1/48 - Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II by Academy - released

[Porkbits]

Hm. Nothing available here in the States from the online shops I usually buy from (Sprue Bros, Scale Hobbyist, etc). Guess not quite here yet.

[ttyng0904]

One shop in Japan estimates it will be around 29th of January. Not so longer in other countries?

[madcat911]

Got my copy before the new year. Part of my last purchases of 2022. In Singapore by the way. 
 

Mark

[ESzczesniak]

In stock (minus 2) at Spruebrothers!

[Porkbits]

56 minutes ago, ESzczesniak said:

In stock (minus 2) at Spruebrothers!

 

Thanks for heads up! Ordered.

 

Now to track down that aftermarket stuff. Because.....it's a new tool kit. Or something.

[jackroadkill]

19 hours ago, ESzczesniak said:

In stock (minus 2) at Spruebrothers!

 

Superb!  Hopefully it will arrive here in the UK shortly.  Decals are waiting and paint is on the horizon.

[Bozothenutter]

Still awaiting the GWH one....

[ESzczesniak]

I just got my 2 kits from SprueBrothers this morning. This appears to be very nice!  They made excellent use of slide molding to mold the fuselage with raised rivets.  Not only are they truly raised 360 degrees around the part, they also won't be obliterated sanding seems smooth from fuselage joints. 

 

The molding is crisp and delicate.  The details appears good. I have just started the first couple of steps (nose gear bay and cockpit).  So far the build experience is on par to Tamiya's F-14, F-4, and F-35.  Tamiya is a little cleaner with "idiot proofing" parts fit...in other words the part can fit one and only one way.  But with a little attention, the Academy A-10C is fitting together beautifully. 

 

The nose gear detail appears on par with the F-35 weapons and gear bay details.  Tamiya is a step ahead helping the modeler know what color to pain fine details (pipe fittings, junction boxes, etc) that really make the end result pop. But the detail is largely there on the Academy.  The cockpit has finely raised details that I expect would paint up well if treated like a resin detail pit.  They also have finely printed decals for the panels and I'm going to give those a try...I think they're going to look very nice.

 

I am a little apprehensive about the forward-aft fuselage joint, but if it fits like a lot of the other parts that fear is likely unfounded.  And I am a little dumbfounded that the intake trunk depth really does appear off.  I don't have any particular plans to absolutely confirm this dimension is in error, but I agree with the posts I've seen.  That's the intent of kit #2, planning to use aftermarket as they become available.  Kit #1 is planned OOB so I can finally build an A-10 after putting the Hobby Boss back in the box after multiple short bursts of enthusiasm.

 

Now I am going to need at least one A-10A from Academy when they do it for the Indiana ANG D-Day anniversary bird...

Edited February 4 by ESzczesniak

[ttyng0904]

1 hour ago, ESzczesniak said:

The nose gear detail appears on par with the F-35 weapons and gear bay details.  Tamiya is a step ahead helping the modeler know what color to pain fine details (pipe fittings, junction boxes, etc) that really make the end result pop. But the detail is largely there on the Academy.  The cockpit has finely raised details that I expect would paint up well if treated like a resin detail pit.  They also have finely printed decals for the panels and I'm going to give those a try...I think they're going to look very nice.

Agreed. I test fitted front section yesterday and felt like this(I haven't experienced recent Tamiya, though). Parts are made to hold/interlock each other and with little care, they make themselves into one solid object with clean surface.

[Scooby]

On 2/2/2023 at 12:34 PM, Bozothenutter said:

Still awaiting the GWH one....

Me too, it’s taking forever!

[Porkbits]

Thanks for reviews! Really looking forward to building it (should arrive next week, I also ordered the Phase Hangar replacement inlet/fan replacement set). 

 

In any event, Academy has really stepped up their game--the AH-1Z Viper was a great kit--so Warthog should be good, too. 👍

[Fullofit]

1 hour ago, Scooby said:

Me too, it’s taking forever!

I know, perfecting all those details takes time. Be patient. It’ll be worth it.

[jaydecker]

A modeler came up with a less pricey OOB solution (3:24) to the intake trunk issue. He cut off the rear ring shape of the engine fan blade part (D38) by using a razor saw. Then, he attached the ring shape part to the front of D38 to create extra depth for the intake trunk. Though the additional depth is not enough, the modified air intake looks better to me than the original kit assembly. 

Edited February 6 by jaydecker

[ttyng0904]

Academy seems to  forget about write about landing gear doors in kit instructions. Hopefully they release erratta pdf.

[ttyng0904]

7 minutes ago, ttyng0904 said:

Academy seems to  forget about write about landing gear doors in kit instructions. Hopefully they release erratta pdf.

