Here's my latest update.
Buttoned up the tub without really any issues, which was a nice change from my Mk. IV. The IP and frame snapped into place and I just needed to trim the small tab at the bottom a bit. A couple of dabs of Tamiya Extra Thin glue sealed it in place along with the firewall.
Before I could add the seat, I needed to build seat belts using HGW's "fabric" seat belts.
This will be the third and last time I will be using these seat belts. When I first came across them I thought they were probably the best looking seat belts you could buy. While they do look good, they are truly a pain to put together. I lost a couple of PE parts (which can happen and is not necessarily particular to this kit), but thankfully had spares. I first used thin CA glue but it tends to run everywhere but where you want it to go. So, I tried thick CA, but the damn stuff wouldn't stick. Finally, I used LePage's Ultra Gel CA and it did the job - at least as well as I could do it.
To me, they look like someone made a valiant effort to make a facsimile of seat belts, but what I'm actually striving for are seat belts that look like they belong on a Spitfire. I have Eduard's 1/48 early Spitfire Mk. IXc ProfilPACK kit which comes with Eduard's coloured PE seat belts and they look excellent. I've seen other builds using these belts and they look great without having to go through the arduous process of the kind of assembly the HGW belts require - and don't look like someone struggled for days putting them together. Which I did.
After gluing the oxygen tank into place, I inserted the seat and the rear bulkhead frame that literally just snapped into place. I didn't bother with glue it fit so well. I then affixed the cockpit tub to the fuselage. I test fitted the tub before gluing with both fuselage halves to determine where it should meet the first wall. The alignment to the wall was slightly off, but would not be noticeable once it was all buttoned up.
The result was a nice, clean fit. However, the saddle for the fuel tank sat too proud of the rest of the fuselage and required some grinding away on the inside of the saddle and the top of the IP.
In the end, it settled in and I used Tamiya Extra Thin glue first on one side, then the other. It distorted the saddle at the join a bit on the starboard side, but I'm just chalking it up to a dent in the metal during servicing.
Before putting the wing halves together, I primed again with black gloss Stynylrez and Alclad aluminum.
The next step was to put in the clear beacon, so i first lay down some of the bottom colour. This allows me to mask it easier when I cover the bottom completely. I bought some Mr. Color Aqueous paints, which have a bigger range than Tamiya and would not require any mixing. This is the first time I've tried this line of paints and I was very happy with the results. It went down beautifully without any thinning, not did I prime first. I will eventually prime to check for gaps, etc. with Stynylrez gray.
I had some orange left over from my Eagle build I made with Tamiya yellow and red and used it for the beacon. I used Testors glue for clear parts to hold it in place.
More to come...