The contraprop is progressing. I have the basic fuselage together and starting to add all the fragile bits on. The kit does fit well but you are responsible for getting the parts in the correct position. What I mean is that there is not a lot of pins, slots and tabs like Tamiya or Airfix provide to lock parts in while gluing. Also I'm in the middle of cataract surgery and my near focus eye is still blurry. Lastly, I see it is 5 years since I joined here and what a great time it has been.
Hope the cataract works okay, I've had both done and the second one which was done last year seems to be developing a glaucoma. I'm on regular check next one next month so well see how we go. Congrats of the 5 year anniversary and agree, it's a good forum with a great bunch of good folk.
Just signed up for the RAF Virtual 10K Spitfire Challenge. A few years ago, I completed the Lancaster Challenge (I live in Lancaster PA). I thankfully don't have to do it in one go. My family and I will be running a 6K in Kentucky in memory of a fallen Blue Angels pilot soon and this lets me support 2 causes in one event.
I am also in the middle of cataract surgery, so my eyesight is going to impacted for a few weeks. I'm almost ready to paint; I guess and hope I can finish in time. it really is Braille Scale.
Good luck with the run, and you'll be amazed at the improvement after the eye surgery. I had both eyes done earlier this year, and the difference is incredible !
I can now see clearly and sharply - unfortunately I can also see the dust in the house, and some tiny imperfections on model builds !!
Here is an example of good fit with no position aids. The air inlet duct under the nose is two pieces, and the inlet itself fits smoothly with the duct, but somehow you have to hold it in the right position without getting glue all over everything. The mating surfaces on both pieces are smooth. The rudder halves are molded in such a way that there is a half round space when glueing the fuselage together, and the rudder is molded with a half round at the mounting edge.
I'm finding, at least on this latest Eduard Tempest kit build I'm doing, I'm having to do a small sanding reduction to the lengths of the pins. Like you indicated, after this the seams are much tighter.