A-10 Group build

Thanks for the comments Dice. You must have built this one before. Those main gear doors were indeed a beach!! Not so much to paint them but trying to get them to look right when installing them was hard! Boy those enlarged photos really show off the "defects"! On my future builds I think I am gonna take more pics during the build, enlarge them and try to eliminate the "defects" early on.

Finally finished-better late than never!!

Thanks again,

Chris 

Bofuf, I think your model turned-out very well, I wish my second model had look as good. You did a great job on the paint scheme which is very challenging even for an experienced modeler. You also did a hard kit, an A-10 in 1/72 scale, I know the gear door were a beach to get done.

Two thumbs-up on you're a-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog"!

Hey!! Is there anybody still here??? I finally have access to a camera to take pics of my completed A-10. I finished the build about three months ago but did not have a camera. So here goes...

Here is my Hasegawa 1:72 A-10. 

This is my second model and I think things went pretty well. I had a lot of fun building this. For my first camo paint job I think I pulled it off pretty well but it was a challenge! I hope there is a much easier way to do it. My first model (F7F Tigercat) has a glossy sea blue paint job-MUCH easier!! The decals are a bit silvered because I did not put on a heavy enough clear gloss coat. Live and learn! And something happened when I applied the flat coat. It started to flake off. I just say it is from baking in the hot sun!!!!

Chris 

Say Folks,

Sorry for not responding I just Transfered from Andrews AFB to Lackland AFB, and I haven't been able to get on line until now, and Yes I also changed aircraft too I'm no longer working KC-135's any more now I'm working on FRED's or C-5's, yes it's quite a change from the A-10's to Tankers to Super Trash Haulers but as long as I'm working on some of the USAF's great planes I'm happy

Sorry I haven't posted.  Looks great Sanman.

This is for you Dice,

Twobobs has devoted another "Hot Babe of the Week" to A-10's.  This time it is totally and completely door art.  There are some pretty cool ones, too.  It's amazing the level and quality of the artists who do those.  Too bad there model doors are so small. it's be cool to portray one of those sometime.

~R.W.

" border="0" />cket">" border="0" />" border="0" />HI GUYS

HERE IS MY FINISHED A-10 MINUS THE ANTI-SWAY BRACES,AND MIRRORS.

A FEW MONTHS AGO, I MADE THE MISTAKE OF TAKING THEM OFF THE TREE AFTER I PAINTED THEM, NOW I CAN'T FIND THEM....SO MUCH FOR PUTTING THEM IN SAFE PLACE.

THIS IS THE THIRD PLANE I BUILT. I STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GOTO ACHIVE THE QUALITY OF THE MODLES I SEE POSTED ON THE SITE. THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION I READ ON THIS SITE IS REALLY HELPING ME ALOT.

THANKS SANMAN

Thanks Dice,

          A little background on the Euro I jet.  Three have been two different squadrons at Eielson, the 343rd and the 355th.  The 343rd was there until it was disestablished in the early 90's (thanks BRAC).  That is the Euro I jet.  There are three things that date the Jet. The first two are obvious, the Euro I scheme, and the lack of LASTE, but the third this is the shield emblem on the vertical stab.  That is the old insignia for the Alaskan Air Command, which was absorbed into PACAF in the '92-'93 timeline.  A picture of this aircraft is also featured in Squadron's "A-10 Walkaround".  The Art on the nacelle is showing the location of the city that Eielson is next to: Fairbanks, Alaska, which is literally in the middle of Alaska.

         I don't know if he has it, but the current Alaskan A-10's have the word "Iceman" on the inside of the vert stab.  Something having to do with the -50 temps in the winter.  These guys have flown in Afganistan for OEF.  Wish I had more pics from the airshow, but I ran out of film before I got to the A-10. Doh!

Anyway, thought it would be neat to tell you guys about this.

~RW

Bofuf, it's hard to tell but the depth looks good to me, maybe the padding ends a little high. The seat hight looks very good to me and that's the most important issue IMHO.

RW, no worries on posting, we all have a life outside of this forum. I'm going to check-out the "babes" this afternoon....thinks for the link.

