Thanks Kirby. The moulded cable will live.
My last session was devoted to getting the wings on so here's the process. I always look to get everything symmetrical and the dihedral right and some kits make it easy. This one doesn't. I started by cementing the wing assemble at the front and rear intersections with the fuselage the night before leaving the wing roots open. The model is then securely clamped to a flat granite tile with a bevel square lined up on the seam of the fuselage and the vertical stab. A close look shows small pen marks at the nose, just behind the pit opening, and at the base of the tail and white background helps the Mk I eyeball line things up.
At this point, the $120 retail model reveals itself to have a warped vertical stab which leans to starboard enough to be noticeable. Fortunately, I was able to straighten it with careful but firm manual pressure. At this point, the wing dihedral is checked and properly set using 0.5 inch spacer blocks near the wing tips. A look at the wing root reveals a fairly good fit on the port side....
...but the starboard side on this $120 retail kit not so much.
Oh, and by the way, the headrest was painted.
With the same set up, I ran some Tamiya Extra Thin into the port wing root as it was. On the right side however, I cut bits of styrene card and stuffed them into the gap and ran the glue in when the gap was filled.
And with that done, I installed the horizontal stab, checking that the distance from each tip to the tile was exactly the same. A block of wood with my tweezers on top acted as a wedge that allowed for fine adjustments.
After a few hours, I ran some thin CA into the wing roots for added strength and levelling and let the model sit over night. Late today, I released it from the jig and no noises were heard, which is a good thing. Next up will be sanding, filling, and scribing in the wing roots and in the fore and aft joints with the fuselage. Did I mention this kit costs $120 retail?