Thanks my friend @tcinla!

Annnnd...

Some progress

I attached the cockpit from underneath: a at places seemingly tight-ish fit was not tight-ish at all, the only key point being making sure the aft fuselage "hidden" seam under the rear anti-glare area, where the rear cockpit bulkhead will "bed into place", is totally cleaned and the area leveled (easilly done with a hobby knife and mini file): this way, the cockpit will affix itself nicely:

I ised two mini blobs of liquefied styrene at the fore cockpit attachment points, making sure the blobs stayed away from the model external surfaces - no shrinkage drama here!...

A trick I learned from some wonderful guys here for like builds, is to skip the instructions and attach the lower wing half first (having the locating pins removed)...

, thus having a positive alignment with the fuselage... ...then lay the top wing halves, with the root being the "datum" point, applying glue only locally, making sure that there are no seams at the wing roots, then let the top wing halves "rest" on the bottom one, then applying glue everywhere. The result is a seamless root joint! . Honestly, not all kits need this treatment (modern Tamiyas, many Hasegawas of course, and the like...), but, again, better safe than sorry!

I decided to droop the elevators, as I saw a few seasonal pics with them drooped, so some interest will be added to yet another Sakai Zero model (let alone the fact that I will sneak some aotake onto the slightly visible hinges area 🙂 ). I separated the elevators by carefully slicing them with my Excell #11 knife. I did not use my mini saw, as it would remove more material, so I would move further away from realistic dimensions, that will already be compromised by some material removed by cutting...Anyway, here they are separated:

...and here are the tailplanes attached: Thanks for stopping by!

Wings came out great, Spiros (@fiveten), as did the rest of the assembly. Well done.

Thanks my friend @gblair! This is a great kit and, honestly, any "difficulties" faced will almost definitely be my fault.

Spiros, @fiveten
Boy oh boy, you have been a busy man ! You are really moving along on this build. It is looking very good too. I really like how you have removed the elevators and will be installing them in a dynamic pose. These Hasegawa Zero's are some very nice kits, and you are making the most from it.

I have several under construction on the work bench, but these are on a temporary hold until I finish up with the F-84E. After seeing how you have done this, you have inspired me to follow suit, and I will separate the elevators on one (possibly more) of mine as well. I have an aftermarket wing fold set, and one of these A6M's will be wearing the markings of a Zero that was flown from the Akagi. It will be numbered as AI-154, and it's a plane that crashed at Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th. I have always wanted to build a Saburo Sakai Zero, and I will eventually be painting up one of these as one of his mounts. I have some information about the markings on several of the planes he flew, that I found on Jaircraft.com.

I am definitely looking forward to your next installment. It's looking very good !

I can't wait to see your next installment... 🙂