HEy guys,

     Sorry for taking so long to reply.  I have been away from the computer for a couple of days.

      Fantacmet and berserker, welcome to the build.

      Dice and Cuda,

             As always, thanks for the info.  No worries on taking a little time for the answer.  If I can take a 1 month hiatus while taking care of school, who am I to fripe if I have to wait a week for an answer while you guys do your jobs...

      To everybody else...

      Three neat things in the A-10 modeling world....

       1.Shull24.com is back online, and has been since June 9, though I only found out about it today. So, his 1/48 A-10 updates are available once again.

       2.Twobobs will be releasing 2 different A-10 sheets: The A-10s based out of Nellis and the Alaskan A-10s, which will be one of his Nats sheets.  (I wish I could go to Nats just to get a couple of copies of that sheet...)

       3.At http://www.twobobs.net/ the hot babe of the week is Eielson A-10s.  For anybody who doesn't know, the "hot babe of the week" is a pictoral devoted to a type of aircraft and it's markings.  It looks like that this week's edition has several different jets from the two squadron's based here in Alaska.  Dice, there are about three different pictures of Alaskan A-10 door art.  My apologies, I can't post a direct link to the hot babe, so you have to go to the website and click on "Hot babe of the week" on the menubar on the left, and it will take you to the pics.

       I was recently talking to a Para-Jump rescuer friend of mine who is stationed up here, and he says that the A-10 is the prefered "rescort" of the PJ's and the MH-60s when they are on a mission.  The PJ's are an Air Force Special ops unit that specializes in rescue, primarily of downed airmen, but also of people stranded and in need of rescue in remote locations, such as most of Alaska.  When they are performing the CSAR duties, they like the A-10, because it can perform attached escort, as opposed to the rest of the fighter world, which performs detached escort, because the out-run the helicopter. With the A-10, they get into trouble, they have immediate help and devastating help.  Another cool thing about the A-10.  Preferred escort of the CSAR crowd.

Thanks Guys.

~RW

Hey Dice and Cuda(or Cuda and Dice!)

Does my cockpit seem to be sitting a bit low in the fuselage? I am  SOL for this one but in the future could I have shimmed underneath the cockpit to raise it up to the bottom level of the sidewall padding? I did have a problem cementing the wheel well/bottom part of the fuselage. It dried "crooked" and may have been the cause of the lowness of the cockpit.

Chris 

RW;

Sorry was away from work on vacation, but when the 442 FW deployed to Iraq in 2003 that unit borrowed their LITENING II pods from a F-16 unit so they could get into the fight and most LITENING pods are the same the only difference is on the inside, the US Navy pods has a few different pieces of Avionic equipment in them then the USAF does

reluctant_wanderer wrote:

Hey guys,        I found a guy that makes the litening II pod in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32.  It is supposed to be for the F-16.  Dice or Cuda, Is there any difference in the ones that the A-10 uses, or are they the same? here's the link http://drpepperresins.blogspot.com/2006/11/148-litening-ii-pod.html   ~Anthony

Anthony, sorry I missed this post but I've been working a lot latley, same pod.

Thanks for the comment RW! I thought everyone knew that 1:72 = TINY! Here is a very under exposed picture of my cockpit with a quarter for reference(and a dog hair!). Sorry for the darkness of it. It is already in the fuselage so I can not retake the picture but you get the idea.

The fuselage is "finished" and I am now putting the wings together. When the wings are attached more pics will follow!!

Chris 

Since I'm building it anyway and it's barely been started, Revell 1:48 Scale A-10.  The one with the ANG from CT on the box art.  Not sure which scheme or markings I will do though.  I would like to find something rather interesting, but not overly complicated.  I don't want to do any hardline masking on the fuselage.  So any idea's on scheme would be welcome.

Michael

Hey guys,

       I found a guy that makes the litening II pod in 1/72, 1/48, and 1/32.  It is supposed to be for the F-16.  Dice or Cuda, Is there any difference in the ones that the A-10 uses, or are they the same?

here's the link

http://drpepperresins.blogspot.com/2006/11/148-litening-ii-pod.html

~Anthony

Hey Chris,

        Looking good.  Man, that's looks great.  I know that 1/72 is small, and difficult to detail, and yours looks great!  If you could , next, put a coin into the photo, so we have a reference to how small that cockpit really is.

