Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). I got the wings mounted today. I really try to avoid building kits that attach the wings to the fuselage using a butt joint. Seems like a recipe for disaster. I started by outlining the attachment point with masking tape. I wanted some visual cues to ensure that I was placing the wing in the right part of the fuselage. I glued one wing on and then rested the plane on its box-like fuselage while the wing dried. I attached the second wing after allowing the first to dry. I put the plane in a specially constructed jig (a plastic container) to keep the wing vertical while it dried. Tomorrow I plan to do any necessary cleanup around the wings and then attach the wheel spats. Horizontal stabilizers will come after that. Cheers everyone.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Not an easy way to mount wigns, George @gblair.
Looks like you have them on nicely and your special jig is taking care of the drying process very well.

I had a checkup at the doctor's yesterday, so I didn't get much done. I did get some things done today. I am in the hurry up and wait phase, where I glue the butt joint on the wings, then wait for the glue to dry, glue the butt joint on the wheel spats, then wait for the glue to dry, then glue the butt joint on the horizontal stabilizers, then wait for the glue to dry. So, I got all of this done and cleaned up the attachment points with some putty. I used acrylic putty in most places because it can be smoothed and neatened using either water or alcohol. The tail surfaces needed some filler with a little more structure to it, so I used Tamiya White Putty. I have read that you can clean up and neaten this putty using lacquer thinner. So, instead of sanding the area smooth, I used a little lacquer thinner on a Q-Tip. I was concerned that the lacquer thinner might attack the plastic, but everything went well. I still used a very fine sanding stick to complete the process, but everything seemed to work well. I am moving slowly closer to painting. Yeah.

Cheers everyone.

6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Really nice progress, George @gblair
I also would have been anxious to use a thinner on the plastic, but it seems to work well on yours.
Hope your checkup at the doctor's also went well.

I polished the plastic with an old t-shirt, and then checked one more time that everything looked OK. I started the painting by spraying Vallejo White from a spray can. I always try to put down a white layer first when I will be spraying either yellow or red. They look much better over the lighter color. I really like the Vallejo sprays. The spray pressure seems to be a little lower, so there is a lesser tendency to get paint buildup. In addition, the spray seems to be much finer than other spray cans, which is helpful when trying to slowly build the color. I misted on two light layers of white, followed by Vallejo Yellow from a spray can. I sprayed two layers of yellow to be sure I had an even color.

I think that will be it for today. I want the yellow to be completely dry when I start doing the masking for the camo areas. The weatherman is also predicting tornadoes in our area this afternoon, so I plan to keep one eye on the weather till this cold front moves through. Cheers.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten). So far it looks like the storms have missed us. We have had several tornadoes within a mile or three of us during the spring and summer, so we tend to be very cautious when the warnings come. It is weird to be getting tornadoes in November.

Thanks, John (@johnb). I don't mind yellow too much. Basically, just one extra step. My thoughts exactly about tornadoes in November.

Nice freehanding, my friend @gblair! To me also the Tamiya looks closer to what I perceive as "dark earth". Looking forward to see the complete result with masks removed!