Sorry, had to continue in a reply to my first post.
The Zvezda has very deep oversized panel lines that are almost toy like in appearence. Sorry, I didn't take a photo of that. I will add one later.
Bottom line is I decided to drop a dime for the Trumpeter kit, this time going for Trumpeter's version of the Mig-31B/BM, which is an upgraded version of the original Mig-31. I continued to work on the Zvezda kit while I waited the arrival of the new kit. It arrived and I began to work on it immediatly, while continuing the Zvezda, hence the dual build.
Work on the Trumpeter kit so far has consisted of the cockpit instrament panels, which I left the raised details in place and applied the decals over them. Some I had to cut apart to apply to the different sections and used Microsol to suck them down over and into the details. The decals exactly matched the details and the effect turned out better then I thought it would. Not done as they are still very glossy...
Also working on the intakes and gear bays as well:
This is just a start for now, as I haven't taken a whole lot of photos yet
