[DrBill]

Shrike: Apologies in advance for going a little off-topic. This kit (and many others, including the mid-range kits in 1:50 from Marek) are the basis for my preference for butt-jointed construction over the tab strip method of construction. Butt joints permit much tighter control over fit -- if the construction is done properly. In the butt-joined method you have segments with formers in both ends, in contrast with the strip joined method, in which each segment has a former in one end and a joining strip in the other to attach to the next segment. The increased rigidity of the part helps a lot. The secret to butt-joined models is to insure proper mating between the adjacent formers. This is done by holding them together and sanding them to a shared shape before gluing on the skins. That insures that the formers match. After forming the section (a longitudinal connecting strip always helps), run each segment over a piece of sand paper end-on to make sure that each skin is flush and square with its former. The fit will be near perfect. Then paint the visible areas with matching colors. A lot of people don't like the butt-joint method because they don't go the extra step to insure a good fit. If you do it, it works beautifully....