Dead Area
Italeri recently added a Preview for this Kit on their Website! Looks awesome compared to the Revell model.

Treehugger
Italeri has new tool stuff? I had no idea.

Stephen G
I was starting to think this was never coming. Hopefully the extra time means higher quality, but hopefully the (what appears to be) sink marks on the flaps are limited to the previews!

Treehugger
I noticed those sink marks from looking at the photos.

Dead Area
Looks great especially those flaps, hope they make a german version to in the near future. ;D

Slavo Hazucha
Excellent cockpit and interior! looking forward for more

Bart Goesaert
That cockpit is nice... the idea for presenting it too...

Holger Kranich
This Looks really good! I heard rumors about some gaps who appear whilst building. Can you confirm it? Must be the upper side and can be comouflaged with kit parts.

Stephen G
@Holger - Yes, unfortunately... I've been test-fitting the 2 fuselage halves around the cabin as I progress and let's just say... I am not looking forward to joining them. There are large gaps both on the bottom and top, and I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent it happening. Theoretically you can close the bottom one, resulting in a larger gap at the top which can be covered by the engine housing. But.... the engine housing then doesn't fit properly on top either. I'll try to get a photo of the problem on here!

It is the only difficult gap issue I've encountered though, and weighed against the detail quality of the kit, it's probably still worth it

Holger Kranich
Good to know that. And i still wanna have the kit. Am i a bit Masochistic?

Stephen G
Maybe a bit! I've put a few photos on to show the extent of the gap you may or may not encounter.

Konrad Limmer
Very nice Stephen !
Your progress looks fantastic and don't worry about the gap. Perfect Plastic Putty and the gaps are gone !

Anthony D'Agostino
I know I am very late to the party, but I spoke with another builder from Germany about the kit. He only had one gap issue, but he said it was very small and hidden by the roof cover forward of the mast. The bottom and top otherwise fit very well.

On another note, I love the level of detail you have in the cockpit, seems a shame to have weathered it so much, after it looked prestine all painted up. You did a very nice job picking out the details, did you use a dry brush to achieve the look?

Cheers,

Anthony

PS. From the pictures I have seen, the pilot is supposed to be looking out the window/door, either watching the men fast roping, or looking at where he needs to maneuver the bird, so that the men can deploy the ropes and express.

PSS. The build truly is looking gorgeous, it's a shame about the gap. I don't understand it, this is the first time I have seen that. Maybe I am thinking of a different kit. These kits are far superior in detail than the older MRC/Academy offerings. I have three of those, and will spend weeks just putting rivets on them.