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

[IGKent]

Viewed all pages.... Interesting build Giorgio. 

How will you simulate the rods of hydraulic cylinders on the landing gear?

Cheers! 

Igor. 

[giemme]

2 hours ago, bbudde said:

Coming along very nicely Giorgio

👏👍👏 and in italian style sign language:

Cheers

 For completeness sake, though, that diagram should also include the forearm and some indication on how it swings, in conjunction with the hand movement    

 

22 minutes ago, IGKent said:

Viewed all pages.... Interesting build Giorgio. 

How will you simulate the rods of hydraulic cylinders on the landing gear?

Cheers! 

Igor. 

Thank you Igor, much appreciated. As for the cylinders, I discarded at the beginning of this build the idea of replacing them with actual steel rod; I haven't decided yet if I'll just paint them with some silver laquer or use alu tape, but it's one of the things I'm hopefully going to sort during this week. 

 

Ciao

[bbudde]

2 hours ago, giemme said:

should also include the forearm and some indication on how it swings, in conjunction with the hand movement

Indeed, it surely should!

[TheBaron]

That's looking most impressive in that verdant livery now Giorgio.

[IGKent]

21 hours ago, giemme said:

As for the cylinders, I discarded at the beginning of this build the idea of replacing them with actual steel rod; I haven't decided yet if I'll just paint them with some silver laquer or use alu tape, but it's one of the things I'm hopefully going to sort during this week.

OK! Right solution Giorgio!

[giemme]

On 24/09/2018 at 21:12, TheBaron said:

That's looking most impressive in that verdant livery now Giorgio.

Thanks tony!   More verdant stuff below

 

On 25/09/2018 at 12:05, IGKent said:

OK! Right solution Giorgio!

Cheers Igor, thank you  

 

Time for the final flat coat, a mix of Windex and Italeri Flat Clear. Way too flat:

 

In real life, it's much worse than that, having that white-ish and dusty look, if you know what I mean. So I decided to go over it with a mix of Italeri Flat and Gloss Clear (50-50), this time tinned with Windex and water:

 

Better, I think. Again, in real life the difference is much more evident. Bottom side

 

I eventually removed from the sprue the two final bits for this build, to wit the retractable boarding ladder and the C-shaped bar that goes on the bottom side, right aft of the front U/C bay.

I should have really done this before  The bar is OK

 

 

but the ladder has nothing to do with the real thing

 

 

and is sitting proud of its receptacle

 

I'm strongly considering the idea of posing the corresponding door closed:

 

What do you guys think? Any opinion highly welcomed

 

Waiting to decide about that, I removed the masking from the windshield and tub, and a partial disaster happened  

 

The masking tape lifted the PE part that sits aft of the tub, removing par of the paint job too  

 

Then there was this big white debris right in the middle of the HUD glass

 

and some minor touch ups on the windshield frame painting

 

So I glued the PE part back with some CA

 

 

This of course leaves some (a lot) of touch ups to do ...

 

I was able to remove the internal debris with a pointy brush, anyway

 

That's it for the day, comments and advice welcome

 

Ciao

 

 

[keefr22]

Nearly there G, looking good - glad you managed to get that bit off the HUD glass, looked like it was in a really tricky spot!!

 

Regarding the ladder, guess it depends how much you want to get it finished - I think it will look more interesting with it open and it doesn't look too tricky to scratchbuild (easy for me to say as I won't be doing it!) but it'll obviously be easier to shut the door!

 

K

 

[giemme]

15 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Nearly there G, looking good - glad you managed to get that bit off the HUD glass, looked like it was in a really tricky spot!!

Thanks Keith   It was a tricky spot, but in the end it all came down to selecting the right brush to do the job. Once found, it took seconds to remove it  

 

15 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Regarding the ladder, guess it depends how much you want to get it finished - I think it will look more interesting with it open and it doesn't look too tricky to scratchbuild (easy for me to say as I won't be doing it!) but it'll obviously be easier to shut the door!

Scratch-building it would be fare more difficult than it seems, especially because of the steps shape. On the other hand, I think I overlooked this ladder issue; I had this in mind:

 

but after some research, it turned out earlier models had this:

 

so I think I'm definitely back to posing it open, I just need to carve out some plastic to make it fit properly inside its receptacle. Again,  

 

Ciao

[perdu]

As Keith suggests it will be fairly easy to make thinner, either by reducing the  bigness or by making a skinny replica out of slide tube sets and Evergreen

 

Looks as if you have made a good repair here Giorgio

[giemme]

9 minutes ago, perdu said:

As Keith suggests it will be fairly easy to make thinner, either by reducing the  bigness or by making a skinny replica out of slide tube sets and Evergreen

Thanks Bill   Slide tube would be good for the later version (first pic in my last post), while the kit part is almost identical to the earlier version (second pic). Since I'm reproducing an aircraft built in 1979 and still in the A version, I think I'll stick with the kit part.

 

Ciao

[corsaircorp]

Hello Giorgio !

Nice saving on your Hog ! Congrats !

I burst in laugh with the hand speaking 

I'm so used to it but I did'nt know that there was so much variations.... Great

What about the red horn on the rear view mirror and the fox tail fixed on the car antenna ???

