-keavdog Well, I wasn't happy. The first thought I had was the realization of how long it would take to fix. My mother actually got me this kit when I was in junior high when it first came out, so I couldn't just abandon it. :)
-lawdog114 Thank you sir! It's an honor to receive such praises from an accomplished builder like you. Yes, I think the Hasegawa is far more buildable, but the Accurate Miniatures is more detailed. I would love to see Tamiya come out with one even more buildable than the Hasegawa kit, and more detailed than AM.
-stikpusher Thank you! Thank you for your constructive criticism you gave on many of my builds I shared several years back when I was a teen. It helped.
-Don Stauffer Thank you sir!
-Tanker-Builder I have not built the Academy kit, but it is exactly the same kit. They ended up with most of Accurate Miniatures molds. Their old toolings are vicariously living through Academy now (sometimes via Eduard, Revell and Italeri too). This recent release from Academy offers the exact same markings that I used for this airplane.
-the Baron Thank you! Yes, sandpaper and Tamiya's scribing tool did the trick. And two months of time spent on the project haha.