1/48 Monogram A-10 Warthog

by Aaron C. Rhodes

--------------------

 

Well, here it is. After more than a month of hard work, my A-10 is now 99% complete.  All that is left now is a set of intake covers to hide the gaping hole where the turbine blades should have gone.  I tried to fit the new blades included in the Flightpath A-10 set, but lost one of the cones to the Carpet God, never to be seen again.  My Hog represents a LASTE A-10 from Osan AB, Korea.  I used Twobobs Assam Draggins decals.  Other after-market parts used were the Legend A-10 cockpit set (very highly recommended by the way, literally a drop-in replacement for the kit pit) bits and pieces from the Flightpath set, including the DRA, Mavericks and rails from the Hasegawa weapons set, as well as the AN/ALQ-184, CBU-87/89/97 Cluster Bombs, and A-10 update set from Shawn Hull.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

Construction began with the Legend cockpit, which was a real jewel to make. The detail on the instrument panel and side consoles was excellent, and after a coat of dark ghost gray, was very easy to dry-brush. The ACES II seat is awesome in the set as well, and really helps bring some interest into the office of this Hog.

Next came the worst part of this kit, causing me to think about several pre-mature flights into the wall. I cemented the two fuselage halves together, and began to sand down the seams. Before I knew it, I had sanded the vast majority of raised detail off of my aircraft. It was then that I decided to do the impossible...re-scribe the entire kit. I had never done this, but used the tools and tips section both here and in the forums as a guide. I took out a sewing needle, Dyamo tape, and my pin-vise, and went to work. All scribing was done with the aid of my MK-1 eyeball, using the Two bobs instruction sheet as a guide, so these are not 100% accurate, but I think they look okay, especially for it being my first attempt at re-scribing anything.

From there on out the model went together with few problems. The Shawn Hull sets were all gems, and very easy to build up and install. I am very grateful for the update set with all of the LASTE bumps, as this saved me a lot of time and effort in scratch-building. For the single Mavericks, I used the missiles included in the Hasegawa weapons set, because I thought that they looked a little better than the kit-provided ones. To represent the LAU-117 single-launch rails, I took one of the triple launchers, cut a rail off, and sanded the top smooth, giving the front a slight curve. Again, maybe not 100% accurate, but good enough for me.

Paint was Xtracrylics dark and light Compass Gray. I had some problems with the paint peeling away when I masked over it using both Tamiya and Scotch Blue tape, but I think this may have been caused by not letting it dry long enough. These paints went on well with my simple Testors airbrush, and I plan to use them again in the future.

Decals were from Twobobs, their new Assam Draggins sheet.  This is the first time that the Draggins have been presented in decal form, and let me tell you, Bob did it right.  The decals went on beautifully, with the aid of micro-sol and -set, even the two-piece decals for the tails.  Had a little trouble with the inside ones, as there is a square bump on them, but with a little trimming, and lots of solution, even these laid down pretty well.  All in all, this kit was a pleasure to build. I look forward to building a few more in the future.  Thank you for looking at my model, and good luck with all of your future projects.  Questions, comments, and constructive criticism welcome. I am strikeeagle801 on the forums here.   

Aaron

Photos and text © by Aaron C. Rhodes