Mike Kiehn

I didn't with mine. The main omissions are in the center portion of the fuselage. If you were planning to leave the crew door open I would be tempted to add in scratch built ammo boxes as they would be visible through the door, but if you have the door closed then you will never see them. If you built it the way the CAD drawings show it (i.e. with the sides off and much of the interior visible, I think there would be a compelling argument for scratch building to fill the gaps. The instructions don't cover it at all though and I wasn't anywhere near brave enough to take big risks with a $600 model. I think there are a few misleading things about this kit: you can't build it the way the images on the box show it and as you note here it isn't really a 'full interior' by my definition of the word 'full'.

All I can say here is that I definitely got $600 of pleasure from my build. The kit isn't perfect by any means and the instructions are infuriating... but it was an absolute joy to build. I would build another in a heartbeat... if I didn't care about being married any more...

Ah, next to F4 there is a part without a number hence my mistake. That part is the curtain. I don't think the engine intake sprue was short shot It was certainly frustrating at the time but utimately something you have to know is missing to miss... not great on a $600 kit though.

The drift recorder is C1-25

Ah sorry, I am new here. I didn't realise that you were looking into developing a product for sale. I can see how that would be an issue especially for such a limited run kit.

In honesty I was not impressed with the clear parts BUT I will say that when they are in place on the model you don't really notice them that much. I found that putting it together was a great pleasure and that the process was worth the sticker price to me. 'Your mileage may vary' though as we say over here

The navigator's curtain is part F4. The only place where the bomb bay doors would work as designed would be at the step labelled 'Bomb Bay' and would come after attaching the main spars to the assembly. It certainly has to happen before the two parts of the fuselage are attached in step 'Rear Fuselage'. If you look at the bomb bay doors you will see the issue with the large unfinished flanges which need to go between the fuselage and the bomb bay. The instructions are really vague but suffice to say that as written they don't work! With respect to the metal guns it's the much large muzzles that cause the problem. They must be twice as wide as the plastic ones! The other problem I had with the guns was that the barrel of the metal part is basically as wide as the plastic receiver of the gun, it makes it essentially impossible to drill out a hole for them and so I had to simply butt joint them - far from ideal. Re. decals I used Tamiya Markfit Strong under them, but it was still dicey. I have no ideas where my 'Phantom of the Ruhr' scroll went which was hugely disappointing, but life goes on. Also of note parts O34 and O31 were absent from my kit (part of the engine cowling. I am happy to provide any more insight you would like. It's a great model but not without its foibles!

Hi, new forum member here! I have been following your discussion in excitement awaiting the arrival of my kit. Mine arrived about a month ago and I have finished building it. I wanted to share some gotchas that I encountered in the build in the hope that it might help you guys. The major one is with the bomb bay doors. If you build it in the order that Border provide in the instructions it is impossible to fit them without removing the attachment flange, I did this as I found out late that it was an issue but to get the doors to remain attached so I had to build new metal struts that I drilled into the bomb bay to get a secure fit. I have a gap, but it is what it is. A frustrating find. They also don't tell you to add in the curtain for the navigator's station which is unfortunate as it would have been a nice feature, is included on the sprues, and is something that was important in use of the bomber. The metal gun barrels for the front and top turret do not fit through the apertures in the clear plastic which must be widened, they look good with the open barrel ends but the plastic ones have more detail. It is what it is. Now we get to the biggest issue... the decals... they are absurdly thin and once laid down on model cannot be safely moved. As such be really careful with the bigger ones which are a nightmare! If you are interested in pictures you can check them out on my Insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgK4ie4uu0O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link