Nice to see an old school anime build pop up here. I assume Hasegawa is now using advanced 3d modeling for their kits, which is why you are comparing them to Bandai. I also assume they had no such thing when they first did the questionable F-14s and the Vf-1s.
And I see what you did with that masking guide. Lesson learned!
Mechtech, Gosh, I'm also working on a rolling garage door. But it is just not fair how smooth your finishes are. What kind of mesh did you use, how did you make the gear box, and will you install limit switches?