Well, everything that was dry-fitted above got some glue yesterday so things are moving quickly now. The only place that Tamiya used that nifty insert was on the upper fuselage spine so I had a few tiny hiccups where the more conventional seams didn't quite fuse perfectly in front of the windscreen and on the fuselage underside. I did a bit of filling and polishing with Tamiya Surface Primer as the undersides will be NMF and so need to be pristine. Other than that, everything fit nice and snug - almost too snug in the case of the cockpit tub which needed a bit of coaxing to slide in place but all went well.
Here on the port side you can see the tight fit at the wing root and on the engine cowl. The latter was glued in place since I didn't install the engine. On the supercharger intake, I need to investigate if there is a distinct seam behind the grille as there is one on the model where the parts join. If not, I'll need to smooth this. You can also see a tiny bit of filler in the seam just in front of the gun sight.
Similar story on the starboard side:
Now, regarding that seam just in front of the windscreen, there might be a panel line there on the real machine according to some 3 view drawings (not all). Though Tamiya didn't seem to allow for a center panel line there with fasteners on each side of it, their instructions suggest it should be there:
So, if anyone knows for sure if this feature should be there, I'd appreciate hearing so that I can scribe this in.
Tamiya provides separate rudder actuators and a tight-fitting insert for the tail wheel:
Here's the nose area on the underside where the wing fits in place along a panel line. The seam is a bit wide and noticeable but not too bad. Again, note the bit of filler on the seam.
That's all for today. If anyone knows for sure if the panel line in front of the windscreen should be there, do let me know please!