Thanks guys...now have the cowl glued in place added some small reinforcing bits inside and a section of sprue to 'stretch' the cowl just a tad to get good alignment to match the gun cover shape just right.
Also decided to replace the wings at this point, the kit supplied lower wing is for an A-8/R-2 with the large ejection ports for the 30mm cannons in the outer wing positions. The aircraft in question is more likely an F-8...although maybe an A-8 too? Anyway found a lower wing that better reflects the F-8 option without lower wing bulges or ejection ports in the outer position.
You will note in both cases the wings have inserts for the different configurations, more prominent on the F-8 wing....this insert edge which is slightly raised needs to be sanded flush without losing surrounding detail....one side done the other to follow.