This is one of Italeri's newer mouldings and is a very nicely done kit.The cockpit is well detailed with a two part canopy to give the option of open or closed.I started it in march last year.But one evening,after a few drinks,i managed to get glue on the windscreen.So I put it away and got on with building other models.Then a few weeks before Xmas, I had an accident at work.So at the moment Ive got plenty of time on my hands and I decided to see if I could finish it.I spent some time carefully polishing the windscreen and managed to get most of the damage out.Then I painted it with Xtracolour Sky, Humbrol extra dark sea grey and dark slate grey enamels.Ive finished it as a mk1c of No.801 NAS operating from HMS Indomitable during operation Pedestal,august 1942.A nice kit to build but a warning to anyone whose got one of these in the stash.The Decals need to be handled with care and will only take a small amount of moving into position.I usedmicrosol/set, but still managed to ruin a couple.Luckily I had decided to paint the sky fuselage band and the yellow areas on the fin and wing leading edges instead of using the decals provided.Id like to have weathered the paintwork,but chickened out in case I made it worse!.Something I need to work on in the future.I forgot to mention I used a spitfire tail wheel and strut as one half of the kits leg pinged out o f my tweezers into the darkest recesses of my shed!.The same thing happened to the oil spray ring which should be mounted on the cowling behind the prop.
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