1/48 Tamiya A-10

[RMP2]

In October 1978 the 81st TFW began to receive the first A-10s in to be based in Europe. Over the next two years the twin RAF bases of Woodbridge and Bentwaters were to end up with a grand total of six squadrons comprising of 108 A-10s.

 

The aircraft arrived in a paint scheme that had been finalised after much experimentation with differing versions of grey schemes, this scheme consisting of grey shades referred to as MASK-10A. These colours were not assigned FSN numbers but were identified by the percentage of light that they reflected, with the final, production MASK-10A scheme being 30% and 50% greys with a Gunship Grey false canopy painted on the underside of the forward fuselage.

In late 1979 the more familar Lizard camouflage began to phase in after the JAWS trials had shown that the A-10s were very visible to the attending aggressor aircraft. More experiments were carried out with schemes before the Lizard camo was settled upon.

 

All this was discovered after finding a random image on Google that looked different to the any of the camo patterns or colours that I knew so well. I reckoned it looked rather attractive, so have had a pop at it and think it is somewhere near close.

The paint was renowned for fading and appearing different shades under different lights and even altitude, so getting a good match wasnt necessarily all that important, the subtle shades of the fading however was something I wanted to capture - I just hope my camera has captured what I attempted! Anyway, thats the whys and what fors, heres the Hawg:

 

Kit: Tamiya 1/48 A-10A (later boxing)

Decals: Some from the kit, more from a Caracal sheet of lovely Cartograf printed bits

Paints: Humbrol enamels (165 & 166 in several shades for the main colours), Halfords clear coats, some chalk dust for weathering.

Extras: Eduard PE for cockpit and a few external bits n bobs,

Eduard PE RBF tags,
Aires Resin ACES II ejection seat,

Kinetic AGM-65 Maverick missiles & rails,

Hasegawa ALQ-119 ECM pod,

Hasegawa Mk20 Rockeye cluster bombs,

Hasegawa Ground Crew Set - Fire Extinguisher,

Skunk Models Bomb Trolley,

Scratch built FOD covers. (masking tape inlets and tissue paper & PVA glue for exhausts).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tempted to redo the photos in decent daylight as the subtle fading hasnt come across much at all here. But... Its raining and dull outside, so these will have to do for now.

 

Im rather pleased with it, hope you guys like it.

 

Hey.... I finished something!!!!!

 

Just spotted the excited RBF tag, nevermind, it was a bit breezy....

 

[eng]

Very nice, like the engine covers, are these home-made?

 

Eng

[RMP2]

48 minutes ago, eng said:

Very nice, like the engine covers, are these home-made?

 

Eng

 

Cheers. Its not such a bad kit if you dont care much for wheel bays. Cockpit PE is recommended though as is a decent seat.

 

There are home made, yes. Masking tape for the fronts, tissue paper and PVA over tinfoil for the rears.

[exdraken]

Turned out very nice! 

Thanks for the history lesson as well! 108! A-10s alone in the UK!

[RMP2]

Just now, exdraken said:

Turned out very nice! 

Thanks for the history lesson as well! 108! A-10s alone in the UK!

 

Cheers! It could be better, but thats the whole point of building another kit.

 

Yes, I had to double check I read that 108 correctly. I took the info from World Air Power Journal and theyre normally right. Does seem like an awful lot of A-10s though.

[29Triplex]

An Outstanding build as usual !

A great looking 'Hog'   

[F-32]

Like it, very smart

[RMP2]

Cheers guys.

Now I really must finish the Frogfoot to place alongside it.