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


giemme

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Slightly OT (forgive me Giorgio) but a question for the hognoscenti (groan).

 

Is this kit a better bet than the Academy 1/72 one? I have the Major (then Captain) Campbell boxing of the Academy kit in the stash, and had vaguely thought about giving it a shot during the 10th anniversary group build, but if it's no good it might fall back to the bottom of the pile.

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On 1/10/2018 at 10:40 AM, giemme said:

 

76th TFS A-10A No. 1

 

 

BTW, does anybody know where to find more pics of this specific airframe? This one seems to be the only one showing up on Internet.

A

 

I can't help with that particular airframe, but they were all very standard markings  ... excepting the Crew Chief art on the inside of the step doors. For example, here's one from the 23rd Tactical Wing, 76th Tactical Fighter Squadron Vanguards at England Air Force Base back in 1982: :whistle:

 

m5pEVyU.jpg

(Yes, the nose gear door needs correction)

 

Gene K

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2 hours ago, andyf117 said:

Disproves my assumption that the interiors would be white, as depicted on my model!

Detail & Scale Vol.19, page 40, bottom right photo - 79-166 of the TAWC parked on the Eglin AFB ramp with a yellow cover over the unoccupied ACES II seat.....

 

Just found this - lots of links to A-10 stuff here:

http://warthognews.blogspot.co.uk/

Excellent stuff Andy, thank you very much! :thumbsup: Duly bookmarked. Thanks also for the heads up on the book :thumbsup2: 

21 minutes ago, Gene K said:

 

I can't help with that particular airframe, but they were all very standard markings  ... excepting the Crew Chief art on the inside of the step doors. For example, here's one from the 23rd Tactical Wing, 76th Tactical Fighter Squadron Vanguards at England Air Force Base back in 1982: :whistle:

 

 

Gene K

I think I know the pilot of that aircraft ... :D :D 

 

Ciao

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59 minutes ago, rob85 said:

I like the look of this one giemme, I have a soft spot for this brute!

 

Rob

Cheers Rob, great to hear from you :thumbsup:  Glad to have you on board, mate :)

 

Ciao

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On 1/13/2018 at 7:26 AM, giemme said:

 Is [speed brakes open] a possible configuration for a parked aircraft?

 

I've dug through the Dash One (Flight Manual), and can't find engineering logic confirming or denying that the speed brakes can stay open without electrical or hydraulic power. However, the cockpit check before starting engines has the  pilot place the speed brake switch in the position to match the airplane ... same with the flaps. Having said that, I don't ever recall seeing the speed brakes open on a parked Hog (but then,  the memory cells are not as bright as they once were).

 

To avoid any possible "mis-configuration", why not place a pilot in the cockpit and a crew chief alongside the airplane, simulating after start checks? In that "pose" you could put any control surface into any position you want - the speed brakes, the flaps, the slats, the ailerons, rudders, elevators ... . :phew:

 

If you decide to open the speed brakes, here's a diagram showing the full open position (there are no preset positions, so you can pose them at any angle).

 

Rlxs7RO.jpg

 

Gene K

Edited by Gene K
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6 hours ago, Gene K said:

I've dug through the Dash One (Flight Manual),

:) Great insight (as usual; I had no doubt you'd come up with useful info :wink:  )

 

6 hours ago, Gene K said:

To avoid any possible "mis-configuration", why not place a pilot in the cockpit and a crew chief alongside the airplane, simulating after start checks? In that "pose" you could put any control surface into any position you want - the speed brakes, the flaps, the slats, the ailerons, rudders, elevators ... . :phew:

I shall ponder that; any hint by anybody who knows about suitable USAF pilot and crew chief figures during the first Gulf War would be greatly appreciated.

 

This solution would partially hide the nice detail of the resin cockpit and would require a base (not exactly the house specialty at Giemme productions), but might be worth it.

 

It raises a couple (three, actually) of further questions , though:

 

- would the boarding ladder be deployed or at rest, with its door closed?

- is it possible that the avionics bay is open during this phase? I only ask because the kit has the open bay as an option

- @philbrad posted this link http://www.2951clss-gulfwar.com/piwigo/index.php?/category/1 in which you can see the airplane I'm modelling being repaired after battle damage. In one of the pics (this http://www.2951clss-gulfwar.com/piwigo/upload/2016/06/18/20160618060210-b099a498.jpg), it looks as though the inside surface of the tail planes, where the elevators are hinged, is painted a sort of yellow. The kit instructions call for the same color for the avionics bay; would it be the same for the inside of the wings, which gets visible once the ailerons split? And what about the ailerons "interior" surface?

 

TIA

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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3 hours ago, giemme said:

I shall ponder that; any hint by anybody who knows about suitable USAF pilot and crew chief figures during the first Gulf War would be greatly appreciated.

Modern Hobbies has very nice pilot figures, but I haven't seen any ground crew on their site. I think Airfix have a 1980's -ish ground crew set.

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9 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Modern Hobbies has very nice pilot figures,

:doh: Of course they have, I bought that very same set in may 2016, for an upcoming (well, sort of :) ) project involving an F-14 ... I'm getting old ... :chair:

 

Thanks a lot for the heads up, Cookie :thumbsup:  

 

Since we are here, how about a Monday Progress Report? :wink: 

 

Time to make that tub fit into the fuselage; I removed the pouring block (took the easy way out, Dremel-ing most of it) and refined the bottom surface using a sanding block and a chisel

dav

 

Before proceeding, though, I measured the gap remaining between the fuselage halves when inserting the resin tub as is: it was a good 1.3mm. The fuselage side walls are at best 1.2mm in the thicker spots, which means I had to reduce their thickness down to a maximum of 0.35mm; very thin, and making that area very fragile. So I thought I'd better first cut out the kit coaming and fix that without risking to break the front fuselage off ...

