directorcass

O.K. so not much in the way of "build" pictures as it's well underway and well, you've seen others build this. So, I'm lighting mine as well, headlights, front amber (turn signals) lights, and dash lights. I'm using 402 LEDs for the front lights. Headlights were modified. I cut off the lens and sanded/polished the back of it so it was clear again. I then took the base and drilled up the stalk. I then drilled straight back were the lens was and met the hole in the stalk. I then fed an LED in the front and ran the wires thru the stalk. I epoxied the LED in place. Once dry I epoxied the lens back in place over the LED.

Not sure what happened to the exposure on this one though....came out green!

This started as the tiny 1/144 Poe X-Wing. I wanted something different so I used custom decals from Dannon Marsh to make this fictitious bird. The new decals were remarkable. They snuggled down and fit perfect. Size comparison with the standard 1/72 Bandai X-Wing.

Here is my feeble attempt at a Tamiya A-10 with a Monogram cockpit grafted in from 6 years ago. Again, probably not very accurate (I'm sure) but it's all I had to work with at the time! Flying over a forced perspective desert floor with scratchbuilt convoy...

Richard, That sucks about Green. I was going to get a set of his Falcon engine vents. What forum did this break on?

So, Hit or Miss, tell us how you really feel about these kits! Seriously though, great info on these kits. I would seriously consider the Monogram kit but that open canopy and open flaps really bug me. I prefer doing aircraft "in flight". That would require a lot of surgeory. What are your thoughts on the 1/32 Trumpeter kit?

Thanks. Finished pics coming soon. No problems with the kit at all. Typical Bandai quality!

Thanks Tiger331. Last question for now, who makes a decent pilot that would be appropriate for an A-10? I'll also check out your photo spread. Thanks again for the very informative response.

I started on my Bandai 1/144 Poe X-Wing this week. I had custom decals made by Dannon Marsh. They are beautiful decals. I have sets in orange, red, and blue. For this build I'm using the red set over Tamiya AS-20. I used an oil wash with Turpenoid to darken the panel lines and bring out the incredible detail in this tiny kit. The tail cap and droid strip are simply just amazing with tons of tiny engraved detail. You just can't see it in the black plastic, but throw a different color on this ship and WOW, watch it pop! Anyway, on to the pictures... Oil wash applied. After sitting overnight the excess oil was removed. Adding a bit of color with burnt umber... On to the decals! The stripes on the engine vents look wrinkled, that's because the Solvaset is still working its magic on them. They eventually laid down. I supplied my T-70 sticker to Dannon as he did not have his kit yet. The decals turned out perfect. And the fit is spot on. They conform and tighten down over tiny details with a liberal amount of Solvaset. Painting the tiny droid! Still a bit more detail painting to do tonight after the decals set up.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have looked at Google Images of each companies offering built up and to my untrained novice eye, they all look like A-10's to me. I just didn't want one that was "so far off", but that does not seem to be the case with any of the offerings. Small shape issues aside, I think I too will go with the HB kit and spring for a resin cockpit. I don't plan on spending a ton of money on aftermarket stuff as a lot of it seems to be for a parked aircraft (displayed open) and as I prefer to display "in flight". So now, who makes the better cockpit for the HB kit and is there anything else I should consider for an in flight display to add? Thanks again everyone!

I'm not an aviation modeler, I mainly do sci-fi. I do dabble in aircraft once in a while. I just did a Tamiya Wildcat last week. I would like to do an A-10. I built the Tamiya kit years ago and the Monogram kit even further back. I did some research into what is out there and it seems the Revell kit is still the most accurate, but poorest fit. From what I have read the HB and Italeri kits have shape issues. I have not been able to find out in all the reviews I've read what exactly the issues are with these kits. What exactly is misshapen? Profile off slightly, canopy all wrong, etc? I did enjoy building the Tamiya kit, but it seems it's one of the early "prototype" airframes or early production planes and thus inaccurate in many ways as to what is flying now. If I went with another Tamiya, what aftermarket stuff would I need to make it more modern? I already figure a new resin cockpit and weapons load. If Revell, does anyone make a closed canopy for it? Or is that a mod I would have to do on my own?

