Okay, so I've just finished the assembly of my first Valkyrie model using the new plastic kits, and figured I'd toss a few impressions up here. I'll try and get around to some pictures at some point.

First of all, this is hands down one of the best plastic kits I've ever dealt with for vehicles. The pieces were well done and fit nicely, and were fairly easy to locate on sprue. Stuff used at the same time is grouped together for the most part. That said, there are two little pieces that are shown in the printed instructions but are not shown in the online instructions, and I cannot find ANYWHERE on the sprues that are supposed to go on the bottom of the wing booms. No clue what that's about.

The kit is set up so that it is VERY easy to assemble to where the top of the cargo compartment is removable, so if you're wanting to do an ultra-detailed version with the interior painted I'd strongly suggest it. Alternatively I think this kit has the most potential of any kit I've done before (with the exception of the Necron Monolith) to be an easy conversion to electronic lighted. The pilot/gunnr seats take up only a tiny portion of the cockpit assembly space, and there's a huge amount of hollow area beneath them that could easily house a battery compartment. It wouldn't be too difficult to assemble it so that the bottom of the cockpit was removable for battery replacement, and there are quite a few places to easily hide an on/off switch. The wing booms would be quite easy to run strands down if you were interested in adding fiber-optic running lights to the vehicle as well.

Consider whether or not you are going to be using the heavy bolter sponson addons option before you assemble, if you're not going to, and aren't planning to light the interior or make the top removable to paint the interior, I'd skip the steps related to the guns and just glue the doors and hatches, save yourself a lot of time. It's so dark in there you won't be able to make out any detail anyway. Alternatively, I magnetized the gunners so that they're easy to pop in and out depending on whether I'm using the sponsons or not.

The final thing is the weapons systems. It's not easy, but it IS possible to magnetize them so that you can swap out payloads or remove your missiles when they've been used. I don't really know if it's totally worth it though.

All in all though, this is an excellent kit, I hope GW continues in this trend with their new kits being so freaking awesome.

Alternative Opinion- Inquisitor Zim

(Apologies for tacking this onto your article, didnt think it warranted a second one :D )

While the kit is impressive for a Forgeworld conversion to plastic, there were a few minor points I loathed about the kit. The most notable was the cockpit hatches. I had to cut and file down the clear plastic windows against the frames so the peices would sit semi right on the fuselage. I still have a considerable gap where the windows seem to be resting on the shoulders of the pilots and not sitting flush.

The rear door drops too far, I had to add a thin peice of sprue underneath the door to keep it dropping open flat. I dont see any Stormtrooper in his right mind attempting to leap off that droopy rear ramp. I also had issues with excessive plastic flash on the engine fan housings and had to sand them considerablly to get them to sit right. and poor engine housing assembly is a detriment as you have to fill the large seam along both engines.

 Everything else about the kit was great, the wing and tail assemblies were fantastic. The detail on the kit is also top notch. I love my Valk, but I wish those few glaring problems would have been addressed in the design of the kit. The slding doors and the moveable gunners were also a nice touch. All in all, happy with the kit, but I found the Baneblade much easier to assemble, and lots of room for conversions over the Valkyrie.