Hopefully, I will have pics of my build.

Later

R.W.

Thanks for the comment Dice.

Here is an updated picture of my cockpit.

I added the sensor probes by the headrest and added the seatbelts. The belts are kind of lame but for my second model and the first I have added detail to I think it looks OK(for now!).

Does anyone make a set of generic PE seatbelts for stuff like this?

Chris 

Hi all

I did notice not much activity here for a while, so this should liven things up. I finally was able to start my Hasegawa 1:72 A-10 Thunderbolt. Since the mods do not want to have a "Criticism Forum" how about this idea. Please tell me how I could have done this differently/better...but do not make it sound like criticism, you do not want to hurt  my feelings!

Here is the cockpit:

The seat cushions are really olive drab. It is odd that they turned out brownish. 

Chris 

Hey Guys!

       I owe everybody an apology.  I should have been posting, seeing how everybody was doing.  After all,I am the one that started this build, and got it going.  But, I am still here.  Thanks for the concern. I was really busy for the last couple of months with school, and I was working on another build, but now I am free to build my A-10.  Bofuf should be posting the results of his build.  I think that this build was put in the back burners for a while, but now it sounds like that is it coming back to life.  I can't wait to see everybody's planes. 

         As for my build, I have been rearranging my apartment, so I lost the wings on my A-10, other than that I am behind on my own GB.  I finally decided to do the experimental "dolphin" finish for my A-10.  I have the 1/32 Twobobs sheet for color reference, and some dry-transfer stencils.  I still plan on using the TD cockpit.  I will post picks as I get the cockpit done, and my jet starts coming together.  Now the real fun begins...

How is everybody else doing?

After several months absence, I've resurfaced! I switched jobs back in April, and for awhile it looked like we might be moving, so all the hobby stuff got packed up!

But now we're staying put, and I've gotten settled, so after staying packed away for a month or so, the A-10 came out for an hour this past weekend! I'm looking forward to continuing with the build!

Charlie

Nice job Scratchbuild, looking good for a new guy. The thing that really jumps out at me on that kits (without doing a kit review) is the fact they included both the ALR-46 and the "Bug-eyes" of the ALR 69 system. I guess that's good so you can build the correct model for the aircraft you want to represent but that is one thing you will have to watch and take care of for an accurate model.

BTW my A-10 walk-around page is back up to help you guys know what should and shouldn't be on the A-10 you're modeling.....

http://www.warthogpen.com/a-10_walk_around.html

Hey Scratchbuilt!

      Welcome to the build, a pleasure to have you aboard. I am the Reluctant Wanderer.  That's the new Italeri kit, eh? It is looking good.  I look forward to seeing more as the build progresses. Thanks for joining.

~R.W.

OK here are a couple of pics of the work done so far. I was going to leave it the grey colour I painted it in these pics, I was going to heavily weather it and dullcote it at the end.

But now I have changed my mind, I am going to fix a few mistakes like the 'bug eye' positions at the rear. Then do a tri-colour camo pattern, gray , dark green and light green. The grey that on there will be the base of the camo pattern. I will lose the few decals I have put on there, oh well. I have used the 1:48 italeri kit (A-10 thunderbolt II). I thought the kit was pretty good and went together well, but the cockpit lets it down. The ejection seat is OK but the instruments are just decals you put on a flat surface, and pretty crude decals at that. I might try scratchbuilding some panels to put in there, there is plenty of room to do so, and I am quite happy with how its coming along, so I would like to get it looking a bit better in there.

I will be painting things like the inside areas of the engines last. I find it easier to mask up and paint those areas after building. I have a friend who paints everything he can before assembly and I am the exact opposite. Anyway here are some pics, pretty boring as its just plain gray at the moment.

PS I know part of the HUD support is broken, I will repair that later. It's very fragile and If I fix it now it will most likely end up coming of again due to handling

scratchbuilt wrote:

...Anyway, I can post a couple of pics of my progress on the A-10 and you can see how wrong I am getting it ;)

I don't see why not, I for one would like to see your work