Your mistakes are nothing to worry about Paul. That cockpit looks good and like I said 99.9999% of viewers will never know what might be otherwise.

I think it would be a good idea for Eduard to show something of the final look. One thing I do with seats is I google "photos of - - - - - seat" and will often get good photos of the seat, in the cockpit or separate, that give me an idea of where I want to end up approximately.

Eduard's p-e sets really are good. With the slightest bit of a tweak, they become great.

Here’s today’s learning! I still have to do a little bit of a wash to sort out the ‘sweat’ and once the glue has had time I’ll look at how the harness is hanging!

Tom, I appreciate the save and the way you said it! Made me feel like I was supported!

And as promised here are the instructions. The way part 12 was bent over, and the shading on the seat itself made me view it as connected to the seat, and the arrow for glueing these two parts seems to suggest a joining above the buckle as it doesn’t align with the one in front that shows where the buckle sits.

Having built these before I guess I just zoned out in the glee of getting an hour at the bench - a rarity currently! Anyway I reckon it’s back on track.

Thanks Tom and thanks Louis for the support network!

A quick update with some progress pictures - have now moved onto the Spitfire cockpit. Again using Eduard photo etch. It is a cleverly designed sub-assembly and seems to fit nicely!

The plan now is to lock away the cockpits in all 3 Dunkirk planes and to paint the camo schemes concurrently. There is a whisper that my father’s day present might be a new compressor. 5 year olds don’t keep secrets wonderfully well. More on that tomorrow if the rumours are confirmed!

Beautiful work Paul !

Things are really starting to come together now and this looks fantastic ...

I noticed that you painted the rear interior portion of the Spitfire fuselage in aluminum color. I was seriously thinking about doing this to several of the Spitfires I currently have underway. Eventually I decided against going that route, but it does add character to the build.

Well done my friend and I am sincerely looking forward to seeing your next installment.

I also hope that you can confirm the rumors about the compressor.

Here’s a quick one. The cockpit has been built and put into the fuselage. A very tight fit as described by others and a little shaving here and there to get parts to sit snuggly - possible just because I had put a layer of paint on some parts. The IP needed some work to get the panels behind the cowl into place.

I have also cut out the gun bay panels on one side - in order to display the guns. A little nerve wracking as one part becomes quite thin.

Better pictures of the cockpit tomorrow - for now just a couple of phone shots.

Next some work on the gun bays on the Hurricane and Spitfire.

Thank you David!

Here is some work I’ve been getting done on the Hurricane - specifically the starboard gun bay and wing assembly. The bay is a bit rough and ready at present and the fit is tight and needs careful sanding. Once the starboard upper wing encloses the gun bay and the fuselage is in place (some careful fitting and adjusting there too - thanks to those who made suggestions) - I will touch up and mask off.

Cheers David!

Here is the next bit - needs a little tidy up work - and the black primer that makes the edges looks little ragged was added to help spot issues. Some fine sanding, then glue in place and then some masking of the interior next!