Seamus, clearly, once again, my bemusement failed to translate. I appreciated your comments on SAC tan vs RLM02. My comment on the cost of toing & froing to get the paint was intended to be a "sage" statement about how the cost of everything is going up, not a poke at you guys. Please keep the comments and suggestions coming, as I said I've never built the Stuka, and if this goes well, nor any of the other kits I have in my Bof/Bob queue.

I do not see any problems with your stages of assembly. Personally, that is how I would do it. As far as aligning the wings, I would add the landing gear to both wings, then tape/dry fit the wings to the fuselage. I would put the model on it's wheels on a level surface, then manipulate the wings until all looks aligned, then, using a ruler, I would measure the distance from each wing tip to the ground surface. When the distance is equal, I would set the wings in place with a liquid cement such as Tamiya extra thin liquid cement and let dry overnight before further handling.

I've been making some progress, so here's an update.
I've been using parts from the True Details cockpit set and here you can see them installed. The red and blue lines on the cockpit wall are a detail I saw on build of this kit I found on the 'net. I'm pretty sure they are "imagineered", but they add color. You can see the same for the back side of the radiator, I put in a "see through" block and added some grate to it.

Still need to do some dry brushing, etc,, but the fuselage is about ready to button up.

I've assembled the wings, but haven't added the flaps yet. i just couldn't stand the wing guns as molded, so i shaped some plastic tubing to give them a better shape. I'll add the guns during final assembly.

I'm enjoying this, Rick, Stukas are one of my favourite planes, even though I don't make planes right now, and I was brought up on Airfix kits.

Been slogging along, and closed up the fuselage. Thought I had things securely lined up, but ended up with a step on top and bottom of the fuselage that required some major sanding, filling, sanding & etc,etc,etc. Have some serious rivet and panel line fixing to do there.

Also got the wings, and flaps assembled, not as fiddly as I expected, and the fit was pretty good. Wings mated with the fuselage without much fuss. Fit was good enough that a little Mr Surfacer 500 looks like it will take care of the joint. Wing tips passed the "ruler" test.
Left the landing gear off for now so its not in the way.

Thanks for following along.
R

Hi Jaime, no engine provided, but you are right there's plenty of room to trick it out. I put a bulkhead just ahead of the cowl flaps to block off the see through to the intake in the upper cowl. I added some brass mesh to it to imitate the back side of the radiator. I also put a spreader bar across the fuselage so the upper cowl will fit cleanly.

For an older kit it goes together pretty easily, has descent detail & good fit. The raised detail doesn't bother me, harder to repair but I think it looks right.

Great progress Rick. Keep up the good work.