AMT8646

The AMT kit comes in a two part top open box with dramatic artwork of a P70 getting a kill, something that didn't happen much in real life. Inside the box are three bags, two with the parts molded in a light gray color and the other with the clear parts. This kit was derived from the AMT A-20 series of kits and except for a few parts differences is the same kit. The parts have a smooth finish and have fine recessed panel lines. Some of the parts had a moderate amount of flash with one sprue having more than the others. The sprues also appeared to have been cut from a much larger sprue either to fit the box or to separate the specific P-70 parts from the A-20 parts. I did not find any sink holes or other surface defects on the outer surface of the kits and AMT did a good job with ejector pins marks in keeping them where they wouldn't be seen. There are some on the insides of the main gear doors but they line up with the lightening holes on the door so they aren't that noticeable and the ones on the inside of the fuselage aren't in the cockpit area. The cockpit area is moderately detailed but could stand some photo etch to dress it up. One of the issues with the kit is that AMT left out the life raft which was stowed on a shelf directly behind the pilot. Another issue is the exaggerated tire tread pattern they used on the wheels. Fortunately both can be dealt with with after market items discussed later. 

One issue with the kit is that of the radar operators position. In the P-70 he sat in the rear gunners location. AMT include the normal gunners position which comes from the A-20 kit and made no effort to duplicate the radar operators equipment. The landing gear struts are nicely rendered including brake lines. The gear doors are molded in the closed position and need to be cut to use them with the gear down. Mounting them is fiddly as they have mounting tabs but there are no slots to fit them into so it's just a butt joint with the correct alignment left up to the builder. The engines aren't bad but we'll discuss options there as well later in the review. The wheel wells are boxed in and have some detail in them. The shell ejection chutes in the lower gun tub are open but the openings for the guns are just half hearted indentations. There is a spar that fits through the fuselage that will aid in getting the wings set to the proper dihedral. Altogether there are a total of 74 gray pieces. The clear parts are thin but only moderately clear, a coat of Future should help. Both the pilot's canopy and gunners position are two part so they can be displayed in the open position. Altogether there are 9 clear parts bringing the total to 83 parts. See photos below