I now have the "extras" part of the build done. This is a US pilot driving a RAF colleague out to his aircraft and they have just exited the Landrover. There would also be a truck nearby with the crew and equipment needed to start it.
Getting ready to close up the cockpit. The detail is good but lags behind Airfix and Tamiya (that have oxygen tanks for the cockpit) and Eduard (that IMHO) has the best kit detail with many more sub parts to make up the seat, side walls, and instrument panel.
I want to get better at the using the Tamiya Panel Line Accent. It doesn't "collect at the corners" but acts like a shade. Even with a clear coat, it spreads out across the painted surface. I think I'll see if LHS has spray cans of lacquer or varnish. Speaking of which, the owner has announced that he will be retiring at the end of the summer. BUT, the shop is being sold to a local owner so it should be there for the rest of my modeling career.
Just started looking at wheel wells and landing gear; the instructions have medium sea gray for wells and inside main gear doors but aluminum for inside outer mains and tail doors. Any thoughts on that? The overall color is Aluminum paint; not bare metal or High Speed Silver.
LA232 is overall silver paint. After looking at some pictures last night., I realized that the outer wheel covers were a new addition along with the retractable tail wheel. I see that the new parts may have been fabricated after the basic airframe was built and could be finished differently. I have often dreamed of a perfect world where the model maker would post the source material for the schemes that are included in kits. I vacillate between believing the research dept pours over dusty documents and photos or some marketing vp points at a picture and says "I like that." Special Hobby has a reason to suggest it is gray on the inner door and silver on the outer. I found this 1/48 Spitfire Mk 21 build showing a lot of detail.
Supermarine Spitfire Type 356, Spitfire F Mk 21 of 600 Squadron (County of London) RAuxAF, Biggin Hill, 1947. 100% Airfix, almost.
www.vexillummilitaris.co.uk
+
UPDATE
Here are 2 Spitfire Mk 24 Wheel Wells that seem to show the outer door with the same interior color as the well itself. Are these original? They are current photos so almost certainly restored. There was also a photobucket (dead link ) to a Mk 21. In this case, the more you know, the less sure you are. I'm leaving the original color alone and making my outer door silver paint on both sides.