Thanks all!
Some more minor progress this afternoon. I have scratch built a seat from 10 thou plastic card, as well as a bulkhead, which will cover the seam between the kit part and the fuselage halves. The kit seat is next to the new seat for comparison. I used parts from the Eduard SS501 sheet for the pan detail and adjustment handle.

I scratch built a new control column also, as the kit one (right) is a bit chunky. My scratch built effort is not entirely accurate, but it will do the trick.

I also went back to the flap wells; I decided to remove the roof of the longer bays as I was not happy with the trailing edge join; this way I can simply thin the kit's upper wing and be done. I also discovered to my dismay that the CMK flaps are about 2-3mm too long (as you can see from the resin flap piece i've sat next to the left bay for comparison)... this is odd as the bay inserts fit reasonably well... did CMK not even measure the kit? Sigh. There was no way to trim out the extra length due to the resin parts rib spacing, so, I scratch built a new set of flaps from 10 thou card and thin strip (in white). I might as well have not bought the set, to be perfectly honest...

I think we're just about ready to start putting some paint on this thing somewhere...! That being said, I expect a slow down over Christmas due to work and family commitments... oh well.
Cheers,
BC