I shared this on the Shmups forum last summer after I finished the build, but I think members on this forum would be interested in this as well. Last summer I built a Vic Viper plastic model from the Gradius series. The company who made it is Atelier Sai, which is better known for making anime figures. Frankly, they suck at making plastic models, and this kit can prove to be especially frustrating. Here is the link to the playlist of videos on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9CCDB8B19577CE8E