Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten). Things definitely worked out well. Hopefully my luck will continue.

Glad to see the wing roots look quite okay now, George @gblair
Just a bit of smoothing to be done.

My granddaughter is spending the day with us tomorrow, so I have been busy cleaning up my hobby room. She is 3 years old and has no interest in plastic models, but she does like to watch the trains on my train layout. I did get a few appendages glued on to the bottom of the wing. Anyone happen to know if the rear flap on the underwing radiator was open or closed on the ground? I will check some photos tonight to see if I can figure it out. This is a clipped wing Spitfire, and Eduard gives you a choice of clear or gray plastic wingtips. I decided to use the clear, but they were so clear that it was hard to see the tab that goes into the slot on the wing. Cheers everyone.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great progress, my friend @gblair!

The details are really nice, George @gblair
Enjoy your day together with your granddaughter, sounds like you have a exhausting day ahead.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
I am happy to see that once again applying brute force has worked. Keep in mind I normally don't swear and this hobby of ours is supposed to be fun when you read these next few sentences... 😉

I can't tell you how many times I have had to use a lot of brute force when trying to get a part to fit correctly. My 1/48 Monogram "Brubaker" Panther jet was one of these times.

Normally these kits go together well, but I bought mine secondhand at a well known online bidding website that starts with an E and ends with Bay. I'm guessing the kit was left in the sun or a hot attic / garage long enough to distort the plastic just enough...sometime before I purchased it.

So I went through a similar situation with it. Clamping , gluing, swearing a bit, clamping , gluing swearing some more, clamping, gluing, and ready to throw the model against the wall, then stomp on it's remains, and then back to clamping and swearing again. Finally I was the victor and beat it into submission.

I would back up Tom Cleaver's comments about the radiator doors. I have read a story about one such Spitfire that had to land in German occupied territory after receiving battle damage. The pilot made sure the radiator doors were closed, and he also lowered the flaps in an effort to over heat the engine so that it would not be flyable.

As Tom mentioned, I would think the doors were opened and closed as needed while on the ground to cool the engine adequately.

Wowza ! I never realized Eduard also included to cooling pipes on the radiators. That is some impressive detailing. I knew about the clear landing light option with the square wingtips. I believe you made the correct choice with that. Clear lights often look better, unless the real aircraft had a colored lens installed. Going from memory I believe the Spitfire had clear covers over the wing tip lights.

I would have to take a nap too, if I was watching a 3 year old. They have energy that keeps going and going and going, sort of like the Energizer bunny. I don't know how we were able to raise our children when we were young.

That's it ! We were young ! Ding Ding Ding rings the bell ! Give this genius a Darwin Award says the announcer holding the microphone ...

I am happy to hear that she is enjoying your HO train layout. Looking back at my childhood, spending time with my Grandpa is some of the most cherished events from this time. I'm sure she will feel the same way many years from now when she looks back at how you spent time with her too. You are a good man, and even better grandpa.

I will definitely be watching for your next episode... after you take a nap of course. Wink Wink 😉

I would have to take a nap as well. Kids have a tendency to wear you out after a while. For the reasons I mentioned above.

Take care my friend.

@gblair: Here''s an idea I had about getting the "temporary look" to D-Day stripes. I airbrush the white for the stripes so it is thin and a little patchy. Then mask off and paint all the rest. When done, unmask the white stripes, take a paintbrush and apply white thinned 60-40 thiner-paint. Do it "sloppy" with uneven hand-painted demarcation between black/white and leave "brush marks," and let it dry. You then have "temporary" brush-applied stripes.