Hi All.
I just got the new 1/48 Great Wall P 61A kit and it seems very nice. The panel scribing is not as petite as say a Hasegawa kit, but quite nice non the less. Kit is packaged very well, instructions are clear exploded diagrams, (read not perfect in explanation but good enough and not crowded) with Gunze color callouts. Clear parts are just that, very CLEAR, with nice sharp frame detail. One note, the clear radome the reviews of the kit mention has been replaced by a solid gray color one. No biggie but just thought ya all would like to know. No flash anywhere, all moldings appear crisp and clean. Instrument decals are clearly numbered for their position, just think Mike Grandt instrument decals here without the hassle of trimming. No ammo feeds/ammo for the 20mm cannon, so just rifle your old Monogram kit for what you need. (also only the very first few P 61's had a top power turret, if you want that Monogram to the rescue again) Addendum to instructions calls for where to place weight to prevent tail sitter just now how much weight... Out of the box this should build into a show stopper. Nice color "poster" in the box.
All in all I'm quite impressed and hope to have a go at it by the end of the year. Just got to figure out where. (see below)
Been kinda out of sorts this past year, now living most of the time in MD with new girlfriend (read future wife) but have left most of my stuff (and all models/tools) in VA. At some point we are moving again, so everything is up in the air. (but VERY nice and a lot of fun !!)
Also dug out of the book stash a great book on the P 61 (and P 70 night fighters) called ;
"Queen Of The Night Skies" by Garry H. Pape & Ronald C. Harrison ISBN
0-88740-415-4Excellent book great reference and some color photos of P 70's and P
61's, the book focuses mainly on the P 61. Also covers the politics in building the P 61's and operational histories.On a side note, Ed, your CD's and some other stuff will be in the mail in the next week or so, sorry for the delay.