FinnAndersen

You will have more joy out of a newer all plastic kit. Nowadays they fit very well and can easily be made into respectable models. But if you find the MB5 tempting, then buy the AZ offering and have a go. Do also try to dig out it's history and destiny. I made a MB5 from the CMR resin offering, came out nicely The MB5 was a gentle brute, quite a large airplane with some amazing features, but not a jet and therefore discarded. /Finn

Been trough all this myself as I have had a penchant for the car door Tiffie. I've bought quite a few books , but none had any clear answer. My take is that the clear rear canopy was an addition or change from the original solid structure and painted interior green. The few close up pictures of cardoor Tiffie and pilot does not show the armour as painted black, that must be later. Pure speculation, I admit, but plausible, I hope. /Finn

I'm using X011 on a regular basis, and have found out the hard way that it can be a bit difficult to get a nice even result where the undersurface does not show itself too much. My current favourite technique is to base with white, shake or stir the X011 extremely well, thin carefully and then apply one or two thin coats of it. This leads to a multiple of coats that I'm not too fond of, but what can you do? Are the paint new or old? Perhaps you should try with a newer tin. HTH Finn

What did you use as undercoat?

What about the Hurricane, Gladiator and indeed all other RAF fighters? I always assumed that the Sutton was used universally. /Finn

The Eduard Spitfire VIII is a gem and you have made it shine. Congratulation on a very nice build. /Finn

You would not be able to lean forward if the "Y" strap went over the seat, defying the purpose of the "Y" part. I believe that the harness was designed to have the lower straps anchored at point "B". At some point it was realised that if you moved the anchor point to a place further back, you could do away with the "Y" strap and arrived at the kind of belt used since. /Finn

It was standard with the resin seat. /Finn

The genius part of the Sutton harness was the ability to lean forward, while being held firmly to the seat. This is why part C, the "Y" strap, in Rays drawing feed down the back and through the seat and not over. It's about the first time we see a usable illustration of the Sutton harness, so many thanks to @Ray_W /Finn

I respect that you will want to keep them to your self. For years I had the same feeling, but then I found out that the better of my models wasn't half bad, so started to take photos of them and posting selected views hiding their faults. I was just being curious, because I have come to "know" you as one who was particular about getting the right look (The Hasegawa Hurricane nose springs to mind). /Finn

I've done two Spitfires with white tails: UP-X A58-169 in Foliage Green, Dark Earth and Azure blue and UP-G A58-178 in Foliage Green, Dark Earth and Azure blue with a Sky blue lower cowling, as they had replaced the Vokes filter; I believe that it's mentioned in the old Kookaburra book. A58-169 was done as per Sword instructions and A58-178 per Ventura V7208 instructions. /Finn

AFAIK the single dark green is not an option. The current thinking is that the early spitfires supplied to Australia was only minimally repainted, i.e. middle stone overpainted with foliage green. Foliage green is an elusive question. My reference was the old Humbrol authentic color with is a green that almost look like the US Medium green FS 24092 (but RAAF didn't use FS numbers, they are much later). Its a much richer green that the RAF Dark green with a slightly bluish streak. Can't help you with WEM, as I use Xtracolor. I note, however, that they normally are prais

I must say that I'm impressed of what you have managed to get out of this kit. And I concur that vacform canopies is a pain. I only use them when I absolutely has to. Still, for an open canopy Spitfire, it really adds to the realism. You can be proud of this and with a few more cheap kits under your belt, ready for the joy of a more modern kit. You really should try the Eduard Spitfire IX/VIII series. Cheers, /Finn

Another decal option is DK 72001 "Beaufigther in RAAF service, which has A8-27 DU-A in overall foliage green. If you can't find Aussie Decals A72026 near you, send me a PM. /Finn

Buy an airbrush you can afford and a CO2 bottle. I use a bottle meant for a CO2 welding machine and a refilling does not cost you the entire modelling budget. /Finn