John Eaton's Notes 

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March 5, 2010            Woodland, California

Hello All:
I got the package from the mailman today, packaged superlatively and without damage.  Here is the obligatory mug shot, in front of the Nicholas Trudgeon print, "September Victory".  I tried my best not to look stern.  It's hopeless.

 

Here I installed some pe on the wing trailing edge.  Sean remarked on the instructions that it was a PITA.  I concur, it was
like straightening tinsel but it does look nice, replicating all the little strengthening gussets on the trailing edge.  I taped it down
and slowly worked across, straightening it as I superglued it in place.  I use the twisted wire to apply the superglue which i dip
from the indent in the inverted medicine cup bottom in the photo

Here the flaps are installed and the wing is attached to the fuselage,  The flaps were a little fiddley but the wing to fuselage fit
was very nice.  I used Tamiya Extra Thin cement.  The ailerons are also installed and are free too move, though one does have
less than regulation travel.  The CAG will have a bit less roll rate when he froom frooms it around the secret workshop in England. 
The clips are there to get a tight fit on the end of the wing fillet.  The plastic is very thin.

There are two front wing fillet pieces that are attached here.  I worked as much as possible to get the correct gap free alignment which
involved holding the front of the wing up as much as possible while the glue was curing.  If I got it right there will be a proper fit with
the cowl parts, if I didn't the errors will be additive.  No way to be sure until the front bits are built, and I thought too tight a fit
would be easier to hide than a loose fit.  As I am sure the previous participants are aware, in order to do this sequential build with
assigned steps we have to follow the instructions, very disorienting for at least Eye.  The final painter will be doing a lot of masking
to cover previously installed and painted bits, like those flap indicators I put in the wing out there by the cannon bulge. 
Sure is a nice looking cockpit!

A clear piece is supplied for the antenna mount, and the instructions say to paint it smoke.  I painted the underlying plastic
and the interior of the part smoke, it must be a bakelite insulator for the pole.  Sure is a good looking cockpit.

Sure is a good looking cockpit!

Another picture of those front fillet parts.

And here is the last part of my assembly sequence, one of the landing gear.  Bill gets to do the other one and I deferred
painting these parts so he can do both, just in case he uses some weird 1/72 scale paint or spaghetti sauce or something. 
I wonder at what point the Spitfire acquired scissors on the gear strut?  The A/B options on this kit don't have them but the C
option, a late Mark IX, does, so it must have been somewhere in Mark IX production.  It's really hard to find any photo with scissors visible.

And the aircraft code letters:


And that's how it is, Sunday, March 14, 2010 in Woodland, California.