Don't get me wrong here. You pointed out the kind of things I'm looking for. It's just that there are issues with the studio model that I don't plan on replicating. As Dymszo says "you don't have to worry about it because that's how they did the studio model." It just doesn't work for me. They had to paint their's quickly. I have the benefit of being able to take my time and thus can mask off panels properly.

Again, good catch on spotting a difference. I'll look at it some more and may consider doing something to make it pop a bit more.

From a design standpoint, it's brilliant. It's nearly impossible to place a part incorrectly due to how the parts go together. The surface detail is great and the greeblies add a lot to the detail. The molding is super clean and I had no issues with any components. They have lots of options for display including landing gear and an open ramp as well as the support to display it in flight. The smaller parts really shine. The quad cannons look super detailed and are better looking at 1:144 scale than any of the other falcon models I've seen.

The greeblies are obviously fiddly being that small. A lot of really narrow pipe work goes on the sides. Trying to clean up some parts after cutting them from the sprue can be nerve wracking. While the directions are entirely in Japanese, the illustrations are top notch. Also helps that it would be nearly impossible to place a piece incorrectly because of the design.

The reference pictures are top notch. The decals and transfers seem well made but I didn't bother with them. For the price it's the best. For the size, it makes the other models look like absolute toys.