Good build. I have the same kit and I agree that the radial tires are awful. I just have to find whitewall tires that will fit the large factory stock wheels.
I'm glad you finished it. I find that difficult builds like these make you a better modeler. Thanks for the building tips. They will be useful when I build this kit.
I just started doing a build sheet for each project when done. I include the usual information about the build plus notes on lessons learned from new building techniques, materials and tools used that succeeded and failed.