I could go the "pro" route and do all that painting, but so far I'm really happy with the base results. I decided that since I want to transform it from time to time, I'll mostly leave it box-stock and use the stickers instead of the decals. Paint and decals aren't usually very forgiving with playing around with the thing... posing and all.
There are some details I will paint... the canopy frame needs it and maybe a few highlites like vents and such, but I'm not going near the depth the master model in the shots is. I actually like the inscribed panel lines better than the blackline highlited ones... It looks more like the show...
The pilot is SO SMALL that while I'd usually paint him in, I just don't know if I want to bother. I'd need some new brushes and paint I don't currently have and feeling a little cheap and lazy I don't want to turn a $70 kit into a $200 one!
Happy modeling!
Mughi~