Hi Peter,
Haha, yes, I had the similar experience before. In my case, I received HMS Victory Shipyard 1:96, which is stored in my closet still. I cannot be sure if I will start it as it requires huge commitment.
Ty2
It is very famous Polish locomotive and the angraf Ty2 is great model. However it requires a lot of ‘imagination power’ as the instruction is not detailed enough. Need to fully understand the instruction and parts, pre-assemble in your head first and build. Another good way is to search for the build report available via googling.
Anyways, once it is done, I think it would be great model to have in your living room.
White Parts
As mentioned, I use LC (laser cutter) to minimize stress on my hands (some issues with both). It requires illustrator to generate plans for LC to cut. I didn’t have any knowledge about illustrator and had to learn/get used to.
Fully practiced during Py27 and now I think I know what I’m doing.
Painting
I started to use airbrush from Py27. It was tricky at the beginning and I think I established my style.
Looking forward to your Ty2 build log sometime in future.