Thanks for the kind words guys. Jack, nice reference picture! I agree with your assessment. From what I can see though, I'm not convinced the forward panel is natural metal and not just the lighting. Reference the serial numbers, I think at this stage of the war, due to the attrition rate, these guys flew whatever was available or my example was just an earlier mount of his......just speculating but who knows.
I got her clearcoated and while waiting for it to cure (I use Alclad Clear Gloss, so this is only a matter of a few hours), I turned my attention to the landing gears, wheels and such. The gears on this kit are nicely detailed and quite impressively intricate. After paint, I ran the brake lines with fine wire per reference photos to add that extra dimension. I ended up using a True Details set of wheels since the kit tires seem sort of cartoonish to me (anyone remember that Amazing Stories episode in the '80's with the magical cartoon B-17 wheels.....classic!).
The decals were Aeromaster and went down beautifully under Micro Sol. As a matter of fact, I use Aeromaster Decals for all my British roundels since these can be tricky. I ultimately decided to exercise artistic licensing and add the underwing roundels because I concur with Jack and suspect this plane did have them at one point. Furthermore, to be quite frank, Battle of Britain planes just don't look right without them. It just leaves me with that hollow feeling. Once complete, I gave the panel lines a Flory Wash of Black on top and Dark Dirt on the bottom. I must admit that at first I didn't like this stuff because it just beaded up on the gloss surface and had a strange gritty texture, however, persistence does pay off as it dries and the stuff does eventually go into the crevices nicely. The key is to use a large brush and coat everything with it repeatedly. Once dry, wipe it off with a slightly damp paper towel. I use paper coffee filters which don't leave behind lint. I'm in the home stretch....stay tuned.
Joe
