CONSTRUCTION
This kit was built all box stock, including the Aeromaster decals contained within the kit. After my successful completion of my P-47 and the receipt of an Iwata airbrush for Christmas, I was eager to test out my freehand skills once again. This kit posed no major problems in construction, although the parts from the seat backwards was a little fidgety. All in all I'd only give this kit two minor dings on fit, which may of been induced by me. One is for the way the lower engine cover (or tropical filter depending on your version) fits. It did require some sanding and rescribing, resulting in the loss of rivet detail. The second area is where the rear of the wing joins into the fuselage in which I had to use some superglue and sand smooth.

COCKPIT
Nothing was done to the cockpit other than picking out the details with a brush and placing a drop of Future on each of the dials to simulate the glass. I think it turned out well, just like the P-47.

PAINT / DECALS
The plane was painted with Model Master (MM) Enamels. I used my new Iwata Eclipse for the freehand camo job. Once everything had thoroughly dried, I applied a gloss coat of Polly Scale (PS) in preparation for decaling, this was top coated with more PS Gloss to help hide the decals, but I discovered that the Microsol used to make the decals lay down in the details etched the gloss coat. Once again, Dave Lake stepped up to the challenge with another tip. An application of Model Master Enamel Gloss mixed with Diosol and the etching went away, and also smoothed out the finish as well. I applied a burnt umber oil wash to the plane. I also applied some gun blasts and exhaust streaking with thinned MM enamels and pastels. I don't recall what I used to seal the whole plane with, but it was a mix of Gloss and Flat. When removing the Bare Metal Foil masks from the canopy, quite a bit of the painted framed areas came off as well. After 5 weeks of not wanting to touch it, I remasked and painted, this time having no problems pulling the masks off.

CONCLUSION
I found this kit to be a gem to build, despite the minor hickups and adds a different look to the shelves. I'll definitely be building some more RAF stuff in the future.