Or just use these. Pre-wired, pre- resistored for 9v. http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html

This is how I just did the base for my Wildcat. I mixed up some Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty and applied to the "corner" of my base. While wet I pressed n some foam foliage and poured on some ground ballast. After that had set up I applied a thick coat of watered down Micro Krystal Kleer and added static grass. I repeated that step one more time with a different shade. Oh, the runway itself is primered sandpaper with weathering done by oils. Plane positioned on base. Durham's water putty and shrubs applied. The edge is masked off with thin Tamiya tape. RR ground ballast applied. Once that had set I removed the tape. Green grass added. It's not thick grass as I wanted a more barren "tropical island" feel.

And the finished model w/base! Not to shabby for my first WWII plane!

I decided the little Wildcat needed a base. I whipped this up Saturday morning. Its a wood plaque from Hobby Lobby. I spray painted some sandpaper for the runway. This was cut and glued to the base after it was stained. I used Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty for the groundwork. While wet I pushed in some shrubs. After it was set I applied some diluted white glue and poured on some RR ballast, dumped off the excess and let that dry. I then added more diluted white glue and sprinkled on two different colors of static grass. Once that was done I turned my attention to weathering the runway. I added expansion gaps with Tulip puffy paint. The rest of the weathering was done with oils. Finally the plane had pins inserted into the bottoms of the wheels. Corresponding holes were drilled into the base and the plane was glued in place. Enjoy the pictures!

Also try http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html Lots of great stuff there too.

Thanks!

Thanks! I'm a big Godzilla fan as well. Just don't have many of the kits as they are so expensive.

Sci-fi, cars, airplanes, and yes vinyl kits! I build a little of everything if the price is right!!! Here is my completed KinGoji Godzilla. I picked up this mint in box kit at our local club meeting for $50. I'll add some type of small diorama base soon to display him on. First Godzilla kit I've done in about 15 years!

My recent acquirements.

Thanks a lot guys. I enjoyed the build and will likely pick up a few more aircraft kits soon. I know of Tamiya's quality and reputation, but what of other companies? Who out there is comparable? Mainly interested in 1/48 WWII fighters. Oh, this was also my first time weathering with oils. I did no pre-shading on this as I don't use an airbrush. All of the weathering was done with oils. Did some research on A-10's.....wow.... There's a lot out there! Would love to do another. I've built both the Tamiya and Revell kits in past years. Didn't like the open canopy on the Revell kit and the Tamiya I read is the oldest least accurate. The Hobby Boss seems to be the kit but is expensive compared to others. The Italeri A-10C seems to be the newest but was not fully updated. I wouldn't mind doing an A-10 and picking up some aftermarket resin and PE for one.....but which one????

Thanks guys! It was a fun week long build. Don't seem to have as many little fiddly decals like a modern jet has!!!

So first off, I'm mainly a sci-fi builder. This is my first WWII aircraft...ever. After spending two years working on a 3 foot Battlestar Galactica and other assorted sci-fi subjects I decided I needed a break. I picked this kit up at our local club meet a few weeks ago for $5. It's built OOB with the kit decals. Some colors may be off as I don't stock a lot of "military" type colors. I did have on hand the correct Tamiya AS-20 for the underside. It's a very popular sci-fi color right now. I also drilled out the machine guns, they were just little nubs. I replaced them with appropriate sized aluminum tube. I'm no aircraft expert by any means. I've built a few modern jets of the years but that's it. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and may look into doing a few more aircraft kits. I might even dabble in the aftermarket stuff as well. I'm going to do a small diorama base for it as well, just need the right size plaque. Let me know what you think. Couple of B&W..

Yeah, that's what I thought. Just wanted to double check. Thanks PlaStix.

I can hardly imagine that Revell is producing the FM repops. Yes, Revell is selling them, but I'm sure FM is still making them. I doubt FM sent all those solid steel dies to Revell here in the states. FM still has the dies, injecting them, bagging them, sending them to Revell here in the states, Revell is slapping them in new boxes, and then sending them to retailers. That's why the price is so stupid high on an old inaccurate kit.