OK so I'm going to rant..... Tamiya the god of plastic kits can't even get this right... All of these kits that the3 manufacture just can't help themselves but to put an engine in need to come up with instructions to bypass the engine if you don't want to display it... The fu#4ing cowlings never seem to fit if you don't want to display it open. Tamiya has all kinds of gimmicky magnates and pins to hold it closed and from what I can see, they won't work in the first place. I know I'm a second rate model builder but that's the way I see it. trying to close this damn cowling (Closed) has taken more pressure and bondo work then ever it should. I broken off three (luckily so far) of the exhaust shrouds, found two, so I'll have to steal from my other kit,(nice to have two setting around just for this reason though pricey).
The way I figure after all this fun, is if you take the framing that the cowling attaches to and you work the cowling onto it and take the prop attachment (forget the engine) and it attaches to the frame, you can bypass the whole engine build sequence and save a lot of headache.
otherwise be prepared
ended up useing card strip to fill the gap as there was no amount of pressure gonna make it happen. ....
The joys of these more detailed larger scales. It's good to have a rant, helps clear the air, calm the nerves and set the scene for the next stage. Having said all that, you did well.
Totally agree with you about having an option to not use the engine. I remen̈ber scratch building bulkheads so I could leave the engine out of a ICM Spit