Jabba Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 This will be my entry into this GB with the Hobbyboss N/AW A-10 as if it had entered service as the A-10B. A little on the background story. The USAF had decided to take up Fairchild's offer of a Night Attack Two Seat version of the A-10A in the Mid 80s calling it the A-10B. It was thought that the Warsaw Pact would have had by now some form of night vision for its fighting forces, so a night version of the tank busting A-10 would be required. Originally the canopy was to be a hinged clamshell affair, but with rising costs the two separate side opening canopies were preferred. It was decided that each Tactical Fighter Wing the operated the A-10A would have 1 Sqn that would operate the B version. This was however slightly different with the 81st TFW which operated 6 Sqns so it was decided that 2 of these Sqns would operate that B version of the aircraft. In the late 80s with the RF-4Cs of the 10th TRW at Alconbury moved back the USA, it was decided that the B versions from the 81st TFW should move into this space and become the 10th TFW. This model will be of an A-10B of 509 Sqn of the 10 TFW which had been deployed to Saudi Arabia as part of the forces that took part in Op Desert Storm. I will try and modify the rear cockpit a little so that it is in some way similar to the F-15E, and add some of the pods that are associated with that aircraft when I find them. The markings will come from a Xtradecal sheet and I will find some nose art from somewhere to adorn it. The Kit. Inside the box. The sprues. The instructions and kit decals. The Xtradecal sheet. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Nice on Jabba, I have this kit in the stash and am still to decide what I will do with it. I was thinking a RAAF FAC jet. Will be watching what to do with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 I have actually done some work on this project starting with the wings and other parts. I do have some of the cockpit painted up but I think that I am changing my mind as regards the front cockpit in that I will scrape off the detail on the instrument panel that is there. I have already done this on the rear instrument panel and have ordered some etch bits (I did think that I already had some but no) for both cockpits so that they will both be looking similar in that way that they have been built up. The ailerons and flaps in the wings are not glued as yet, I just wish the Hobbyboss had done this in the first place. I will continue building the engines and other parts and then tape all to the fuselage so I can determine the amount of weight to stick in the nose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 I've got this in the stash too. No reason why other than I like the look of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 These arrived in the post today. I will be using the A-10A set for the front cockpit and the F-18D for the rear one as there are many individual CRT parts in the set so that I can make up the Instrument and side panels to suit. A question, would the rear seater also have a set of controls (Stick and Throttles) in there? The reason I ask because am sure that I have seen somewhere that F-4s had this, but I am not sure of later two seat attack aircraft such as the F-15E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 With the arrival of the etch brass I have now built up both cockpits so that I am satisfied with what I have done. In the rear cockpit I have also added two control sticks on either side wall panels which were taken from control column stick tops. I have also adjusted the rear IP shroud so that the lumps on top of it have been removed and the area filled so that this top area is now smooth. I do not have a before/after picture but I have shown the instructions which shows the part that I am talking about. On another note I made up the gun, which the kit has you building the whole gun and ammunition drum. Having not got these parts quite correct I did a trial fit of this assembly showing where it should fit. Having seen how much space this took up and how much would be seen after the fuselages have been put together I decided on some different action. I decided to cut the gun tubes just after a small attaching frame is fitted to the gun and this now looks a bit better. It also means that I can now fit more weight into the fuselage when I get around to this. The front cockpit. The rear cockpit Rear IP shroud The part (B5) as it should be on the instructions. How the gun looks now. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 Nice work with the cockpits Jabba Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 I have fitted the cockpits to one of the fuselages, and also calculated the weight required to stop it sitting on its tail and placed that under these cockpits where the ammo drum would have fitted. I have glued the fuselage halves together, but left the refuelling panel off just incase my calculations are slightly wrong. I just hope that the nose U/C does not collapse with the weight in there. The panel surrounding the front of the gun is not glued yet, just placed there whilst the fuselage was drying. