Very very sweet looking scope, does anyone have the 10" yet? I've been thinking about that one, I live in St Kilda so very light polluted, I'd only get out to dark skies once every 2 or 3 months so the 12 is probably overkill. I dunno, still undecided.
Don't mean to hijack this thread... Don't spoil that daughter too much, I never got anythign like this when I was 8
... Looks great
Also as for the white sections on the inside of the tube, do you really think it will make THAT much diff? I don't think it's as much of a faux pas as you make it out to be. I have seen skeletal dobs with very little baffling that reportedly work very well and I think the key is light paths. Light only travels in straight lines so unless stray light is entering parallel and inline to the secondary I really don't think the insides of the scope, and especially the color of the trusses will make that much difference, particularly during the night when it's fairly dark.