I did find a couple of photos of the interior assembly that I forgot I took, showing the removal of side panels to install the clear photo panels and the basic cockpit assembly and paint.

One thing for sure - the original release decals are not the greatest!

I went to apply the 'identification/invasion stripes' and things did not go well especially at the end of the fuselage. The decals seemed very thick and are very translucent. A base coat of white should have been applied as the white portions all looked grey, so off they came.

Had to add some spray near the tail as the initial painting was done expecting the striping.

Some quick photocopies and a simple 1.66 enlargement setting gave me the correct curve for the sea grey at the rear of the fuselage.

Back on track after some masking and a quick spray.

6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Realizing there's only one way to use the kit decals , I applied a white primer were required to ensure I get the correct compete white tint on the insignia.
This is the first time I've had to prime the area for decals.
Hopefully the dark blue decals will completely block out the extra white primer which I applied.
I taped using Tamiya masking with correct circles and then used paper to block off most of the remaining areas.
I think I need a proper hole cutter.

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

Looking really good, George @georgeswork!

Seems like the time you took was well invested George! Looking good.

@georgeswork:

Good to see you found a way to defeat the decals and I am glad I was able to provide any good info I did. It's looking very nice, and doing the "Pyongyang strikes" look is much more historically significant than any other.

Hi George @georgeswork!
This is proceeding really nice!
Glad the slipper tanks and inner/outer wing joints are good fits. These are areas that occasionally give fit issues!
Lookin great so far and I can say the finish line is close!

Thanks Spiros & Erik.

Closing in to finish.

I had to trim the landing gear and fairing a bit to get a proper fit - the port side strut sorta just `clicked' into place while the opposite side needed the nib to be trimmed off to get a fit.

While prepping the rockets I accidentally cut of the pylon mount, but had 2 spare. The front mounting pylon had to be shaved a little to get proper alignment next to the wing gas tank.

I was worried about the canopy being as bad as all the reviews - and it is pretty bad, but I`ll give it a good go. the canopy is definitely the weakest point of what otherwise is an impressive kit.

I loose fit the canopy and slightly traced the area to paint. Trim the antiglare panel and painted the gas cap area.

Final shot of undersides just before adding the flaps.

9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

What a great idea cutting that piece of cardboard to get the proper droop angle. Airfix’s Seafire FR47 is indeed of their finer endeavors aside from those crappy 90’s decals they had back then. You’ve created a real master model here and I look forward to the finish.