Yes I have a lot of Italian friends !

The best is Mimmo, almost a caricature but truly a great guy !

Love it !

Sincerely.

CC 

[giemme]

59 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

Hello Giorgio !

Nice saving on your Hog ! Congrats !

Thanks CC!

59 minutes ago, corsaircorp said:

What about the red horn on the rear view mirror and the fox tail fixed on the car antenna ???

Those are typical of some very specific areas of Italy, and are often regarded as peculiar here, too 😃 

 

Ciao

[IGKent]

Great progress! 

Giorgio, carefully clean the toothpick windows of the front canopy .

 

All the best!

 

Igor.

[The Spadgent]

Nearly there Giorgio, I was a little worried when I saw that PE lifted off but you seem to have nailed it back down again. Great job getting the debris out too. At least your canopy was open. 😀

The door looks good shut, (what’s that white blob?) I tend to agree with everyone else though she will look a lot more interesting with the ladder in place.

 

All the best.

 

Johnny

[CedB]

She's looking good Giorgio - well done recovering from the mask removal  

I'm with the others - that ladder is an eye-catcher!

[perdu]

20 hours ago, giemme said:

Thanks Bill   Slide tube would be good for the later version (first pic in my last post), while the kit part is almost identical to the earlier version (second pic). Since I'm reproducing an aircraft built in 1979 and still in the A version, I think I'll stick with the kit part.

 

Ciao

I meant to point out that Plastruct do various sizes of square extruded rods, you should be able to find something in their range to base a construction on if you do not want the easy option

[giemme]

15 hours ago, IGKent said:

Great progress! 

Giorgio, carefully clean the toothpick windows of the front canopy .

 

All the best!

 

Igor.

Thanks Igor, all done   See below

 

15 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

Nearly there Giorgio, I was a little worried when I saw that PE lifted off but you seem to have nailed it back down again. Great job getting the debris out too. At least your canopy was open. 😀

The door looks good shut, (what’s that white blob?) I tend to agree with everyone else though she will look a lot more interesting with the ladder in place.

 

All the best.

 

Johnny

Cheers Johnny, thanks   The white blob is actually an unpainted spot, where I had put a blue tack blob to hold the part on the tip of a toothpick. The original plan was to pose that door open, so that side would not be visible.

3 hours ago, CedB said:

She's looking good Giorgio - well done recovering from the mask removal  

I'm with the others - that ladder is an eye-catcher!

Thanks Ced  Well, by popular demand, let there be ladder!  

 

First, I trimmed the back top part to make it fit properly inside its receptacle; then I used the brush technique to paint it with Model Master Steel Metallizer

 

 

Then I brush painted a white base coat (Lifecolor Matt White) followed by several light yellow coats (a mix of Lifecolor Matt Yellow and Matt Red). Once done, I made some scratches on the yellow paint with a toothpick and finally gloss coated it

 

 

Let it set overnight, all I need to do now is to add a dark wash.

 

Repairs done on the tub area and surroundings

 

and on the windshield. I also painted the inner frame with Lifecolor Sand Yellow, I guess it's some sort of sealant used for the double glass.

 

 

Underside handle bar (or whatever it is, anyone has any clue?) painted, weathered and glued in place

 

Tail light brush painted with Lifecolor Gloss white and Future coated

 

The gun received a Light Gull Grey dry brush, followed by a dark tempera wash and a flat clear coat

 

24 minutes ago, perdu said:

I meant to point out that Plastruct do various sizes of square extruded rods, you should be able to find something in their range to base a construction on if you do not want the easy option

Oops, just read this while typing. Got it now, I didn't know there were such square slide fit rods, thanks for the heads up  I think I'll glue the kit ladder in with just enough glue to stay in place, and maybe I'll come back to that if I can source those rods. I'm really trying to get this ready for October 6th  

 

Comments welcome, as ever

 

Happy WE everybody! 🍰

Ciao

 

[IGKent]

Like it! Excellent update!

[The Spadgent]

You’ve done a great job of that ladder and canopy tidy up. Top stuff G.

 

Johnny

 

[CedB]

Seconded on the tidy up and that ladder is looking just right  

[Spookytooth]

Well dealt with on the ladder Giemme.

She is looking damn sweet sir.

 

Simon.

[perdu]

They are all right about the ladder Giorgio, now you have tidied it up it looks 'right'

 

(Just done a search on Albion Alloys site, there is thin square section tubing of several  sizes so never despair)

[keefr22]

Nice ladder G (how many people get the chance to say that on a Friday night?!  )

 

K

[bbudde]

18 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Nice ladder G (how many people get the chance to say that on a Friday night?!  )

 

Nice ladder. Phew, just in time before going out tonight. Have I mentioned it btw: Nice ladder Looking splendid. Cheers

Edited September 28, 2018 by bbudde

[PlaStix]

Hi Giorgio. Hope you are having a good weekend so far. More excellent progress despite the PE attempting to escape! The ladder is very impressive and the whole thing just keeps getting better and better! Fantastic modelling.

Kind regards,

Stix