Has anyone built the AMT 1/48 A-10 Thunderbolt II Action scene kit ?

Sorry but I hear its a real dog. The best is Monogram and then Tamiya and then yours. But dont feel bad, there ALL terrible kits.

I used a Legends Cockpit and Eduard PE. to give it some life.

Pity, I bought this kit 7 years ago but I have never felt like making it. I guess I may hold off another 7 years...

Hi,
Thanks Jeff...you have really cheered me up..lol.
I could not find any reviews of this kit on the net..so just took a chance.
If anyone knows what problems I am likely to come accross..and possible solutions...please post..by the way Jeff...nice A-10 you built there.
Cheers
Ian

imaguigan;
well sorry to burst the bubble but the AMT A-10 is the old ESCI's A-10 and there are some major problems with the kits first off it has raised panel lines, no cockpit detail, and the weapons look more like toys then accual weapons, but the upside is that the kit comes with the GAU-8 gun (but that too needs work), I hate to say this but with the money you handed out for that kit you could have gotten the Revell/Monograms A-10 kit (which is the best in this scale for now{hopefully Tamiya or Hasegawa will release one in the near future) and with some extra toots, bells & whisles,
I've built just about all of the A-10 kits in 1/48 scale and like I said before the Revellograms is the best and gives you more bang for your bucks

Oops! Sorry Ian, but as I suspected, you've bought the lower order kit... Everyone says that the Monogram kit is the best, and if that's the case, the others must be truly awful, as I've got that one, and it is HARD WORK.

My Monogram Hog suffers from typical 70s molding. GREAT BIG gaps in seams, innapropriate placement of seams (in the middle of the flaps on the wing undersides, for example), raised detail, and a few inaccuracies - mainly that the engine fans are too close to the front of the nacelles. I found this out just after spending hours filling & sanding them to remove the great big step between the fans parts & the nacelle outer. To say that I was gutted is the understatement of the week!

btw - I have the Flightpath update set, which you might be interested in, as it includes a weapons load out in resin PE and white metal. It also includes some nice details that you might be able to adapt. You could possibly be throwing good money after bad though. I'd probably re-eBay it & buy a Monogram kit instead.

I've got the spare fans from the Flightpath update for the Monogram kit if you're interested - I just couldn't face wrecking the kit parts after spending so much time on them. You might be able to stuff them into your AMT kit, provided you decide to keep it.

QUOTE: Originally posted by mikeiw Oops! Sorry Ian, but as I suspected, you've bought the lower order kit... Everyone says that the Monogram kit is the best, and if that's the case, the others must be truly awful, as I've got that one, and it is HARD WORK.

I've built this kit as well, and I agree that it was truely horrendous. I shudder to think what the others are like if this is the best one.

I just wish there was a decent A-10 on the market.

At $8, I would use it as a test kit for new paints and methods and buy a nicer A-10 kit.

Hi,
In the words of Marvin ' I am feeling rather depressed'
Ok...we all buy duff kits once in a while...but hay...I will give the kit a go !
I will get a decent cockpit set...Black Box or the Verlinden update set and see what it turns out like.
I have never been...nor will be a 'rivet counter'..raised panel lines..so what..as long as it looks good to me at the end.
99.9999 % of all kits built are for personal satisfaction....and that's what it is all about.

Ian,
I have the exact kit you are working on, and yeah, it's one of the more clunky kits I have ever tried to assemble. There is tons of flash covering all my parts -- so clean-up will be a bear. The gun muzzle looks like crap, and I'm not even a rivet counter. About the only underwing stores that look decent are the 500 lb bombs, and even the fins on those look a little over-scale to me. Raised panel lines don't bother me, so that's not much of an issue (you'll most likely end up just sanding them down from all the shaping!) The fit of the wings to the fuselage is very tricky -- make sure you get them level.

QUOTE: Originally posted by imaguigan Ok...we all buy duff kits once in a while...but hay...I will give the kit a go !

Great attitude to have! I plan on using this kit as a practice before I buy the Monogram kit.

Overall, however, I think the best part of the kit we have is all the 1/48 ground crew and equipment it comes with. All that stuff cleans up real nice, and is worth the cost of the kit alone.

There you have it. There's positive things to be said about even the worst of kits.

I suspect though, that after finishing this A-10 kit you might not have the stomach to tackle another A-10 kit for a while. Especially if you're like me & can't resist picking up the scribe whenever you see a raised panel line!

Kits on my re-scribing list: 1/72nd Matchbox Victor, 2 x 1/48 Monogram B-24s, Italieri 1/48 AC-130U.

I'm sure there's more to that list, but I can't remember just now.