Let me start by saying beware when building this kit. The instructions are woeful, they are all over the place. They do not have “steps” 1,2 etc. In some areas they will labe sub assemblies something like G3 and these sub asssemblie may or may not be mentioned later on. There are areas that say same both sides, but some parts are handed, so it will matter how they are put together. There are parts that appear in the instruions, but no part number or call out was mentioned.
There are call outs for decals which say “decal” and no number. And they don’ t exist on the sheets anyway. The call outs for the decals on the paint schemes are way too small and it’s hrd tmake out whe the splinter camo needs to go. And the decal call outs here have numbers, but just a red line pointing to an area, they don’t show the decal image on the images in some places.
There are options throughout, but no mention of which scheme these options are for.
You can have the roof lift off, but the interior fuselage walls are engineered that they are in parts and the demarcation can be noticed between them. I glued my roof on.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I would not have bothered if I knew all of this, however I wanted to build it for the oil canning look. Even though this is said to be exaggerated, I like the look and once painted, this effect is “dulled down” IMO.
So if you are building it, be real careful reading the instructions.
That’s huge and impressive,looks great
I’ve been debating about this kit. I think your reviews sealed it for me. It’s a “no”. I’m not into PITA stuff anymore. At my age, my patience has worn thin for poorly done stuff. Your finish is OUTSTANDING.
It really seems like these big Border kits are all over the place doesn’t it? I too must admit being intrigued by the oilcanning, but have wanted to see some more models finished to better judge the effect.
I’m with you – under paint and weathering it really looks good. Better than too many rivets! I’m curious, if you don’t mind sharing: did you do a panel-line pre-shade, or is that look just coming from the molded oilcanning? Because it’s dawning on me now that that’s really what a heavy panel-line preshade sorta suggests.
Of course, it must be added that your tremendous skill is playing no small part here. Really beautiful work! Aspirational!
That is an impressive looking model and must take up some considerable shelf space. Excellent finish - she sure had a lot of guns poking out here and there. Really nice model despite the challenges.
I did a process, I primed it with Mr Finishing Surfacer 1500 Grey which is a light grey. I then sprayed white through a piece of scourer which creates random “splatter” effects. On the underside I pre shaded with a dark grey and the top side I pre shaded with black, so there are a couple ofthings going on with it.
Stunning piece of work!
You’ve done a tremendous job with the build and finish. It looks very realistic on the ground. Those very clear cockpit windows really set the model off. Great work!
Wow! What a stunner! You overcame the issues with the kit brilliantly. Love the paint, the weathering everything! I really like your exhaust streaks. What did you use to achieve the effect?
I airbrushed them, thinned with Mr. Levelling thinner, I mixed 4 parts Tamiya Smoke, 1 part Tamiya Nato Black and 2 parts Tamiya Red Brown. But you mix what you think will suit the colour your putting it on to 
Beautiful work for sure, sounds like a challenging build !
Nice job. The perseverance paid off.