Here is my take so far on the well-known and much-built Tamiya Spitfire IXc in 1/32. First the interior: I did my usual flat black undercoat to create shadows.

I then applied several light layers of Polyscale RAF Cockpit Green (old bottle but still perfect) spraying downward. Interior areas behind the pit were done in Vallejo Acrylic Metal Color (Semi-Matte Aluminum). I did a fair amount of detailing in the cockpit with Eduard photo-etch for a Spitfire Mk V. This included a multipart assembly for the throttle quadrant which I was quite proud of - the lever are actually workable after assembly! Here are some pics of the pit under pit under assembly and finally fully installed before and after buttoning up the fuselage. , , , , , , , , , , . The IP is from Yahu - far better than the cartoonish kit version. I added more details with wire solder and brass wire for instrument wiring, plus tiny stencil decals from Barracuda and Airscale and a few scrap decals for other bits. The quilted seat pad mostly hidden under the Sutton harness was made from sheet styrene.The seat belts are cloth with metal buckles from HGW. I had to glue the cloth belts to the rear most part from the etch kit harness to attach it to the rear bulkhead. Some pics show early and later versions of how did this in the end. Final pics show fuselage buttoned up and wings and tail section attached. Also visible is the major painting done on the engine mounts and piping. Wire and styrene bits are the ignition harness which I will insert in holes I pre-drilled in the engine. , All this will be done when I mount the engine, in case I need to tweak everything so it all fits behind the removable panels. I definitely want to be able to close everything up as well as keeping the engine display option. That's it for now. I will be finishing this build as the mount one of two Canadian aces: either Wally MacLeod or Jack Charles, both in full D-Day stripes.

Fantastic job so far, my friend @coling!

Thanks, Spiros.

Thanks, John. The engine has me in suspense because I don't know how much detailing I can do before the added wiring and styrene bits get in the way of the cowling panels. So far, I have made the additional detail elements removable/reversible without glue just in case. Fitting it will be a process of trial and error. The magnets on the cowling panels will be a great benefit in that experimentation. If all goes well, I will go back to my Tamiya P-51D to add detail to the Merlin wherever possible.

Thanks, George. The Tamiya Spitfire is my most relaxing build, given the perfect fit and overall engineering. Wish I could have resisted detailing the engine, but it will look nice in the end, I think. The rest will be smooth sailing OOB.