[Siwi]

Well, the weather here (just off the end of the runway where the Spitfire was first flown, and three miles from the factory) has overnight swung from being well in minus temperatures to anything up to 15 above and wet, which feels strikingly warm. Despite leaving the model to go and watch possibly the most exciting World Cup final ever, I finished and installed the cockpit in the centre and attached the rear fuselage to it. A bit of cutting away between the wings was needed but the parts look as if they fit acceptably.
The cockpit is probably my best effort this year. The seat and seatbelts were downscaled from an existing kit, and the panel was drawn in Inkscape over the outline of a former. Spreading superglue over it and stippling it when half dry gives a suggestion of instruments in relief. In the end hardly any of the detail is visible at this scale, but I still have the drawing saved if I build a late Spit in a larger scale. I correctly assumed that rudder pedals and most cockpit details wouldn't be visible so didn't include them; just the spade grip, compass, gunsight and two larger boxes on the side. A bit of metal marker over the dark grey gives a nice metal sheen. Some very careful work needed with the tweezers to handle and stick all these tiny parts!