Hi Eric (@eb801). I have the new Airfix Spitfires, along with the Tamiya Spitfires. My build list is bigger than my capacity to actually build them. I will hopefully get to them all eventually. I didn't know that you could change the title once you started a thread, but it didn't take much effort to discover that you can change the title. Thanks for prodding me into figuring it out. Cheers.

You're not the only one with that worry. 🙂

Hi Tom (@tcinla): I figured it would work for the Mk. V. The trick for me is to be sure I have the correct part from the many options available in the kit and then modify the plastic to accept the PE. It requires a certain amount of mental dexterity that isn't necessarily always present for me.

I spent the day with my granddaughter, so lots of fun but not much modeling. I have been building a bunch of sub-assemblies that I hope to spray with cockpit color tomorrow. It always seems that the cockpit sub-parts take a lot of time, then everything comes together all at once. We just got side-swiped by a tropical storm that came in from the Gulf, but I should be able to get more done tomorrow. Cheers.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

It is always good to be able to spend time with your family, George @gblair
Cockpits usually take quiet some but it is one of my favorite parts to work on.
Seems like you are also good in creating balancing structures to dry the parts.
Which Vallejo color are you using?

Things are moving, but really slowly. The cockpit was spray painted with the various colors, and then I set about doing the detail painting. When that was done, I applied some washes using artist oils. I think the sub-assemblies are finally assembled, and I should be able to start assembling the cockpit. It has really be slow going to add all of the Eduard 3D printed detail for the cockpit, and it has been almost as fiddly as working with PE.

I did make one mistake, but managed to fix it. There is a bulkhead just aft of the seat that has a panel with a slot in it that the seatbelt passes through. There was a PE piece that was available in the Eduard "Look" set that has the panel with the slot. I compared it to the plastic one that came with the kit and I thought they were identical, so I used the plastic version. It wasn't until much later that I noticed that the plastic version did not have an open slot. 10 minutes of work with a small drill bit and then an Exacto opened the slot, so everything is good. Cheers everyone,

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Very good progress, George @gblair
Nice correction on the bulkhead.

Thanks for stopping in, Spiros (@fiveten), John (@johnb), and Felix (@fxrob).

The kit had a bulkhead without the slotted piece, and the "Look" set that I got had the panel with an open slot, but I decided it would be easier to use the kit bulkhead with the unslotted panel molded on. But I didn't realize I would need the slot later. Entirely my fault. I am glad I could correct my error.

I originally thought about building either the 1/32 HobbyBoss or the 1/48 Airfix for this build, but finally bought this one because it had the exact decals I needed. I am trying really hard not to buy new kits so that I can kill off some of the stash, but the manufacturers keep bringing out new kits of planes that I want to do.