 

I cleaned up the resin IP (sorry for the blurred pic)

dav

 

These were the parts to be removed

dav

 

and here's a preliminary dry fit, before starting to remove the excess plastic form the sidewalls. The IP was glued to the tub with a dollop or two of PVA, for the sole purpose of test fitting the whole assembly while going.

dav

 

After much scraping/filing/sanding (mainly on the kit plastic, but also on the resin tub, to some extent), I got here

dav

 

dav

 

dav

 

A quick dry fit of the windshield showed a small gap port side

dav

 

while starboard was Ok-ish

dav

 

So to fix that, I added a plastic sheet cutout (0.2mm thickness) glued in with Tamiya Green Cap and filled with CA

dav

 

:hmmm:  Looks like there's someone on the background of that pic that is going to join the workbench, at some point ... :D

 

After refining

dav

 

dav

 

At this point, I washed all the resin parts in warm soapy water and let them aside to dry; since I felt like fettling ( :chair: ) I started working on the nose, to accommodate the Master GAU-8 gun.

Here's the starting point

dav

 

Using various drill bits and my scraping gizmo ...

dav

 

... and a round file, I got here

dav

 

Test fit

dav

 

dav

 

I then test fitted the nose to the rest of the fuselage: this is going to need some fairing in/gap correction ... :frantic:

dav

 

dav

 

More fettling: I started gluing the PE bit to the cockpit tub. Ruder pedals

dav

 

and these two things right behind the seat, port side, which I bent around a toothpick to obtain the rounded shape (all PE parts glued in with CA)

dav

 

Seat removed from pouring block and test fitted

dav

 

The resin canopy opening mechanism is kind of fiddly ... 

dav

 

dav

 

It's made of two parts that are supposed to hinge to each other, and you need to put a rod underneath the front one to keep them in the open position, so I did do a dryfit to try and determine the length of that rod. Fiddly, as I said, but I'll come back to that (also with some pics to explain better) in due course.

 

Meanwhile, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

 

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Great start there Giemme.

Thinning the walls of the fuselage out to accommodate the tub would scare the "Brown stuff"  out of me.

Good fit though, and the cannon end looks well smart.

 

Maybe a bust to be painted?

 

Simon.

 

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Thanks Simon :thumbsup:

 

42 minutes ago, Spookytooth said:

Thinning the walls of the fuselage out to accommodate the tub would scare the "Brown stuff"  out of me.

You just need to take your time and don't rush it  - and keep dry fitting to check where you are

 

43 minutes ago, Spookytooth said:

Maybe a bust to be painted?

Full figure, actually - 75mm scale ... :ninja::D 

 

Ciao

 

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It always gives me a sense of satisfaction when I get a resin tub ( especially Aires ) to fit in the fuselage it's intended for. That looks pretty good to me, and I'm sure you have other embellishments planned. :clap:

 

Cheers 

 

John

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1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

It always gives me a sense of satisfaction when I get a resin tub ( especially Aires ) to fit in the fuselage it's intended for. That looks pretty good to me, and I'm sure you have other embellishments planned. :clap:

 

Cheers 

 

John

Thanks John :thumbsup:  Satisfaction and relief, in some way :phew:  :D  As for the rest, I have ideas coming up as I go, will see ... :wink:

 

Ciao

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50 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Love that gun from Master - that's going to make a big difference.

 

Me too. That'll be a focal point!!

 

Giorgio, you inspired me to look at 1/72 A-10 detail sets, and I came across these :

 

https://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/A-10-1-72-1.html

 

- what are your thoughts, in particular the cockpit set vice Aires? 

 

The weapons set is certainly in my future, and the cockpit set and all the extras are extremely enticing.

 

Gene K

Edited by Gene K
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58 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Love that gun from Master - that's going to make a big difference. Good job fitting the cockpit.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill :thumbsup:  I agree, the master gun is a huge improvement over the kit part. I'm also thinking of some scratch built improvement for the fairing - will see.

 

9 minutes ago, Gene K said:

 

Me too. That'll be a focal point!!

 

Giorgio, you inspired me to look at 1/72 A-10 detail sets, and I came across these :

 

https://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/A-10-1-72-1.html

 

- what are your thoughts, in particular the cockpit set vice Aires? 

 

The weapons set is certainly in my future, and the cockpit set and all the extras are extremely enticing.

 

Gene K

Thanks for suggesting to get that Master set in the first place :thumbsup: 

 

As for Eduard detail sets:

judging from those pics, all the PE details are extremely interesting (look for instance at the inside of the ailerons); however, I think I still prefer the resin cockpit for three reasons:

 

- the resin seat looks much better than the plastic + PE rendition

- I very much prefer the resin IP + clear acetate+ PE solution rather than PE printed gauges; it looks more realistic to me

- the pre-printed colors on PE aren't matching any actual color, so they will require additional paint job

 

Having said that, Eduard cockpit set is still excellent stuff, and would highly improve the look of the kit

 

Ciao

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