The main build is now complete and the painting has started. I ran into a few issues during the build.
First, the panels for the MG barrels at leading edges of the wings are separate pieces that did not fit well. They didn't conform to both the top and bottom of the wing surfaces at the same time, so I prioritized the top surface and used filler and scribing to fair in the bottom surface. I struggled to get a smooth interface and clean panel lines due to the geometry but hope it will look OK in the end.
Second, the windscreen front edge was not flush with the fuselage when I went to glue it on. The instrument panel assembly mounts from the top and interfered with the windscreen. I should have test fitted this. In any event, there was some extra sanding, scribing and rivet detail addition. It will look OK I think.
Third, the flaps are configured in the down position but getting them to align properly to the trailing edge of the wings required some surgery, shims and extra gluing and clamping. The trailing edges weren't straight for me after gluing the wing root so I had to tweak them. They'll look fine but I recommend checking this carefully during assembly.
One other item -- the rivet and panel line surface detail is fantastic on this model. So there's quite a bit of rivet detail recovery required on the hood, around the nose air scoop, undersides, wing roots, near the edges of the mold and anywhere sanding is required. Major fasteners and minor rivets were added all over the place to keep everything consistent.
Sorry for the lack of photos of the above items as I was in problem solving mode. Here are photos of the next phase. The model really looks great when the build is completed.
Mr. Color Finishing surfacer was used as primer and then GX 2 Ueno black was used as a thin gloss layer for the metal areas.
Mr. Color SM201 Fine Silver and SM203 Super Iron were used for the NMF areas on the underside and fuselage. Mr Color C-8 Silver was used for the painted areas under the wings.
Invasion stripes were next with a masked area on the fuselage sides where the stars and bars decals will go, with white underneath. I'm trying to prevent the black and white stripes from showing through the decal white areas and hope I can line them up OK.
The dark green upper surfaces are next. Thanks for looking.