Dave,Great stuff Dave the kit itself looks to be up with the best (why shouldn't it be) ,its a shame this hobby creates plastic and paint tarts , if you stood this along side a equivalent from say trumpeter or meng and said take one how many would grab the Zvezda branding, I e got a fair few of their 72nd in the stash the more recent stuff puts the big boys to shame ,keep it coming looking forward to that paint job .Dave
brand snobbery is part of the game - after all, if it comes from the Far East, and costs twice as much, then it MUST be better. No PE? can't be any good! So far, I haven't come across any area in this model that would have been improved by PE - Zvezda have moulded all the tiny bits that other makers would use PE.
The latest Zvezda models are on a par with the FE makers, OK, their output is slanted to their home market, but when you get models like the Pantsir, I'm happy with that.
Their 1/48 Aircraft are superb, I've done the La-5N and the PE-2, and both were a real pleasure to make ( I've got the Yak-3 and the Su-2 in the stash to look forward to! ).
I'm afraid the paint job may disappoint - I'm going for a Syrian overall sand finish, I think it gives more opportunity for weathering than the Arctic camo!
Dave