Thanks everyone. Here's the finished cowl with weathering and exhaust stain reinstated. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out though the rescribed panel lines are not quite up to snuff.
In the meantime, work was completed on the bombs. For these, I chucked out the thick fins that the kit bombs provided and installed the Eduard PE fins included with my Hellcat kit. While I was at it, I installed the little turbine for the rear fuse that was also on the Eduard PE sheet. The yellow stripes on the bombs are hand painted as the Hasegawa decals didn't even come close to fitting.
Arriving at the right time were the two resin wheels that Terry kindly procured for me. These are real gems and are a great enhancement for the kit.
Wheels and bombs installed. The brake line is 0.3mm lead wire.
Another view of the underside with wheels and bombs installed. The bombs fit back onto the intricate racks nicely after a little persuasion, and this time, no CA was spilled!
Now it's down to the last few fiddly bits - antennae, nav and landing lights, and the landing gear doors. Won't be long now. Thanks again for all the nice comments guys