I guess there is no better assessment of the situation, Mr Chuffy!
Thank you all for your nice comments!
Despite all the major headache this model has given me I think it is the most gorgeous paper rendition of the AM available. It definitely is worth building and once you have overcome the oddities the final result speaks for itself. For that reason I spent yesterday afternoon updating the plans and enhancing the instructions for every fan to get his / her hands on. The most obvious thing which puts this model into the pro-modeller range is the missing flaps. That makes sense on the curved parts but on the ones with sharp edges they should be added for simplicity. I'm not sure if I will tackle these however, so that is one area you will have to deal with yourself. Some parts are placed too close together anyway, so they would have to be moved around to give more space for adding flaps (which would require more time which I never have because of all the projects that are in the queue). I would like to stress that this is strictly my view, other builders may prefer no flaps at all and might see this kit perfectly fitting the bill.
I wouldn't have worried too much about the ejector hatch, as I guess before the ejector seat panel was activated - the panel would have seamlessly been blended into the roof, so as not too raise suspicion in reality, coz Bond is REAL! We get so used to seeing toys and the iconic scene in action, we just assume it is there.
There is indeed an outline on the roof of the real car, so the pencil line will do. Please take a look at this picture:
Too bad I was unable to use the bump-mapped version I created. That would have created a more subtle effect:
I printed the pattern in different shades but all of them had a slight blue hue to them, so it would have stood out on the model.
I wanted to incorporate the rotating number plate but considering the recipient will never play with that feature I skipped it. The shredders alone make up for everything!
Oh, and BTW, the car is finished. Just FYI. Not that this is of any importance..!