Right so i decided to give this whole NON gw ship combat thing a go and i was happily assembling my fleet starter box when i noticed something, my flying stand rods are about 0.5mm or so too think for the stands, is this common? a feature? or a problem?

Not uncommon at all - i get them all the time. Generally, i either use a small file to get out just enough to let the stem fit in snugly, or a 3.0 or 3.2 drill bit.

yeah was thinking i was going to have to drill it/ file that's just a mild pain in the ass

Yeah I just use a small cylindrical file and roll it a bit in the hole on the square flight base. It widens it slightly and then the rod slots in, I prefer to have them unglued as to avoid breaks and bits sitting in the base. With the right tool it is easy, with the wrong one it is a real pain, A triangular file has also done the right thing for me in the past to.

yeah sorted it right quick just thought I'd make sure there wasn't some kind of zany building step i was missing lol