https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_177
This is the choice I have made for the contest theme build. I have included the above link to give a background of the aircraft. I also have used William Green's 'Warplanes of the Third Reich' as my main go-to reference. The aftermarket items incorporated will be Eduard colored cockpit PE and canopy masks. The kit decals are also very thick. They will be replaced with Peddinghaus decals from Germany. This will be the first time I have used their products. My initial intent is to replace the overly thick clear parts supplied with the kit. I am going to attempt to use the Falcon Vac canopy. I have used these once before on a 1/48 Ju-87 I built years ago.
I think the cover of this He-177 has a major problem. The wing stores for the Fritz-X guided glide bomb are seriously misrepresented. The hard points are located outboard of the engines on the actual aircraft. In this depicted position I believe there would have been clearance issues with propellers.
Now on to the build.
I have built the 3 Fritz X missiles per the Revell instructions. Upon further research the instructions are wrong. The forward wings/fins should have the right angle of the fin at the front not at the rear as instructions indicate. Note photos below.
The last picture shows the Fritz at the NASM (lower) versus the Fritz assembled per the Revell Instructions. Also the shape of the fin has to be modified slightly, note the square lug on the fin-tip. At least it is easily corrected. I ask the question of the manufactures, Do you not test build your own product and who researches your data before the moulds are made?
P.S. Just looked at the box art closely. The artist got the fins of the Fritz-X correct.
Well - I think you should have to preview every manufacturers new-release kits before they go to mass market, so you can make all the corrections!
I OFTEN do some research too late in a project to check on a detail, only to find out I really jacked something up! I'm learning to try to do more detailed research prior to starting the build, and to compare references with instructions and parts as I go. Slows me down a bit, but I end up feeling better about the build outcome.
Fins corrected.