1/35 is not a major scale for aircraft, but there have been several done over the years. Border seems to be concentrating most of its aviation efforts in this scale. This is their third 1/35 aircraft kit with the other two being a 109 and Ju-87. One of the first things I noticed was that some of the items touted on the box top (clear cowling and clear engine bay covers) are not included with this kit. While you do get detailed gun bays, the covers are solid.

Let me get into the options on this. One is the separate gun bay covers so you can show off the inner guns. Interestingly, these are shown in the instructions in the closed position. You also have a very nicely done BMW engine that takes up several pages of the instruction sheet. To facilitate this are separate side covers. If you decided to have them open, there are photo etch stringers you can install to add that extra detail. Canopy can be posed open or closed and the cowl guns are well detailed though again, the cover is shown closed in the instructions. The sprues include the armored side glass pieces which would be appropriate for some of the options, but are not shown in the instructions.

The kit provides separate flaps, ailerons, rudder and elevators which are all shown in the neutral position. Another oddity is that the main gear legs are shown in the retracted position. All rather eyebrow raising if you ask me. For things under wing, you have a centerline drop tank and 21cm rocket tubes with separate rockets. A photo etch fret is provided for some small details along with the seat harness. The main gear legs have separate brake lines in case you wish to model your kit gear down. Just looking through the instructions, it seems that you can leave off a lot of the small, fiddly bits if you wish to have everything closed up. However, you will need to include some of the main pieces to provide attachment points for things like gun barrels, engine exhaust and the prop.

Instructions are pretty good and provide Ammo/MiG color references along with RLM numbers. Nearly half of the instruction booklet covers the seven markings options along with stencil placement. The majority of schemes are in RLM 74/75/76 with one of them being a winter scheme.  The decal sheet is well done and while I've never used Border decals, they should work OK. The sheet includes the fuselage bands, but you are on your own for the JG1 checkerboard nose, which is a bit of a shame as it is probably the most colorful option on the sheet. Note that the box is too big for my scanner's platen so the seventh scheme isn't shown. To my knowledge, there are no 1/35 aftermarket decals for this or any other Border 1/35 aircraft kit, so it is nice they provide a number of options.

While most modelers will stick with 1/32 when it comes to large aircraft kits, there are those to whom 1/35 is a viable option. Especially if they wish to include an aircraft in a military diorama. This one has a ton of parts and those who like to model their aircraft with everything open will find this kit to be worth their time. One thing that Border could improve are their instructions. Aside from not showing anything extended, they list the 190 in the painting section as being a Messerschmitt.