It's a HOG! 1/72 Italeri A-10A Thunderbolt II - Completed! Pg.32

[Sting67]

2 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

The cockpit looks great Giorgio!

 

I've been meaning to invest in these decals for some time now, the actual tail codes are probably too big for your needs, but the serials may come in handy.

I also think that these decals are very useful for future projects. I think the size will fit (I hope). I have their stripes and edges for Aircraft Ground Equipment.

[giemme]

12 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

Oh, the woe of decals!!!

Such a subject could run for years....LOL.

 

Nice work on the office Giemme, looking sweet, as per norm.

 

 

Simon.

 

Thanks Simon   Speaking of decals, I forgot to mention that, selecting 79-0186 as the subject to model, probably the decal showing the pilot and crew's names is incorrect - point is ,I have no idea of the real ones....  

11 hours ago, Sting67 said:

I also think that these decals are very useful for future projects. I think the size will fit (I hope). I have their stripes and edges for Aircraft Ground Equipment.

Thanks Ramon, I will check tonight but I think the 6" letters were a standard size, so they should fit properly along the correct part of the serial (unless Italeri got the size wrong, of course  )

 

Ciao

[TheBaron]

There.

Seven pages of modelling bliss all caught up with now Giorgio.

The rhythm and visual detail of your postings makes them an absolute joy to read, despite having to pause periodically to bellow at my children to get into the shower and get ready for bed.

Good luck with this gunslinger - disgracefully late I may be but here now for the duration! 

Tony

[giemme]

Thanks Tony, glad to have you along for the ride

 

Oh, and I fully sympathize with you about the "get the children to bed" task (it doesn't get much better as they grow up - say when they are in their teens, for instance ... )

 

Ciao

[Brandy]

I somehow managed to miss out on the last couple of pages. Now caught up, and worth the time it was too!

I would tend to agree with Ramon on the numbering, it makes perfect sense.

 

Ian

[giemme]

4 hours ago, limeypilot said:

I somehow managed to miss out on the last couple of pages. Now caught up, and worth the time it was too!

I would tend to agree with Ramon on the numbering, it makes perfect sense.

 

Ian

Cheers Ian, thank you   Yes, I think the numbering issue is settled, now I just need to keep on with the build  

 

Ciao

[keefr22]

10 hours ago, giemme said:

Oh, and I fully sympathize with you about the "get the children to bed" task (it doesn't get much better as they grow up - say when they are in their teens, for instance ..

 

And once they finally go to bed, try getting them up in the morning....!! 

 

K

 

[giemme]

3 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

And once they finally go to bed, try getting them up in the morning....!! 

I have mixed experiences about that: three girls, the three of them all different from one another. The eldest being a sort of Marine or Navy Seal type (physically speaking too), gets up very early without any trouble; the middle one could just sleep forever, but at least when she finally wakes up, you don't need to "push" her any further; the youngest (turning 9 next May) is definitely the toughest to deal with: she would not only refuse to get out of bed, but when done would keep complaining about everything for at least half an hour ...    

 

Ciao

[Biggles87]

So, you are well and truly outnumbered.

 

John

[giemme]

2 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

So, you are well and truly outnumbered.

You bet I am! With the occasional addition of my mother in law, who anyway developed the healthy habit of leaving the house when I come home ...

 

Ciao

Edited February 7, 2018 by giemme

[CedB]

Another very late catchup from me Giorgio but great stuff going on here - that cockpit is amazing!

I do like the Warthog... not my era but... I may be tempted!

[giemme]

57 minutes ago, CedB said:

Another very late catchup from me Giorgio but great stuff going on here - that cockpit is amazing!

I do like the Warthog... not my era but... I may be tempted!

Great to have you  on board, Ced!  I know, my production in 1/72 is limited to jets, while for WWII aircraft I prefer to scale up to 1/48 - but who knows, maybe one day I'll tackle a Stuka in 1/72 ...

 

Ciao

[Gene K]

On 2/1/2018 at 12:05 PM, Cookenbacher said:

...  in the USAF, the fin stripe colors correspond to each squadron within the wing.

 

I've missed a lot of posts, so am catching up.

 

Yes, during the time frame we're discussing, the 23rd Tactical Fighter Wing at England Air Force Base had three squadrons -- the 74th Flying Tigers (blue), the 75th  Tiger Sharks (black and white checks), and the 76th Vanguards (red). Only the 74th and 76th went to the Gulf.

