Clamps released. Glueing the two halves together was probably the most stressful part of the build. The end seams sealed together well but the middle points on each side were persistently recalcitrant and I had to pay more attention to those separately. I left the model overnight and I got there. I got a good seal in the end so I don't think it's going to come apart anytime soon.

I have moved onto applying putty to the seams using a Tamiya basic putty. I was going to thin it down at first because I was worried it would go on rough but after testing it on an area at the rear, I decided to apply it as is. I am pleasantly surprised with the result. With sanding first with an 80 grit, then a 120 grit, the seams have all but disappeared.

One thing which has become apparent - the stabiliser. I've had that in clamps for a couple of weeks in an attempt to straighten the bend in it but it hasn't worked. Now that it is installed, I don't have a lot of options in terms of addressing this. I'm thinking about using a hair dryer and heating it gently and seeing if I can coax it straighter but I'll leave it for now. Over the next week I want to touch up the surface layer and move onto weathering and detailing.

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