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


giemme

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17 hours ago, Sting67 said:

They have not a perfectly tight fit. But I find that the margin of fitting is still acceptable. Still a bit of room to move the fans around a bit. It's always a bit difficult to show it on pics well. At least to my view they are good enough. I bought enough of these Intakes for all five kits (4 Italeri, 1 Hasegawa) I have. At the moment I'm fighting with more serious problems of the kit.

Thanks Ramon 👍🏻 ; if they just float around, it shouldn't be too difficult to sort out. I'm going to tackle them tonight, so will see. 

What about more serious problems of the kit?

 

12 hours ago, TheBaron said:

Most impressed with your work on that leg Giorgio - that's bound to make this really stand out in the final pose! 🍏

Hopefully so, Tony. Thanks :thumbsup:

 

Ciao

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Just now, giemme said:

Thanks Ramon 👍🏻 ; if they just float around, it shouldn't be too difficult to sort out. I'm going to tackle them tonight, so will see. 

What about more serious problems of the kit?

Giorgio,

my goal is to go to the limit with superdetailing and correcting the kit. I have many years of modelling experience (since child) but I always built the kits out of the box. Then I started with subtle detailing of kits. And now I am trying to do the very tricky and hard things, everything that is possible. I always get stuck because I need solutions for very small problems.

 

Here a few:

The cockpit IP coaming(?) has very tiny ventilation openings. First attempt to drill them failed. Need to find a better method.

The engines, you don't see much of the interior of the nacelles, but there's a gap I want to remove with a very thin piece of sheet styrene properly cut (which is a challenge). There are probes(?) that come out at the bottom of each engine nacelle, very tiny. They look like a hypodermic needle. Same for the rear section of the belly. With the difference that this is larger. I'm trying to replicate everything and I'm trying to find the right material for these tiny pieces. The needles, even the smallest Insuline needles are too thick. The wall is too thick and I think it is quite difficult to bring them in the right shape.

The front gear well wall has something that I have read are weights to balance the aircraft well in the air. (Little squares with holes). Those of the kit look all the same but the real aircraft has them in different lenghts and widths. That's what I'm trying with styrene strips. First attempt to drill the tiny holes failed. That's mostly because I can't perfectly see where the drill goes because of the white styrene. Next I will try to paint them in a dark matt to see everything better. I have an Aires detail set with the front gear well included, but these weights are missing and some ribs(?) from the interior are (so I find) too weakly represented. Also this will be corrected with cut sheet styrene.

 

These are some of the current problems I'm fighting with. Sounds a bit crazy to some and the way I plan the project seems that it all never comes to an end. But my goal is a very eyecatching model.

 

Ah, yes, I forgot to mention. Another problem:

My Hog will be fully armed to the teeth. I have beautiful Maverick missiles. Good enough to leave them as they are, but the seeker head is in a milky transparency. I'm trying to copy these seeker heads (or lenses). They need to be thin and clear, because I will try to also build a seeker for day attacks. (The hog used at least two different types of Mavericks). The way it is I can only build the Infra Red seeker version. :D

 

Ciao

Ramon

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You set yourself for a very challenging task, Ramon :frantic:

 

9 minutes ago, Sting67 said:

but the seeker head is in a milky transparency. I'm trying to copy these seeker heads (or lenses). They need to be thin and clear, because I will try to also build a seeker for day attacks. (The hog used at least two different types of Mavericks). The way it is I can only build the Infra Red seeker version. :D

Plounge molding using clear PET is what comes to mind - you should get pretty good results out of it.


Ciao

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4 hours ago, giemme said:

Plounge molding using clear PET is what comes to mind - you should get pretty good results out of it.


Ciao

Thanks Giorgio. I had a try with these technique already, but it seems that I have to improve the way I did it, as the results were close but still not convincing enough.

 

Another tricky and tiny thing I want to fix is that I have resin wheels for the Hog. When you remove them from the casting block and file that area of the tire smooth, at the same time you loose all details of the tire lines there. Most will say, it doeasn't matter, as the kit stands on that filed area and you can't see a thing. Nevertheless, I try to rescribe the lost lines, which is very difficult. Here, all the tapes or templates don't help. Besides, once you have found a good technique to cleanly scribe tire lines, it will also be helpful on kit wheels you want to improve where no replacement is available. All this is getting very very deep into detail :D

 

Ramon

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Giorgio,

here I have a quick solution to tighten the fit of the Intakes. I just took simple Kabuki tape that I wrapped around the area of attention and now there's no more room for the piece to move in one direction. This was a quick example. I suggest cutting a stripe of sheet styrene and glue it to the area. By trying you'll find the best thickness.

