Work has continued in spurts as I juggle my other two builds along with this one. The below progress was actually made over the course of a week so this post catches us up.
I discovered an annoying defect in the clear parts (below). At first I thought that I had somehow sprayed droplets of black paint onto the parts but close inspection reveals that these are bits of dirt embedded inside the plastic of the parts. As these are subsurface, there's nothing I can do about them.
The kit's gun sight also needs work.
I reshaped the blob that's supposed to represent the reflector glass leaving just enough to represent the supports for the glass. I then cut and added an acetate part, painted everything, and then glued on the windscreen.
The starboard gun blister was modified as suggested by Wojtek and the port side pipe detail was also added. I have no idea what these pipes are and probably never will but it's time to move on.
I finished the shoulder belts using some extra PE parts from the Tamiya Spitfire combine with masking tape. The wires to the release were also added and these are stretched sprue. As you can see, I've also been working on the fit of the windscreen to the fuselage, which wasn't very good.
Once the cockpit is protected, I want to give everything a shot of primer to check on the surfaces before spraying on the silver. Thanks for looking in and for the continued interest and feedback.