So - what else could possibly be so wrong with this kit? One pic will tell you most of it:


Click on Image for FULL RESA four-sided box for a fuselage, that's what! While I suppose in some universe this could possibly be a sure-fitting design - and admitting that I was able, without too much difficulty, to tape the pieces together (top) at all - this construction is frought with potential problems, and could easily wind up crushed/skewed to one side or the other. And - once again - it bespeaks an ancient and crude manufacturing technology, unable to cope with deeply-hollow moldings, such as entire fuselage-halves. (Again, consistent with a later/latest manufacturer providing the deep cowling pieces - very likely by Revell.)

Be any of that as it may, these fuselage moldings present an infinitely worse problem - as you might have noticed at top, far upper-right, regarding the cutout cheek, and glimpse of a flat clear part:


Click on Image to Enlarge
--FULL RES----------FULL RES--And that flatness is precisely the problem: almost all contours of the parts for this conical nose greenhouse - clear parts and fuselage frames alike - are essentially flat! Which I here graphically demonstrate, with the aid of latex maskoid, to secure the clear cheek parts, temporarily. Note, when their after 2/3 or so are in place, the forward section does not meet up with the fuselage parts - neither above, nor below. Meanwhile, the top of the nose - easily the most visible point on an airplane model - is a flat frame, to accept yet another (relatively) flat clear part. Will this make for a conical dome greenhouse - appearing and in reality very similar to that of the later-model Heinkel He111? I don't think so - it's going to look like some sort of square-nosed monitor lizard!

How could it get any worse? At right, note at bottom-left that (at least) the three central panels also are marred by lines, inexplicably scribed on the inside surface - which don't follow the canopy framing! To paraphrase Gus: "What manner of retard(s)" came up with this?!!

Meanwhile, at top I (try to) show how I was able at least to align the aft portions of the cheek parts flush with the fuselage - though it leads to maximum divergence, forward - while Revell, on their box photo (bottom-right), and I suppose in pursuit of at least some truth in advertising, fitted the front part as well as possible - to show a whopping, mismatched joint remaining along the top. But even this really doesn't honestly depict the (lack of) fit, hiding as it does the truly god-awful top - which you know how terrible that's going to look!

Time to back up and remember just what we want to build, here:


Click on Image to Enlarge
FULL RESWhich can really be shown now, thanks to the Squadron book of references (left) that Gus also snagged for me (BZ, buddy!) - and its very first historical pic (top-right), showing how thoroughly rounded this nose - just like in the artwork - really was. The kit parts won't cut it and can't cut it - no matter how they might be massaged - IMHO.

So, does this stop us cold? No - thanks to yet another recently-made spare part, coming to the rescue: a clear nose cone (bottom right) from my RAAF Boston-II refit exhibits very compatible contours to replace the top- and forward side areas - which are certainly all those most crucially needing replacement, including doing away with that heavy, first top-fuselage frame, entirely. Note that once that's done, and the replacement actually fitted/snugged into place, it will probably stretch far enough aft to replace all but the last two columns of windows - thus eliminating all panels suffering from those obnoxious scribe marks, as well!

OK, so that's one problematic kit - but it has finally come to rest on the one bench fully equipped to whip its sorry, offensive a** into (hopefully some excellent) shape!

Cheers,

-Matty