41952127682_ebca012bcc_o.jpgk-P1110708 by Ramon Gomez, auf Flickr

 

On this pic you see the result of the fan in place. What seems to leave a noticeable gap is not as serious as it might seem. When you press the fan piece into place, the gap will almost disappear. It's just a simple dry fit.

41952125842_8f4fd22c25_o.jpgk-P1110711 by Ramon Gomez, auf Flickr

 

Ramon

Edited by Sting67
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Thanks Ramon, I was thinking along the same line. I had already used this system previously in other builds, kabuki tape is very helpful when you need to add very precise shims to your assemblies :thumbsup:

 

Ciao

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On 5/3/2018 at 12:16 AM, CedB said:

can't wait to see it after it's had the 'full Giemme treatment' :)

Yes, this is shaping up to be another masterpiece, with each tiny detail in its right place; i.e. the "full Giemme treatment".

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14 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

Yes, this is shaping up to be another masterpiece, with each tiny detail in its right place; i.e. the "full Giemme treatment".

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cookie :thumbsup: There's still plenty of chances for cock-ups, of course, but I'm not rushing this 😉

 

12 hours ago, TheBaron said:

 

Trattamento completo Giemme ? 😸

Perfect translation, Tony :clap: Have you been having Italian classes? 😃

 

A quick update after a couple of hours modelling last night. First off, I'm almost done with the nose wheel strut: I added the relevant part of piping/cabling

dav

 

The thinner wires come from an old headset, while the others are from a data connection cable

dav

 

Some TET was applied by fine tipped brush to remove plastic debris and smooth out the inner surface of the lamps

dav

 

Now I only need to put the actuator arm back on, which I will do with the strut dry fit in place in the nose gear bay, to set the correct angle

 

I also removed the resin intakes from their pouring block, cleaned up and dry fit them:

dav

 

dav

 

Not a bad fit at all. As Ramon @Sting67 anticipated, they kinda float around - here they're held in place by some blue tack I put on the inner side. Now I have to complete the tidying up of the nacelles, then I can fit them in place - although I've been thinking of painting the blades and the spinner cover before gluing the intakes in, for ease of masking :hmmm:

 

Comments welcome

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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5 hours ago, CedB said:

Very nice Giorgio, the leg and nacelles look great :)

Thanks Ced, much appreciated :thumbsup:

 

4 hours ago, Silenoz said:

Nice build, just been reading the whole text from start till now... superb work...

Thanks Silenoz, glad you like it - welcome on board :thumbsup:

 

3 hours ago, Azgaron said:

Nice work with the wires on the gear! :)

 

Håkan

 

Thanks Håkan :thumbsup:

46 minutes ago, Courageous said:

'Trigger's broom' looks excellent and will look even better when all painted up.

Good thing I didn't need to change anything for 17 or even 14 times  ... :rofl::rofl2: 

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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On 10/05/2018 at 14:43, Spookytooth said:

All is looking great Giemme.

The nose wheel leg is fab, and the new intakes look a lot better to.

Typical fit but just a small job.

 

Simon and Lady Rose.

 

Thank you guys! :thumbsup:

 

A bit of a progress during the WE, so here's a quick update:

 

completing the nose wheel strut, I dry fit it in position to glue the actuator arm in the correct position

dav

 

So there it is

dav

 

Similarly, I glued the small brackets that link the back door cover to the wheel strut

dav

 

dav

 

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I tried do to as much paintwork as possible on the intakes before mating them with the nacelles, so after a quick masking I airbrushed AK Interactive Extreme Metal Steel on the bare resin

dav

 

This will have to cure before I mask for the spinner cone (and possibly inside surfaces) painting. Meanwhile, I almost completed the tidying up on the nacelles

dav

 

dav

 

Filing, sanding and some PPP used for the task. The side seams required a lot of sanding so I had to reinstate the panel opening thingies, copying them from the ones on the bottom

dav

 

and placing the masking tape in position as a guide for scribing

dav

 

After a few attempts, I had this

dav

 

and this

dav

 

The latter needs reworking, but since I had already run some TET in the scribed lines, I'll have to wait for it to completely cure. Next modelling session, then 😉

 

Comments welcome

 

Ciao

 

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2 hours ago, Azgaron said:

Nice work rescribing! :)

 

Håkan

 

Thanks H! :thumbsup:

 

1 hour ago, gota said:

Nice job on the tiny nacelles opening latches, I simply gave up on them after breaking the seam twice while trying to scribe them :)

Thanks gota :thumbsup: I'm not too happy with stbd side, though - I can foresee filling and rescribing :banghead:

40 minutes ago, Spookytooth said:

Nice work Giemme.

