So - how does the kit look ?

The glasswork from Didier is some of the nicest that I have seen anywhere. It's truly a work of art, and you can see why it takes him a while to make up each kit.

The woodwork is largely high quality too, with just a slight change or two here and there that I would like to see (more on that later).

The instructions ... well, as expected from the smaller manufacturers, there's no detailed BVM-style manual here at all. One printed page lists the CG and some of the throws, and that's it as far as the words go. There is a CD containing a number of build-progress photos that helps guide you through the various assembly steps. This is almost enough information for a reasonable experienced builder to complete the model, but a few areas remain uncovered. Fortunately I once again have Peter helping me to get the necessary information from Didier so that the build can progress.

The retract units are very nice, and are the first that I have seen that have "festo style" push-to-fit connectors on the cylinders instead of the usual brass nipples.

The nose gear strut is somewhat basic, but OK. The main gear struts are VERY nice. Not completely scale (would need to add a few items such as a dummy arm to get it truly scale if wanted), but they are still WAAAY nicer than the average kit parts. Some minor tweaking will be needed as the tires rub against a bolt in the strut assembly, but Didier has already indicated that this is fixed for the newer kits (don't forget, mine is kit #1, so some stuff like this is expected)