Greetings,
A bit of progress on my Academy Gabreski Jug.
Fuselage buttoned up, wings and stabilizers attached:
Underside. I later filled in the gaps in wheel wells:
Engine. I feel pretty inadequate here after Gamera's amazing wiring job:
And a wing shot with the ill-fitting gun bay door glued in placed, since I decided against going for a detail set to replace the kit's sparse gun array:
General observations on the kit so far: Well, once again, it ain't no Tamiya job. Overall fit was pretty good and the lines look good. But it seems either not enough or perhaps too much thought went into some of the fiddly bits, in particular those gun bay doors, which don't quite sit flush. Once you've got 'em glued in place, there's not much for it. Trying to sand them flush will obliterate the detail and filling won't address the fit issue. And the gun fairing inserts seem like a good concept, since it allows the correct staggered holes for blast tubes. But they just don't fit worth a crap. I fiddled 'em in best I could, but I'm not impressed. Guess that's my overall observation here. The kit's OK, but not up to Tamiya's standards. Yeah, I've gotten spoiled, but Tamiya's precision allows me to concentrate on the finish work, which is what I really enjoy, rather than mucking around with filler and trying to make the best of something that's not quite right. And as long as I'm at it: Really, Academy, does everything have to require gluing two pieces together -- cowling, tires, stabilizers, etc.? Other companies have managed to produce these in one piece quite successfully, or as assemblies that make sense. For example, tire and hub assemblies that don't require you to glue two tire halves together, then sand away a seam and that nice tread detail and still have to mask off or freehand the hubs.
Anyway, all for now. I'm moving into the paint shop. Updates to come.