diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/AndroidPlugin.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/AndroidPlugin.kt
index 6e1114d1..ca723baa 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/AndroidPlugin.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/AndroidPlugin.kt
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ fun Project.android(init: AndroidConfig.() -> Unit) : AndroidConfig {
 //        get() = (Kobalt.findPlugin("android") as AndroidPlugin).isAndroid(this)
 
 @Singleton
-public class AndroidPlugin @Inject constructor(val javaCompiler: JavaCompiler)
+public class AndroidPlugin @Inject constructor(val javaCompiler: JavaCompiler, val merger: Merger)
         : ConfigPlugin<AndroidConfig>(), IClasspathContributor, IRepoContributor, ICompilerFlagContributor,
             ICompilerInterceptor, ISourceDirectoriesIncerceptor, IBuildDirectoryIncerceptor {
     override val name = "android"
@@ -113,6 +113,8 @@ public class AndroidPlugin @Inject constructor(val javaCompiler: JavaCompiler)
             runBefore = arrayOf("compile"), runAfter = arrayOf("clean"))
     fun taskGenerateRFile(project: Project): TaskResult {
 
+        merger.merge(project, context)
+
         val intermediates = AndroidFiles.intermediates(project)
         val resDir = "temporaryBogusResDir"
         explodeAarFiles(project, intermediates, File(resDir))
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/Merger.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/Merger.kt
index 4eb50730..66d3566e 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/Merger.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/plugin/android/Merger.kt
@@ -6,17 +6,25 @@ import com.beust.kobalt.api.Project
 import com.beust.kobalt.misc.KFiles
 import com.beust.kobalt.misc.log
 import com.google.inject.Inject
-import java.io.File
+import java.io.*
+import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Paths
-import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption
+import java.util.*
+import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext
+import javax.xml.bind.Marshaller
+import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAttribute
+import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement
+import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement
+import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlValue
 
 /**
  * Merges manifests and resources.
  */
 class Merger @Inject constructor() {
     fun merge(project: Project, context: KobaltContext) {
-        mergeAndroidManifest(project, context.variant)
         mergeResources(project, context.variant)
+        mergeAndroidManifest(project, context.variant)
+        log(1, "Done merging")
     }
 
     /**
@@ -25,11 +33,68 @@ class Merger @Inject constructor() {
     private fun mergeAndroidManifest(project: Project, variant: Variant) {
         val dest = AndroidFiles.mergedManifest(project, variant)
         log(1, "Manifest merging not implemented, copying it to $dest")
-        KFiles.copy(Paths.get("app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml"),
-                Paths.get(dest),
-                StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING)
+        KFiles.copy(Paths.get("app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml"), Paths.get(dest))
     }
 
+    interface IFileMerger {
+        fun canMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File) : Boolean = true
+        fun doMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File)
+    }
+
+    class ValuesFileMerger : IFileMerger {
+        override fun canMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File) : Boolean {
+            return fromFile.parentFile.name == "values"
+        }
+
+        override fun doMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File) {
+            FileInputStream(toFile).use { toInputStream ->
+                val toXml = readValuesXml(toInputStream)
+                FileInputStream(fromFile).use { fromInputStream ->
+                    val fromXml = readValuesXml(fromInputStream)
+                    val seen = toXml.strings.map { it.name!! }.toHashSet<String>()
+                    fromXml.strings.forEach {
+                        if (!seen.contains(it.name!!)) {
+                            log(1, "      Unconflicted string: ${it.name}")
+                            toXml.strings.add(it)
+                        } else {
+                            log(1, "      String ${it.name} overwritten")
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                val mergedText = StringWriter()
+                val pw = PrintWriter(mergedText)
+
+                JAXBContext.newInstance(ValuesXml::class.java).createMarshaller().let { marshaller ->
+                    with(marshaller) {
+                        setProperty(Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, true)
+                        setProperty(Marshaller.JAXB_ENCODING, "UTF-8")
+                        marshal(toXml, pw)
+                    }
+                }
+                KFiles.saveFile(toFile, mergedText.toString())
+                log(1, "Wrote merged File: $toFile:\n" + mergedText.toString())
+            }
+        }
+
+
+        private fun readValuesXml(ins: InputStream) : ValuesXml {
+            val jaxbContext = JAXBContext.newInstance(ValuesXml::class.java)
+            val result = jaxbContext.createUnmarshaller().unmarshal(ins)
+                    as ValuesXml
+            return result
+
+        }
+    }
+
+    class DefaultFileMerger : IFileMerger {
+        override fun canMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File) : Boolean = true
+        override fun doMerge(fromFile: File, toFile: File) {
+            log(1, "    DefaultMerger for $fromFile into $toFile, not doing anything")
+        }
+    }
+
+    val fileMergers : List<IFileMerger> = arrayListOf(ValuesFileMerger(), DefaultFileMerger())
+
     /**
      * TODO: not implemented yet, just copying the resources into the variant dir
      * Spec: http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing/studio-build.html
@@ -37,10 +102,43 @@ class Merger @Inject constructor() {
     private fun mergeResources(project: Project, variant: Variant) {
         val dest = AndroidFiles.Companion.mergedResources(project, variant)
         log(1, "Resource merging not implemented, copying app/src/main/res to $dest")
-        listOf("main", variant.productFlavor.name, variant.buildType.name).forEach {
-            log(1, "  Copying app/src/$it/res into $dest")
-            KFiles.copyRecursively(File("app/src/$it/res"), File(dest), deleteFirst = false)
+        listOf(variant.buildType.name, variant.productFlavor.name, "main").forEach {
+            log(1, "  CURRENT VARIANT: $it, Copying app/src/$it/res into $dest")
+
+            val fromDir = File("app/src/$it/res")
+            KFiles.findRecursively(fromDir).forEach {
+                val fromFile = File(fromDir, it)
+                val toFile = File(dest, it)
+                if (! toFile.exists()) {
+                    log(1, "    Copy $it to $toFile")
+                    toFile.parentFile.mkdirs()
+                    Files.copy(Paths.get(fromFile.absolutePath), Paths.get(toFile.absolutePath))
+                } else {
+                    val fileMerger = fileMergers.first { it.canMerge(fromFile, toFile) }
+                    fileMerger.doMerge(fromFile, toFile)
+                }
+
+            }
         }
     }
-
 }
+
+/**
+ * Represents a values/strings.xml file.
+ */
+@XmlRootElement(name = "resources")
+class ValuesXml {
+    @XmlElement(name = "string") @JvmField
+    var strings: ArrayList<ValueString> = arrayListOf()
+}
+
+class ValueString {
+    @XmlValue @JvmField
+    val string: String? = null
+
+    @XmlAttribute(name = "name") @JvmField
+    val name: String? = null
+}
+
+fun String.forward() : String = replace("\\", "/")
+