, as this kit does, to paint a portion of a part a certain color using a techincal term for the part to be painted is not all that helpful, hence my request for color photos.
I agree about the lack of detail in the cockpit, but as you say, this area was still classified when they made the molds.
I want to thank your for the link, and I will see if can get the True Details cockpit detail set (# 48478) or its equivilent her in the US as I really believe that the most impressive part of most plane models is the cockpit.
Thanks again for all your help, and good luck with your Sr-71!