Most nerve wracking part of photography was gently pressing the cowling on to make it look like it fits (as previously mentioned, it doesn't fit. At all).
The body cowling does not fit over this either. That's not a function of the modifications, rather the radiators and side intakes - I don't think it was ever meant to fit and be able to come off! The comments about Fujimi never trying to build their own kits turned out to be accurate...
You can see where the front suspension interferes with the nose cone. I tried modifying this to fit, but couldn't work out a solution that didn't look weirder than this.
Edit: finally pried myself away from the workbench to take some pictures!
Well I made it to the end after one final misadventure in getting the front wing painted. Only had to raid a spare decal set for an MP4/5 to make it happen.
Anyway, satisfied with the result of this. It brings hope to all the other kits I've started and let languish in the stash! Turns out you can resume building after ~5 years and end up with a nice finished kit! That is, if you don't try to display it together. The fit of this thing is just terrible. It sits with negative rake, the body shell won't fit over the radiators, and the air box was never going to both fit over the engine and be removable. It's entirely possible that's my fault, since I didn't know about fancy things like "test fitting" back in 2016.
Despite the trials and tribulations, absolutely love it and happy to have it on the shelf.
