I am presently reading old building reports in this forum, so pardon me for digging up some rather old threads.
I have tried my hands on this model twice. First time was a complete disaster: I was new to MM kits and used to the very precise german Wilhelmshaven and Schreiber kits, so I wrongly expected everything to go together smoothly. After experiencing serious problems with parts fit, expecially the formers, the half finished model languished on the shelf for a few years, then I threw it away.
Second try, a few years later. By then, I had built some Fly Model kits, read a few building reports in internet forums and I was wary of the problems that could arise on the way ahead. Also, I had bought a Dremel and learned how to use it to sand formers to shape.
So I copied the kit on 200 gr/sqm cardboard and the formers twice, just to make sure.
Now things went quite smoothly.
Things I changed: I added parts of a 2nd main spar in front of the original one to get more glueing area. I built this model (as I do with most aircraft) with the landing gear retracted, I left off the ferry tank and I used the plastic stem of a "cotton stick" to make the airscrew rotate freely.
I did not change the strange colours of this kit: For me, it has got a kind of vintage charme, similar to old tin toys. The only thing I refined was to colour the edges and to paint the inside of the canopy, because I built it partly open to show the gloriously simple cockpit interior.
One more note: This kit bears a striking resemblance to the old 1/50 Wilhelmshaven kit of the MK.VIII, especially the unique way they tried to model the curved wing leading edge. I canīt help but wonder if there was the copy cat on the way...
I published a building report in the
german forum kartonist.de
Even if you probably wonīt understand the german text ( I am a bad punster and tend to write a lot!), have a look at the pictures, they may tell you some stories.
Cheers, Martin