FT Spitfire Canopy Modifications

Hello!

My name is William and I'm 14, and recently I've been working on improving the canopy in the FT Spitfire.

I love planes and modeling and have been in the hobby for 3 years now, but it's the first time I've built a kit plane, and I love it so far!

Just recently for Christmas I got one of the speed build kits and starting building, but my father, who is an avid Spitfire enthusiast, insisted that I try and make the cockpit look "a bit more interesting."

Challenge Accepted.

After seeing the new Star Wars, I came home with one of the collectible cups. There just happened to be a very convienent, easy-to-cut Stormtrooper sitting on top of it!

I removed (using excessive amounts of brute force) the head and arms of the Stormtrooper to get better access to the torso. For anyone wanting to follow in my confused footsteps, the appendages pull right off with some twisting.

So I marked an approximate height and began to cut. I just used a Dremel with a plastic cutting disk to cut away some of the larger, less precise cuts I needed to make.

I hope Toy Story wasn't accurate, because I just destroyed that poor figurine.

Then I made a rough mock-up of what I wanted the cockpit to look like with the Trooper in it and began to do some final trimming with a craft knife. (I did not take photos, sorry.)

After that, I cut off some of the arm material and glued the plugs back in the hole so I had a flat surface to glue on to. I trimmed some of the chest to get the look I wanted, and began gluing the arms back on. Eventually I manipulated it to resemble one arm holding a yoke and the other a throttle. 

Then I thought about how I would make the cockpit a bit more believable and thought about some control panels and dials. I did a bit of searching online, and found a Spitfire instrument panel in the correct orientation. I printed it out to the right size (after a couple of tries) and glued the paper onto some offcuts and cut it out.

For those with an interest in the real Spitfire, you'll notice the rather odd-shaped control yoke that was famous for it's circle on the top of the stick. (Note the assistive arrows)

After some deep thinking, I decided that I couldn't make it out of foam and have it look decent, so I settled for some off-cuts from some built Airfix kits.

I took the thicker off-cuts from the Airfix kits and a lighter and started to heat up the plastic to a point where it could be bent and manipulated easily.

I bent the plastic into a circle and started to melt the ends, using the liquid plastic as an adhesive so it would bond to itself. Then I attached a straight piece with some hot-glue and cut the length to the right size. Next I made a throttle out of some very short off-cuts.

Using a small drill bit, I made holes in the hands (ouch) and slipped the controls in.

I mocked up what It would look like in the cockpit, and seemed pretty happy with the result.

I then painted the control sticks in the original colours that the early yokes and throttles were found in. I've yet to put buttons and more detail on the required areas.

This is where you guys come in! What colour should I paint the inside/floor of the cockpit? I can't make a full cockpit due to structural requirements, so I'm just wondering what would look best? I'm deciding between light green, gray, and black.

Thanks for viewing and I hope it gives some inspiration for everyone else wishing to decorate their FT plane's cockpits (or any cockpits for that matter), and I would appreciate your input.

EDIT: As of now, the Spitfire has retracts:

As well as Spitfire MKII is on the way! Being shipped, and I will have a full build log and video for those wishing to see how I did all modifications including retracts.

Thanks,
William.

Twitter: @Conwayjuncton38
Youtube: ConwayJunction38 

P.S. Happy Holidays!