Jonners Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 Fairly pleased with how this is turning out: The airframe won't get touched now until next week, which should give the enamel paint more than enough time to cure properly before I give it a polish with Micromesh. Now, about those markings for a UK-based machine... Jon 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 24, 2018 Author Share Posted April 24, 2018 (edited) Righto, two-week hiatus and busman's holiday completed, so at last I've been able to sneak in some modelling time. I applied a gloss (ish) coat with my airbrush, then set to with the decals. Although I had intended to finish the model as a UK-based aircraft I haven't been able to find any suitable decals. I know which sheets have been printed in the past, but they aren't currently available. Rather than leave the model sitting unfinished while I continued to hunt for UK markings, and risk the inevitable interest failure, I decided to crack on and use the kit decals. I would have preferred a plain finish without the fancy badges and sharkmouth but hey, this is partly a nostalgia build anyway. The 'gloss' finish wasn't perfectly smooth and I've finally emptied my precious bottle of Micro-Sol, so I applied the kit decals onto drops of Johnson's Klear. They have conformed quite well - especially the sharkmouth, considering the nose contours, although the port side decal tore across the middle - but I don't think that I've managed to avoid the dreaded silvering despite my efforts. I'll have to see what horrors appear when the matt coat goes on. Meanwhile, lurking in the wings courtesy of a visit to the superb Porthmadog model shop during my busman's holiday, is this little gem to remind me of youthful 1980's skygazing: More airbrushing practice, and probably a small amount of aftermarket bits & pieces too. Meanwhile, on with the A-10 (and domestic jobs, and work...). Jon Edited April 24, 2018 by Jonners 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 D'oh! Guess what I forgot to do: Schoolboy error. Stupid boy. Curses. Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 Ooops, that is why i mostly build tailsitters... But this hog looks tha thing Cheers, Jan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 (edited) Matt coat applied, and unfortunately many of the old kit decals - especially the black markings - have silvered as I suspected they might. Curses again. With the canopy masking removed, however, it's starting to look more like a nearly-finished model: Jon Edited April 25, 2018 by Jonners 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted April 25, 2018 Share Posted April 25, 2018 One of the most tailsittingest airframes around!⚠ Got any depleted Uranium wheel chocks around? Anything you do now is going to be pretty invasive, other than a clear sprue prop at the back. Any where up front where you can drill a hole and feed nails in? ... that can be patched up invisibly.? Other than that , she's looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 25, 2018 Author Share Posted April 25, 2018 1 hour ago, rob Lyttle said: Got any depleted Uranium wheel chocks around? Very good Rob, very good...! I was intending to put it on a baseboard anyway, so it looks like a strong case for pins into holes drilled into the wheels. Still mentally kicking myself! Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 26, 2018 Author Share Posted April 26, 2018 Finally standing on its own three feet...with a bit of assistance: I'm no figure painter, but here's 'Hank the Yank' almost completed, stand fast a bit of matt varnish: Jon 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 Slow progress - aerials, gear doors and cockpit ladder added. I've just spotted that the ladder on the real aircraft has a tubular vertical section, whereas the kit's representation is of square section: Not something that I'm going to get excited about, mind you. As for deciding to use the kit decals instead of waiting to hunt down UK-based markings as I had originally intended, I really didn't think it through. I was prepping the green AN/ALQ-131 ECM pod for stencil decals when I realised that it would be entirely inappropriate for an early-80s England AFB machine. So, I pulled out an old ALQ-119 pod and experimentally dosed it with chemical paintstripper that works wonders on classic car bits. That's because classic cars aren't made of polystyrene, as I realised when I saw how the plastic part had melted. Curses yet again. As a last resort I've found something in the spares box that is supposed to be an ALQ-119 pod and was originally from an Italeri F-4G kit. I'll see what it looks like once it's painted up, but I'm not holding my breath. Nearly there. I'm also going to have to get on with a suitable base for it, if only to hold the nosewheel down! Jon 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted April 28, 2018 Author Share Posted April 28, 2018 You know what they say about checking your references: Preferably do this before committing to decalling, and especially varnishing over the decals. Unless, of course, you've suddenly started doing your modelling with all the patience of a butterfly-minded schoolboy. Like I seem to have done. I carefully (and naively) followed Hasegawa's instructions and put the 23rd TFW badge directly over the national insignia...about 3 feet forward of where it should be. The black 'text box' below the windscreen is also a foot or so aft of its correct position. Yup - curses!! Mind you, it proves that a green Maverick dummy round and drill AIM-9s, which I have in the spares box, would be a legitimate load. Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Those photo references.... pain in the neck, aren't they?!? I'm starting to think we're better off not looking😂 She's looking fine. Mean and hard.... and very fine. There was a great photo came to light last week. The Pilot Captain of the 737 that suffered a fan blade failure and brought the flight safely down.... She'd done her time in the USAF flying A10s. The photo of her taking off her helmet in front of her Thunderbolt was doing the rounds in the press. I don't want to appear in any way sexist or to trivialise such a brilliant Pilot and flying career but boy, she looked good! I'm just saying.....! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Possibly Apocryphal Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) On 4/29/2018 at 5:50 AM, Jonners said: Slow progress - aerials, gear doors and cockpit ladder added. I've just spotted that the ladder on the real aircraft has a tubular vertical section, whereas the kit's representation is of square section: There were actually three different ladders used. The one on your fancy Hasegawa kit (I'm currently building the Matchbox one , which, since it depcts the prototype, has no ladder at all ) was fitted to most A-10s during production. The tubular ladder was fitted to the last production machines (I don't know how many), but was then retrofitted to earlier aircraft. So, depending on the period, it may actually be the correct ladder. Edited May 1, 2018 by Possibly Apocryphal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 5 hours ago, Possibly Apocryphal said: depending on the period, it may actually be the correct ladder. Okay, thanks PA. That's very helpful. As you can probably tell, I haven't indulged in my usual level of research on this one. Most unusual for me! A quick check of the cutaway in the relevant issue (15) of the good old 'Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aircraft' - which I've had since my parents started buying for me in the early 1980's and probably influenced my career choice more than I realise - clearly shows a square-section ladder. I must try harder next time! Great effort on the Matchbox kit, by the way; I'm following it with interest. 8 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: She's looking fine. Mean and hard....and very fine. Thanks Rob, that's very generous. Not sure I've had a model described as "mean and hard" before... 9 hours ago, rob Lyttle said: I don't want to appear in any way sexist or to trivialise such a brilliant Pilot and flying career but boy, she looked good! ...Whereas most pilots just spend their careers trying to look good... 😉 Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 Once again life, other DIY projects and work have conspired to keep me from the modelling desk for most of the last fortnight, but that's how it goes. In spite of that, I've plugged away here and there and I'm finally calling this finished...before I get thoroughly bored with it! I had intended to fettle some old Hasegawa Maverick missiles, but that didn't quite work. Frankly I hate modelling things that hang under wings as I seem to be incapable of making them look like anything other than badly painted lumps of plastic, and so it was with the Mavericks. In the end I settled for a pair of passable-ish Sidewinders and an ALQ-119 pod. Less is more, etc. After all, far too many A-10 builds end up (IMHO) festooned with totally unrealistic weapon loads! These quick pics were taken under my desk light but, at the first suitable opportunity, I'll try to take some better ones in natural light: Homemade base with a hardstanding printed from an internet free download. It won't win any competitions (not that it will ever be entered in any!), and it has its fair share of flaws, but I'm fairly pleased with the result. My stated aim at the the start of this thread was to produce a passable paint finish after many years of airbrush hibernation, and I think I'm getting there. As I said, l'll hopefully be able to take some outdoor daylight pictures soon (rain forecast for tomorrow, which is less than ideal as I'll be taking one of my other hobbies to a classic car meet) so I can post a halfway-decent RFI. Jon 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Nice work! Looking good! A-10 is a pretty cool plane! Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Some outdoor photos taken quickly and in bright sunshine - apologies, once again I'm a bit rushed, today is fairly cloudless (seriously! It does happen sometimes in the UK...) and I'm no photographer. I might try to do something better before I create a RFI post. Anyway, excuses over. Here goes: Jon 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Nice pics! Looks great! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janneman36 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 I love your build Jon, i think you nailed it 😎 Cheers, Jan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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