Scribing on a curved surface is not the easiest of tasks.

Nose wheel leg looks spot on.

Good luck with the masking of the compressor blades.

 

Simon.

Thanks Simon 👍🏻 I did use some Tamiya Tape for Curves to help me out in scribing - I still needed a few attempts, though, and as I mentioned above, I'll have to redo stbd side.

As for masking the blades, I do have an idea, will see ...  :whistle: 😉

 

Ciao

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Nice steady progress again Giorgio, she's coming along nicely!

 

You could have used the masking tape to cut a scribing template out of some of your yoghurt pot plastic - might have made the job a little easier?

 

Keith

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6 minutes ago, keefr22 said:

Nice steady progress again Giorgio, she's coming along nicely!

 

You could have used the masking tape to cut a scribing template out of some of your yoghurt pot plastic - might have made the job a little easier?

 

Keith

Thanks Keith :thumbsup:

 

 I'd have normally done as you say, but I just wanted to try scribing a more complex shape (outer profile and inner latch) in one go. Well, it really wasn't one go, so the method needs perfectioning, obviously :chair: I think I'll revert to something more traditional to fix stbd side :whistle:

 

Ciao

Edited by giemme
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On 15/05/2018 at 09:16, Christer A said:

That nose gear is a work of art Giemme!

Interesting scribing technique, I'll have to try that.

Thanks Christer :thumbsup: 

 

Hi everybody, WE progress report airing now! 😄

 

I filled in and re-scribed starboard side latch:

 

dav

 

Then it was time to take care of the intakes: masking the inside, using masks cut out of Oramask 810 film - I cut them using my compass cutter, and after a few attempts:

dav

 

I then airbrushed their inner side with Lifecolor FS34092:

dav

 

I wanted to spray a thicker mix, to avoid paint leaks, so this time I thinned it with Windex. This allowed to keep the paint thicker without clogging my airbrush.

Here after masks removal

dav

 

The paint flakes you see on the right intake are all my fault, because I scratched it off while trying to remove the mask with tweezers :chair: 

Anyway, I tried to touch them up by brush, and to my delight I found out that AK Interactive Extreme Metal self levels beautifully even by brush:

 

 

dav

 

I used an old fine tipped brush for the job, going very sparingly with the amount of paint I loaded on it. Pretty happy with that! 

 

I then brushed a light gull grey filter on the compressor blades, added a black tempera wash, sealed with Italeri Flat Clear and glued in place the intakes (CA glue and kabuki tape shims to help centering, as Ramon @Sting67 mentioned earlier in the thread)

 

dav

 

The fit wasn't bad viewed from this side

dav

 

while the opposite side needed some TLC

dav

 

So after some filing and subsequent filling with PPP, I was ready for a final dry fit

dav

 

No tail sitting :phew:

 

So I glued the engines assembly in place with TET

dav

 

and some tidying up was needed here too:

dav

 

Apart form the obvious glue blob near the front part of the assembly ( :chair: ), that gap needed to be filled, while the seam at the back had to go. At the same time, the panel lines running parallel to the nacelles are incorrect (and the same goes for the two lines on the tail section departing from said seam); I should have really thought of that before gluing the engines - some people never learn .... :(

 

So I had to add some protections before proceeding with filing/sanding and all

dav

 

dav

 

And here's the end result, including the correct panel lines (I ran a black tempera wash in them to make them stand out a bit more)

dav

 

Now I just need to do some masking and then it's going to be primer time! :yahoo:  :yahoo:

 

Although, I still have to figure how to hold the model while priming ... with jets, I normally use some sort of supporting rod to be inserted where the exhaust(s) are to be located, but here they're already in place.

Any ideas?

 

Comments welcome, as ever

 

Ciao

 

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11 minutes ago, giemme said:

Any ideas?

 

Only one I have is what I usually do and fix the landing gear firmly in place (which I think you have?) then spray the undersides and put the model down (carefully!) on my Tamiya painting turntable to spray the uppersides - using a turntable means you don't need to touch the model. 

 

Another good weekends work G, the intakes look great & it certainly is looking like a Hog now! 

 

K

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