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 All together now filled and mainly sanded. I still have a bit of this to do, but not that much now. I have been giving a bit of thought into how the back seater gets into the aircraft. On the prototype (the only one flown) there was only one set of steps, which is much like the single seat aircraft, but I am not sure how he would have got into his seat as there seems to be no kick in steps leading to this cockpit. I am thinking of there being another telescopic ladder that comes down roughly in line with the rear cockpit similar to that of a Phantom or Eagle, mainly as this side of the aircraft has the ammo can under the skin, so it would not have a door like the front set. There would also be a couple of kick in steps to aid getting fully into the cockpit. Anyone else have any ideas? I know that people will say that this is your model, but I am also looking for some sort of realism with the model. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 I have recently added a few more parts to this model after completing sanding it down. These include the front windscreen, middle part of the canopy and all the pylons that I require. I have covered the cockpit area so that I can apply some primer a bit later on. I do have a question that hopefully someone maybe able to give me an answer to. I am going to fit both the AN/AAQ-13 Navigation and AN/AAQ-14 Targeting pods on the fuselage pylons, but I am wondering if I fit the Penny Pave pod will this interfere with either of the two pods? I am not sure so this is why I am asking. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 Now with the lighter green painted. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 Now with the Darker Green added. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 28, 2018 Author Share Posted March 28, 2018 And finally the Dark Grey. I now have a few touch ups to carry out and then on with the gloss varnish. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted March 30, 2018 Share Posted March 30, 2018 That's looking great! Re your question about the Pave Penny pod, I'm no expert but if you have the full LANTIRN fit I wouldn't have thought Pave Penny would be fitted as well. As I say, I'm no expert but AN/AAQ-14 provides greater capability (I think) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted March 30, 2018 Author Share Posted March 30, 2018 Thanks for the info, anything is better than nothing. I was thinking along those lines but I was a little unsure so I will not fit the Pave Penny just the mounting pylon at a later date, unless anyone else says something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Started to apply the decals last night, in that I got the tail marking put on. The stripe for the tail is a little long so I will trim that at a later date. I have also started to assemble the weaponry to go with the model. I know that there are 2 ECM pods, but I am unsure as to which was the more correct one used at time of the Gulf War. I have a ALQ-119 (long one) and a ALQ-161 (short one). If anyone does know which one is more correct I would be very grateful for the info. Also a new decal sheet arrived through the post today. It is a sheet for A-10As that were in the Gulf War and beyond from the ANG Sqns by Speedhunter decals. I have got this for some nose/door art, plus the stencilling and such like which is much better than the kit stuff. I will be keeping the rest of the sheet for a single seat project in the years to come. Tail markings. Weaponry. New decal sheet. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 No shortage of decals then! I'm looking forward to seeing them in place. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 The main problem is deciding what nose/door art to use that will be sort of appropriate and not mention anything to do with the actual Sqns on the sheet, but I think I know roughly which ones I want for this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 All decals have now been added, which was great fun trying to find the stencils within the decal sheet. I do wish that American decal makers would put them in a separate section so that they are easier to get at rather than cramming everything onto the sheet. I have also started to paint the weapons, but have now realised from these pictures that the wheel bays need painting among other things that are needed to be done. Still I do think that I am on track to get this one finished before that deadline. A close up of the nose art used. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 Looking nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Its coming on very nicely so it is 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 Weapons load all painted and decals applied. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 One of those "What Ifs" that looks right; whilst it might not be your next project it would be interesting to see it parked next to a single seat A-10A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 Catch up done and it's impressive. Why they didn't go for the two seater probably comes down to money I imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 On 4/29/2018 at 6:40 PM, Pete in Lincs said: Catch up done and it's impressive. Why they didn't go for the two seater probably comes down to money I imagine. I did find out about this somewhere, but I cannot find it at the moment but I will find the answer. I have now added the U/C and started to add some of the weapons. I was surprised how gangly the A-10 is when on its U/C. I have also added the U/C doors but had to remove a smaller door from each main U/C to add the bigger rear ones. I will add these in the near future. I have painted the ejection seats but need a bit more doing to them before fitting. Hopefully this should be finished by the end of next week. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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