Jez Rowlatt
Brad the one i put together was skill level 5 and was a bit of a pig in places. Mind you having said that I am only new to this hobby / pass-time, If you have plenty of kits already under your belt you should be fine, you will need plenty of weight in the front end to keep the tail from sitting down.

Brad Furminger
Thanks, Jez. I was hoping for the higher level challenge. I'm not a rookie but I'm no expert either. I just like to take on projects that I can spread over long periods of time.

Mike Weatherbee
Ok so I am not the only one to notice this then, I can only guess as to why Revell would change a skill level 2 into a skill level 5 unless it was per request of a retail store or stores as I purchased my kit from a store called the Hobby Lobby which just opened up recently in my area. I can say only this though, weather it says skill level 2 or skill level 5 I will still Paint, build and proudly display my finished work no matter what skills as I like this plane.

Michael Hickey
I built this kit last century and it was a pain in the ass when I got up to the canopy, although the interior is very nice for it's age.

Mike Weatherbee
So since the kit has not had any mold changes i may have the same sort of issue which is fine by me as a skill level 2 is not really a difficult level though I wish it would have had more decals to add some much needed detail to it. Anyways whatever skill level it is weather its a 2 or 5 I am up for the challenge. Thanks for the heads up.

gsgreene
This kit is difficult. The canopy has major fit issues and if you intend to build it with the canopy closed, it adds an extra dimension of problems. Bad fit is an understatement. It simply doesn't work. There are 3/16" gaps particularly in the top front canopy section and the front stbd rear section. Revell could do themselves a favor a re-release this model after a retool of just the clear parts and it would make a huge difference. Unless your extremely skilled and patient, filling these areas improperly will destroy the looks of this kit and make it turn out toylike.
The decals are good. I've seen some complaints about the difficulty of the long thin upper wing section decals but they are what they are. They simply take skill in their application but the quality of the decals isn't an issue.
My other main problem is the fit of the wings to the wing roots. It's just bad. On this aircraft that has twin boom with the single central horiz stabilizer, the fit between the wing roots needs to be better. Plan on using massive amounts of filler on this model in general with poor fit in a number of areas but the wing roots are particularly bad.
the issues that people bring up with the raised panel lines is a nothingburger. It's an older kit and you know this going in. If someone has a problem with raised panel lines, don't purchase this kit. You can't complain about it after the fact. Plus the detail is pretty good throughout, with the exception of the canopy.

Steven Van Dyck
A serious problem was the difference in left and right engine setup. One is meant to be exposed with an opened cowling and the other is a lot shorter because it is only visible through the closed cowling. I built it flying with two crew, also a challenge to find fitting pilots. Jukin' Judy | Project by StevenVD (1:48)