Thanks, Wojtek and Vic, and the engine build has started.
After some time messing about, I established that the ignition wires could be attached without interfering with the fit of the gearbox.
First step was to drill the cylinder heads to accept the wires, then paint the cylinder banks and bulkhead. The cylinders were painted in "steel" on the lower barrels, with the top half in "Aluminium" and the rocker covers in "Silver", all these being Revell enamels. A dark wash was then applied to emphasise the cooling fins, and then the push rod tubes were painted black, with a clear gloss finish coat.
Once dry, the cylinder banks were assembled and attention turned to the gear box assembly. The kit provides a "poly bush" to hold the prop shaft, and this was inserted into the gearbox housing, before fitting the magneto assembly over it. Once set, a small piece of plastic rod was cemented onto the underside of the reduction gearbox housing, to represent what I think is the oil pump and, once set, a hole was drilled into this, and another hole behind it, on the housing itself, to which the oil feed pipes will be fitted, using lead wire.
Next came the awkward part - fitting the spark plug leads, again using lead wire.
So far, only two wires have been attached, roughly aligned with the small nibs that represent the tubes running off the main harness ring, and this took a lot of patience, a number of attempts and a few new curse words!
This part is going to be a long, slow process, and I hope I can get it done without everything falling apart when it comes to attaching the wires to the cylinders, but I'll take it slowly, bit by bit, over the course of the weekend, and I might even have the engine completed by Sunday evening, if all goes well.
Pics show the progress so far, and a pic of the Duxford P-47 engine, showing the ignition harness ring and the wiring.