 

  ... have no clue where the "lizard" art on the decal sheet comes from ...  

 

From the very cool 163FS Blacksnakes :

 

 

...  I think is a detonation cord.

 

 

As Boom175 pointed out, that's a "lightning diverter strip". I've never seen one, but my experience is earlier than the airplane you're modelling. However,  my  Desert Storm library, as well as the  page to which Sting76 linked, have many canopy shots, and none have that strip ... as he already pointed out. 

 

Giorgio, you've really added a lot of beautiful detail since my last visit, and I especially admire your cockpit and canopy work -- SIMPLY OUTSTANDING.

 

Gene K

 

 

 

 

 

[rob Lyttle]

20 minutes ago, Gene K said:

From the very cool 163FS Blacksnakes :

 

Dam that's cool!

That's mean before it even starts shootin.......!

Have you got this décor on your sheet,??

[Gene K]

1 hour ago, rob Lyttle said:

Have you got this décor on your sheet,??

 

It's on the sheet Giorgio has in his kit: 

 

 

Gene K

[jefropas]

The old A-10's used to have the lightning diverter strip where Boom175 stated, but in the updated C models like the picture above, it's also a part of the helmet telemetry for the new Scorpion helmet queing system. The F-16's have em as well...Project looks great!

 

Jeff

[giemme]

2 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

Have you got this décor on your sheet,??

Yep, as Gene says, it's option C on the decal sheet. 

However, in my earlier post I was referring to the green lizard in option A, which is supposed to be inside the boarding ladder door; I haven't seen it in any of the 23TFW pics I have, so I have no idea where it comes from.

On the other hand, I saw two different versions of the ladder door art for 79-0186: one as "box seat over the hell", but no shark mouth on the nose

 

and the other one is this

 

The door art is not really visible here, but if you zoom in, it doesn't seem to have anything in common with the photo above.  

 

3 hours ago, Gene K said:

As Boom175 pointed out, that's a "lightning diverter strip". I've never seen one, but my experience is earlier than the airplane you're modelling. However,  my  Desert Storm library, as well as the  page to which Sting76 linked, have many canopy shots, and none have that strip ... as he already pointed out. 

Definitely, so no lightning diverter strip on this one. 

 

3 hours ago, Gene K said:

Giorgio, you've really added a lot of beautiful detail since my last visit, and I especially admire your cockpit and canopy work -- SIMPLY OUTSTANDING.

Cheers Gene, thank you  There's more to be added, both from the Aires PE fret and form scratch, but I'm getting there  

 

36 minutes ago, jefropas said:

The old A-10's used to have the lightning diverter strip where Boom175 stated, but in the updated C models like the picture above, it's also a part of the helmet telemetry for the new Scorpion helmet queing system. The F-16's have em as well...Project looks great!

 

Jeff

Thanks Jeff  

 

Ciao

[rob Lyttle]

32 minutes ago, giemme said:

, it's option C on the decal sheet. 

.... can't persuade you to do op.C then...?!

 

I thought the Tusky Hog design was good, but THIS.... is the A10 nose-art for me!😃

[giemme]

57 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

.... can't persuade you to do op.C then...?!

 

I thought the Tusky Hog design was good, but THIS.... is the A10 nose-art for me!😃

Thing is that option C is an A-10C , while the resin cockpit I have is for an A-10A - so this is definitely going to be A-10A 79-0186  

 

Although I agree option C is very cool

 

Ciao

Edited February 10, 2018 by giemme

[Biggles87]

11 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

.... can't persuade you to do op.C then...?!

 

I thought the Tusky Hog design was good, but THIS.... is the A10 nose-art for me!😃

 

Me too if it's available in 1/48. I have the Hobby Boss kit.

 

John

[giemme]

 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

 

Me too if it's available in 1/48. I have the Hobby Boss kit.

 

John

Italeri has this boxing

http://tinyurl.com/yau6v4jj

 

Don't know if buying the whole box only to get the decals is worth it, though...

 

Ciao

[Sting67]

1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

 

Me too if it's available in 1/48. I have the Hobby Boss kit.

 

John

There are two decal sheets with 'EL' Desert Storm Hogs.

