Thanks Matt, Simon, Mark, Rick, and Sparky !
Matt - I don't know which Hasegawa kits you've built, but I've done almost all of their 1/48 WWII aircraft, and none have blank panels. Hasegawa produces some of the nicest 1/48 injection molded panels, and their dials have "needles & ticks." The panel in this kit is no exception, and is very well done for plastic.
Simon - I have one wheel well on the Mossie scratchbuilt, and I need to finish the other before I can resume work. I like to paint the similar colors at the same time, and I have to paint the metallics before I can close the fuselage (trapping the tailwheel). I can then assemble the airframe and begin painting. The gear legs are finished, and feature PE mudguards.
Mark and Rick - the Eduard decals were a pleasant surprise. I've heard that the tiger head on Superscale's sheet is translucent. There are markings for six aircraft, including Western Desert Air Force, Stateside, RAAF, and Russian birds. There are stencils for only one aircraft, and Hasegawa includes stencils for the prop only. You can see the sheet on Eduard's website.
Sparky - I spray multiple light coats of Future, and finish with a slightly wetter (but not enough to run) coat. I spray until it's reflective and smooth enough. This varies by each build (and sometimes different areas on the same model), so I couldn't give a number. I don't keep track of how many coats, I just go by the way it looks.
All of my washes are enamel. I mix each color with a little black, and apply it to the specific area. For example, the red fuel filler cap below the cockpit will receive a darkened red wash. This way, all the panel lines are the same
relative darkness, rather than the
alsolute darkness of a single color. It's more work, but I feel it looks more realistic.
Thanks again !