Spiros, @fiveten
I have read this journal of yours, and I want to say "thank you" for mentioning my name with fitting the horizontal stabilizer. I have built one of the AMT A-20 kits, and I ended up purchasing an aftermarket set of wheels for it. The resin wheels also came with a folded up life raft. This is how it looks now.
Like you, on mine I had to sand away the exhaust protrusions, because I was back dating it to an earlier "pre War" version, with a bare metal finish. I also sanded away some of the engine opening to make it a little larger. Then I made a hole for the single exhaust opening on the side of the nacelles.
I kept pulling up some of the red and white painted on rudder stripes on mine. Finally I was able to get the rudder painted...only to pull up the aluminum color on the fabric stabilizer and ailerons next... but the final straw was when the foil covering started bubbling... I put mine away after it suffered a problem with the bare metal foil bubbling. It was most likely due to being exposed to the heat and the Florida sun. The back of the display case has a mirror finish. I am lucky the model didn't melt.
During construction, I only had a few minor areas that didn't fit too well, with the most prominent one being a small "step" that was located just ahead of the pilot's wind screen where the clear bombardiers panel met the regular solid plastic.
This is a model I have that should be finished.
I agree with you, these kit supplied engines look very good, and the look even better with some detail painting and washes. It would be nice if someone obtained the molds and started popping out more of these kits.
I have two of these AMT P-70's in the stash, and several other versions of the AMT A-20 kits as well, like the A-20 B/C and an A-20G. You're tempting me to drag some of them out... But first I must finish what I have started.
I like how your P-70 looks my friend. My friend, you are a model building machine. I am looking forward to your next installment.