Project Kestrel (2) Ha'la'tha VTOL

I continue to be unimpressed with Revell. The cabin build for the Kestrel is the H145M which is, apparently, a rebox of the EC145 kit from 2005. All the edges are soft except for the pieces that are specifically for the Military version. The engineering of the kit leaves some things to be desired as well. Several pieces are integral to the main cabin shell, and their alignment is critical, but there are no locating pins or even a shelf line. I've even found a piece that is supposed to be a mirror, but they cast it as a duplicate. The instructions tell you how to file and cut the thing to be the piece you need. That I would expect from a garage kit.

 Main instrument panel. Soft edges, there'll be some serious filling here.

The rudder, cyclic and collective controls are pretty nice. A little tricksy to get off the sprue, as there are gates on the very fine parts, but once you get them and if you're patient it can be worked.

Of course, I had to choose to do the troop transport version. Painting up the jump seats and then did a little research on the color gradations for red/brown leather. the instrument panel went together ok, but still needs some filling and work,

Putting the chairs in place and did a bit of weathering of the floor

a look at the main cockpit and controls.

This is what I was talking about. you have to build up an inner shell, and then this will align with the windows and ports on the external shell. You can see fitment issues along the top, and it's hard to be certain where the edges are supposed to be.

Of course, I also forgot when I was putting all that subtle weathering in place that it pretty much won't be visible.  I am thinking I'll keep the side doors off, or at least open.  The rear doors I can leave open, and I'm also thinking taking it completely off and mounting a minigun might be a nice option.  

We'll see how it goes together from here.  : )