Thanks Cory, much appreciated.
I didn't get as far as I'd hoped with the build over the last few days, but here's progress to date
Photos 1 2. I assembled the tail unit without any dramas and attached it to the fuselage making sure it was straight and parallel to the wings. Then I added the main wingtips. I drilled out the guns from the spare nose supplied with the kit. This was a better solution than drilling the faired-over nose, as when the guns disappeared, they left the natural blast channels. The nose has a slight step on top, when joined to the fuselage. The whole assembly still needs to be checked for gaps/seams and treated as necessary. I'm hoping to get away without too much work here.
Photo 3. My next step was to tackle the undercarriage sub-assembly. The kit parts were assembled and given a spray of RLM 02. Based on the photos in Post 94, I added the triangular spar at the top from sprue. Some brake lines were made from 15 amp fuse wire, painted copper and Antracite Grey. These were glued into position with spots of superglue and clips added from 5 amp wire. The gaiters were painted a black/brown mixture. A pair of hydraulic units were added from spare pieces of plastic rod from an old kit and painted.
The wheels were assembled and the tyres painted Dark Grey. The lettering was dry-brushed with Medium Grey and grass/earth stains added with dry-brushed Dark Earth. The hubs weer painted Satin Black, then dry-brushed with Boltgun Metal and Chainmail Silver.
That's it for now. Next task is the prop/spinner sub-assembly, then sanding and filling as necessary, before getting some paint on.
More anon.