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I've always had a fascination for experimental aircraft or those than never left the drawing board. If there were more 1/48 kits of experimental aircraft of other nations, I would happily build those. As the Me 509 and Ta 183 would share many paints, I thought I might as well try doing a double bill. My Me 509 Thread: As with my Trumpeter Me 509 build, this thread is mainly because I couldn't find a Britmodeller post on this kit that runs to the end of the build. As I'm only an average modeller, it isn't intended to be the definitive build review, it's just intended to help you avoid the pitfalls I fell into. I hope it helps someone. This is an odd kit. Not just because of the subject matter, but because there are things that have been done very well and things that have been skimped on. It reminds me of the Hobby Boss 'Easy assemble' kits. It would have been nice to have the flight surfaces as separate parts, but many kits don't so I won't knock it for that. After spending four months on my previous build I had decided that I would go for an easier build this time, so I didn't mess around with the control surfaces this time. The wing-tip navigation lights are moulded into the wing – no clear parts are provided. Although these are relatively easily made for a reasonably competent modeller, it's a little annoying that you have to go through the hassle. I'm not sure how much this kit cost when it was released, but I should imagine that it wasn't very cheap – but this is something I would expect from either a kit from the bargain bucket or from the days of old. I drilled and painted the 'light' and left the clear plastic chunk to dry for about a week. (This is the green light, so I don't know why I can see red in the photo?) For me, the biggest problem: no air intake! It's a jet! Air sucked in and air squirted out the back - but rather than a hole in the front, there is a merely shallow cave! I had a look at quite a few builds of this kit online, and each time I saw a 'head-on' shot it completely destroyed the illusion. So that was one thing I was determined to rectify – but it was far from easy. Drilling the hole wasn't the problem of course, it was the 'tunnel' behind it that turned out to be a bit of a mare. I went for a 6mm hole and found that the barrel of a biro was perfect for the internal diameter, but there isn't a lot of space between the top of the nose-wheel well and the underside of the cockpit, so if you can, I would recommend using a tube that has a smaller external dimension than a biro. It was a ludicrously tight fit and I ended up sanding the base of the cockpit and the top of the wheel well to gain about 0.5mm, I sanded both sideds of the biro as well, and still had to lower the wheel well about 1.5mm. Basically, it took me a ludicrous amount of time to open the front up, so if you decide to do the same, it isn't going to be easy. But now I've managed it, I'm pathetically pleased with the end result. 6mm hole drilled (easier to centre it from the back) and gun holes opened up. It took quite a bit of effort to cut and sand back the opening of the intake to a nice intaky sort of shape. This is the air intake tube. Yes I know the engine would have been mounted much further back in the fuselage, but I just wanted to get the effect of seeing the engine face down a tunnel. The collar around the top is just to make it easier to attach to the curved, inner surface of the nose. I also hollowed out the end of the biro to extend the shape of the intake from the nose part. Biro tube attached to the nose and chunk hacked out to allow for the cockpit floor. Engine face made from a bit from the spares box that had a round face of the correct size. The spinner is the end of a wooden paint brush handle and the fan blades are just drawn on with a fine marker pen. Looks very crude here, but quite good in reality (it does in my head anyway). Over-kill admittedly, but I don't want the engine 'face' falling off, so this is a little insurance. The wire was just to hold it in place while it dried - I had to remove it as it wouldn't have fitted otherwise. Notice that I have inserted a small piece of brass tube in the gun holes. Taaaaddaaaaah! As you are only seeing it in cheap and nasty 2D rather than glorious, technicolor 3D vision, so the engine face looks much closer to the front in the photo. Thanks for looking – comments welcome. Gorby