I received mine on Monday, Jan 22nd. The packing boxes (double boxed) were in good condition, thanks UPS! Upon opening them I found everything in good shape except the cowl ring, which had about a 3" piece missing on the top and some glue that had come loose. Sent an email to Tom proposing a repair vs replacement, he encouraged me to try it. I scribed the contour of the top corners and top on a piece of poster board then cut a "bridge" piece from 1/8" aircraft ply I temporary glued this bridge to the front side of the cowl mount blocks and then went back with some epoxy/microballoon mix to secure it. This restored the contour of the cowl top and solved the problem.
Per the manual, I trial fitted everything before doing anything else. All the parts fit perfectly, though I had to cut 1/4" off the stab tube - it was a bit too long to permit the stabs to snug up to the fuselage.
The covering was in excellent shape with no blisters or visible looseness. I will reseal the edges and go over it with a heat gun and soft cloth. I suspect, like all film covered airplanes, this will have to be done periodically to keep the covering tight after it sits in the hot sun. The key is to not overheat it initially because then you have no more shrinkage available in the future. There were only a couple of minor pre-covering blemishes which don't really detract from an otherwise beautiful airplane. You can pay a lot more elsewhere and get little or no better sanding and covering job. Far better than the ARFs I am accustomed to seeing!
The airplane is everything I had hoped it to be, I will power it with a DA50 (from my recently departed Aeroworks Builders Kit 29% Edge) and JR8611's on the wings and rudder. Haven't decided on the elevator servos yet, 8411/8611's seem like overkill on these smaller control surfaces. But then the difference between an $85 Hitec and a $100 8611 doesn't seem to suggest going on the cheap.