Hey John, thanks for the pat on the back. Much appreciated!
The Hasegawa is NOT the Tamiya Lightning. Still, it builds up OK. I've read this kit's rap sheet, but if you're careful, the issues are minor. Because Hasegawa designed this kit, as it does with a lot of its kits, to build up different variants with different boxings, some of the inserts don't fit well. Some filling and sanding takes care of that. Another issue I've read about is the boom's alignment. Careful dryfitting and trimming gets things lined up just fine. My biggest issue with this kit is the MLG door attachment. Hasegawa provides NO attachment points. Just some "nubs" on the doors that end up being butt-jointed to the edge of the gear bay. I have the -J boxing in my stash. My goal is to build that one up in NMF. So...yeah, I'll build another one. This kit really isn't that bad.
Again, thanks for looking and the compliment.
Cheers!
-O