We left the 1:72 Airfix Fairey Battle here . Actually that's a slightly generous interpretation because all I had managed to do was to assemble the two cockpit units  and fix them into one side of the fusilage. Several issues had already come to light, though.

Since then very substantial progress has been made: in fact the kit is now assembled and part painted.

By the standards of plastic kits in railway modelling, the assembly and fit of parts in Airfix kits is extremely good. However as I flagged in the pervious posting, there are some problems with the fit of parts in this kit, and they are mainly found underneath the model. The fit of the two halves of the fusilage is fine on the top surfaces , but underneath there is significant misalignment of the parts . There is also the unfortunate "bubble" in the lower surface between the wings. the wings fit fine, but there is slight misalignment of wings and wing roots on the undcerside

Remedial action to such things is fairly familiar to any experienced railway modeller, and suitable bodging was duly undertaken with files, filler and emery boards.

The scene of battle is displayed here:

Filler has been added to one side of the join and the whole thing filed down to even it out . A length of microstrip has been added alongside the wing joint on one side and filed down and the wing root on the other side filed and smoothed to fit.The bubble has been filed down as far as I dared without risking breaking through the plastic, and the hole for the clear plastic stand opened out , possibly a fraction too much. I ended up using a medium size Airfix stand, but the model won't quite sit level. Long-term I intend to construct an experimental basic airfield diorama and the Battle will probably end up adorning this.

A representational air intake has been fabricated to replace the missing part. I have filed it back a little but I suspect it is still oversize. 

There are some optional parts in the kit and choices have to be made about how the model will be presented. The gunner's rear cockpit can be modelled closed, or open with  machine gun poking out; the bomb bays can be modelled open with bombs mounted , or closed; and the undercarriage can be modelled either down or retracted. I decided to keep things relatively simple, and opted for a closed rear cockpit, closed bomb bay doors, and lowered undercarriage. The latter is essential if the model is to be dispalyed on a diorama at any time; open bomb bays restrict you to an aircraft on the ground; and the rear cockpit would be closed both on the ground and most of the time whilst flying. The combination I chose allows the finished model to be displayed on a stand  as if in flight (either in take off or landing) or posed on a diorama.

Here is a rather prettier view of the model right way up:

I had something of a fight trying to get the rear sections of the canopy to seat themselves and I had to resort to filing down the rear gunner's head. (I suspect I may have transposed the figures for the pilot and gunner when building the cockpit sections). I have managed to get a reasonable result with applications of Humbrol Clearfix but it isn't a perfect fit I'm afraid.

I have pre-painted parts of the kit where there should be a sharp line between colours prior to assembly using the acrylic paints supplied, although the underside has been painted in Revell matt black, as I have a pot of that and I'm not sure the small pot of black supplied in the boxed set will be sufficient for all four aircraft .

Otherwise this kit has been built strictly as supplied, without upgrades apart from fabricating a missing part. There seems no point trying to run before I can walk , especially when the kit has some fundamental inaccuracies which cannot be removed without very major work which is well above my level. Once I've built this one I'm sure that more advanced techniques and methods of refining and upgrading kits will make a lot more sense to me.

At this point there are still a few small parts to add before final painting and application of transfers. And painting the canopy is starting to present itself as an awkward task