More work on the Spitfire, still waiting for the HGW belts which now are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Yes, it would be fun to display the engine but there's a Tamiya kit for that. I did paint it semigloss black and will add as much extra kit parts as will fit with the cowls on. Just for fun. Hobbyboss would have you paint the engine steel but I don't think I have ever seen a Merlin that color.
The main flap fit wasn't the best, probably because the kit was designed for them to be down. Some material was taken off the front of the flaps
so they would fair with the wing, preserving the surface detail on the trailing edge of the flap. The inner flaps needed a little adjustment also.
The radiator and the oil cooler parts fit well and included details like photo etch faces for the oil cooler inside the duct and braces, gun
heating ducts, and fuel vents in the radiators, along with plastic faces for the radiator.
The aileron fit was nice. It's always fun to slap wings together, it all of a sudden feels like you are making good progress. I had to trim some
off of the aft top of the outboard guns so they would not interfere with the top of the wing and the clear gun covers there.
A few minutes work with a file and some superglue resulted in a panel I surely could never duplicate myself, and a big improvement
over the kit parts. If you turn it the right way in the light you get a reflection from the instrument glass. Thanks, Yahu!
I wish they had worked harder to design a durable tail wheel rather than add detail no one will ever see. It was reinforced with CA.
I was really happy with the neat job I did painting the head cushion on the armor plate behind the seat, and then a closer look at the photos of the restored Spitfire
I am modeling had no such cushion. The kit armor plate was removed and a new armor plate was made from .015 styrene sheet. Knobs were made, painted aluminum.
A matte coat was sprayed on the cockpit sides to allow some shading later. A decal will have to be made for the armor plate saying experimental.
Many warbirds are licensed in that category. Another change I made was to cut off the the gear selector handle and relocate it to the down position.