There is a lot wrong with my kit.
The wings sag like crazy. Even with the metal reinforcement cast inside them, they sag signifigantly, and look like crap. They are also very heavy, and would be impossible to display in the wings swept back position without breaking the pivot pin at the hinge.
I will be building a new set of wings out of carbon fiber reinforced balsa wood. My initial test wings are light, and do not sag at all. I will be able to display the model with wings swept back if I desired.
The rest of the problems with this model, in my case, mostly have to do with bad castings.
The engine cans for example, mine are poorly cast, with much of the detail very soft or obscured. I have already built masters for replacement cans.
The ‘turkey feathers’ on the engine exhaust are too large diameter to mate with the rest of the engine, and they look like crap. I’ll be scratch building mine, making them hollow instead of a solid cast piece, so they can be easily lit. I’ll be using the Arvid heat sinks, like used on the studio scale x-wings for the interior of the turkey feathers.
All of the grille pieces in my kit look terrible. The castings are full of large bubbles and voids. They are also undersized quite a bit, and need to be shimmed to fit. The rear pieces on my kit are particularly bad. I think it would be less trouble to scratch build replacements than to work with what I have.
And the pinholes.......oh, the pinholes are extensive on my kit.
Once I replace everything that’s wrong with this model, the fuselage shell and a few other bits will be the only original parts from the kit.
I’m not saying this kit can’t be made into a nice model, it can (and I WILL, if it’s the last thing I do!!). It just for $500, there is a LOT wrong with it, and a lot that needs to be fixed. Too bad, I love the U-wing, and I was very excited when this kit was announced, and very disappointed when I received the kit.