1. This one from Superscale probably is not available anymore, or at least it could be hard to find.

2. This one from Speed Hunter Graphics is brand new and should be available. Among many other very very interesting subjects, a Desert Storm unit from England AFB is on the sheet. (A-10A 80-0163, 76th TFS, 23rd TFW, Desert Storm 1991).

I still hope that they will launch that decal sheet in 1/72 also. I want to build some OIR aircraft in the future.

 

Ramon

[Sting67]

On 10.2.2018 at 21:36, giemme said:

On the other hand, I saw two different versions of the ladder door art for 79-0186: one as "box seat over the hell", but no shark mouth on the nose

 

and the other one is this

 

The door art is not really visible here, but if you zoom in, it doesn't seem to have anything in common with the photo above.  

I noticed something. The black & white picture above belongs to aircraft 77-0186 "The Warrior/The Box Seat" NOT to 79-0186.

The pic has simply been put in the wrong line by mistake.

 

Ramon

Edited February 11, 2018 by Sting67

[giemme]

19 hours ago, Sting67 said:

I noticed something. The black & white picture above belongs to aircraft 77-0186 "The Warrior/The Box Seat" NOT to 79-0186.

The pic has simply been put in the wrong line by mistake.

Ah, I see what you mean, thanks Ramon   For who's interested, at this page, if you scroll down to the bottom, you will see there's a 77-0186 belonging to 23rd TASS/602nd TACW, with a very clear pic of that "door art".

 

And now that I look at it better, if you magnify the second pic, you can probably spot something like a green lizard, just like the one on Italeri decal sheet; so the only real problem now with them decals is related to pilot and crew names, which are for sure not the ones Italeri supplies.

 

How about an update?

 

More work detailing the front U/C bay

 

copper wire, 1.1mm brass pipe and a copper pipe coming form those things you put on one end of an electrical wire, to allow for screw-in connections (I'm sure there's and English word for that, I just don't know it ...  )

Oh, and some alu tape, of course  

 

A quick dryfit with the tub in place, to make sure there are no intererences

 

 

While in place, I used a fine tipped brush to mark in black the position of the ribbing on the inner side of starboard fuselage half

 

I then scribed some reference lines and used them to glue in some styrene strips

 

trimmed to shape and size

 

I tried to replicate the bay door actuator

 

then a bit of masking, to avoid spraying primer and paint on the mating surfaces

 

 

Primer on (Vallejo Grey Primner thinned with Future, as usual)

 

 

I sprayed a couple of very thin coats, as I'm going to airbrush the whole bay black, before panting it with the correct color

 

Canopy and winshield airbrushed with a mix of Italeri Flat Black and Lifecolor Dark Gull Gey, thinned with Future, inside

 

and out

 

rear view mirrors brush painted silver

 

I then glued in the printed acetate for the two windshield gauges

 

adding some Dark Gull Grey drybrush to the framing.

Same for the canopy

removing the masking form inside the clear parts showed that I need another black coat on the outer surface, but also that there has been paint creeping underneath the masking tape. I removed it with a toothpick for the inner surface and brushed on a thin Aqua Gloss coat - I'll have to do the same for the outer part, when the time comes ...  

That's it for the day, comments welcome as ever.

 

Ciao

Edited February 12, 2018 by giemme

[Sting67]

Giorgio, again a very good step forward and very good progress pictures.

 

By the way: It shouldn't be a big issue to replicate the mission markings. You have a small but clear view of the right side of the aircraft. It's just a question to magnify the picture and try the best in interpreting the number of stars. You can take the tiny red vehicle symbols (tanks, trucks, SAM Sites etc.) from the Italeri decal sheet. Maybe you have to change the order of the symbols. To replicate the red mission stars (the England AFB squadrons used red stars) you just paint very very tiny red dots next to the vehicle symbols. On my decal sheet these stars are so tiny that you can't see that they are stars. Besides, several aircraft had many mission markings very blurry, probably because they were painted on the aircraft very quickly in between the reloading and refueling process. Maybe the template wasn't held close enough to the aircraft fuselage while spraying the symbols. If you google "A-10A John Marks" you will find a good close-up picture of these mission markings.

 

The only tricky thing will be how to get the information or a pic of the pilot names. If we can find that information somewhere, it will be easy to create the square with the pilot names and build a custom decal.

 

Ramon