Finished this part!
The nose slots in PERFECTLY. It's snug and seamless and totally solid. You can pick the whole ship up by the nose without anxiety. MASSIVE relief.
That seemingly validates the latch system I'm using all over the ship to connect the hull halves.
I will need to redesign the battery cover, though. The tolerances are way too tight, and I have the snap latch on the wrong end for the forces - it unsnapped and the ship pitched forward. I could also afford to lengthen the pylon on the stand - which will make it a MORE accurate representation of DS9, lol.
I have fit-checked some of the electronic components.
Most of the chip mounts need adjusting, but the speaker and the blinker board fit snugly and securely.
The light-trough for the "windows" along the inner edge of the hollow in the bottom of the ship is a touch too close to the outer skin, it comes close to breaking through and will be a light-leak issue. I will need to remodel that.
The nacelle grilles snap in nicely too - I accidentally printed both sets as starboard grilles, so the port nacelle is currently ungrilled. I will be printing the next set in white PLA anyway - light bleed is encouraged for this component.
These photos all make it look smaller than it feels in the hand.
Size comparison with the old Playmates/AMT Defiant (same mold).
The innacuracies in the proportions and angles of that old mold really stand out like this.