Thanks very much Charles and Vic.
I'm sitting here looking at the model as I type, and I can see that it should turn out reasonably well - eventually. But an 'average' modeller, and certainly a beginner, would have a terrible time getting it to look any where near acceptable, and I can't understand how, or why, Airfix went through this period of such terrible kits which were priced at 'up market' prices after taking the time to research and design the darned things in the first place. I've 'grown up' with Airfix, and always thought their products were good for the period(s) they were produced, and at very acceptable prices, but this kit, from only 8 years ago, is an abortion, and was originally priced at £25 - a lot of money for a box of tat!
The sad thing is, if produced properly, it could have been an excellent kit, as could the decals, but the latter are too thin on too thick a backing paper, which is causing the problem - they wrinkle like onion skin as they come off the paper and you only have to blink and they'll rip or kink or fold!
Anyway, I'll persevere, and as soon as the decals are finished, I can get back to trying to make the rest of the bits of plastic look like what they are supposed to be representing!