Sorry, they just provided extra parts for closed doors😳 

[Homebee]

Released

https://www.academy.co.kr/board/free/read.html?no=313&board_no=1

https://www.academy.co.kr/product/148-12348-미공군-a-10c-제75-전투비행대-플라잉-타이거즈/1551/category/26/

 

 

V.P.

[delide]

On 2/5/2023 at 2:18 AM, jaydecker said:

A modeler came up with a less pricey OOB solution (3:24) to the intake trunk issue. He cut off the rear ring shape of the engine fan blade part (D38) by using a razor saw. Then, he attached the ring shape part to the front of D38 to create extra depth for the intake trunk. Though the additional depth is not enough, the modified air intake looks better to me than the original kit assembly. 

 

There is an other issue besides the depth of the intake trunk however,  the center bullet is very noticeably under scale. Here's a rough comparison: 

 

The center bullet just looks too small. One the real thing the diameter of the center bullet looks to be greater than the length of the fan blades, on the kit it looks to be the other way around,

 

Phase Hangar's center bullet for example looks good in size, but seems to be a bit too blunt.

 

Edited February 8 by delide

[Tokyo Raider]

I picked up my kit today at the local model shop!

 

How long a wait till the A-10A version of this kit is released?  Looks hard to backdate.  Specific sprue dedicated for C model.  I bet that sprue is different for the A.

[Shaun]

On 2/9/2023 at 2:16 AM, Tokyo Raider said:

I picked up my kit today at the local model shop!

 

How long a wait till the A-10A version of this kit is released?  Looks hard to backdate.  Specific sprue dedicated for C model.  I bet that sprue is different for the A.

Removing the Slime lights will be required for pre LASTE A-10A, and a few lumps and bumps will need changing.

[Homebee]

Source: https://www.facebook.com/wolfpackd/posts/pfbid02LDbBivnWZkP4sQvWuzyWS5CMHDFu7yBiYvE6pGbLNo27ohH7DCNhz4FafG2RDoMHl

Wolfpacd Design dedicated sets expected in February 2023

- ref. WP48232 - ACE II Ejection seat for A-10 Thunderbolt II 

- ref. WP48233 - A-10 Thunderbolt II Avionics Bay set

- ref. WP48234 - A-10 Thunderbolt II TF34 Engine Update set 

 

 

 

V.P.

 

 

[dreamwriter]

5 hours ago, Homebee said:

Source: https://www.facebook.com/wolfpackd/posts/pfbid02LDbBivnWZkP4sQvWuzyWS5CMHDFu7yBiYvE6pGbLNo27ohH7DCNhz4FafG2RDoMHl

Wolfpacd Design dedicated sets expected in February 2023

- ref. WP48232 - ACE II Ejection seat for A-10 Thunderbolt II 

- ref. WP48233 - A-10 Thunderbolt II Avionics Bay set

- ref. WP48234 - A-10 Thunderbolt II TF34 Engine Update set 

 

 

 

V.P.

 

 

In the end,with all the aftermarket needed to correct a NEW tooling, how much will the whole thing cost? Plus the work needed to fit those aftermarket parts. Does it even make sense to buy this? If the GWH A-10 wasn't coming, I'd rather spend less money and just get the aftermarket needed to fix one of my Hobbyboss or Italeri A-10s.

[Porkbits]

I bought the Phase Hangar replacement engine/inlet set, US $26, and they look good. I don't see the need to get upgraded seats, as no one will see them, same with avionics bay set (not going to build mine with open panels).

I have no doubt GWH will get these details right, which is why I'll buy that kit, too. 😀 I just love that the A-10 is finally getting some love.

 

Edited February 16 by Porkbits

[ESzczesniak]

45 minutes ago, dreamwriter said:

In the end,with all the aftermarket needed to correct a NEW tooling, how much will the whole thing cost? Plus the work needed to fit those aftermarket parts. Does it even make sense to buy this? If the GWH A-10 wasn't coming, I'd rather spend less money and just get the aftermarket needed to fix one of my Hobbyboss or Italeri A-10s.

 

The only real needed correction of the aftermarket being offered are the engine faces.  It's a bit of a puzzling error and I agree fairly difficult to understand how a new tool from a good company has this happen.  However, the kit is otherwise rather nice.  None of the other aftermarket is outright "needed", although I'm sure many will contend they want more detail, etc.  This can be said of almost any kit.

 

The build is much more pleasant than HB and there's much more and refined surface detail than HB or Italeri.  I'm hoping GWH will be even better, but this honestly is a major step up for the moment. 

[salomon]

To be honest, if you are looking at the pictures comparing the real aircraft and the Academy kit, you can notice it's not the same angle pictures taking. The kit's intake is missing 3 or 4 mm but you can make a minor correction for that because for the rest the kit is awesome.

 

GWH announce their A-10 but you can buy two or three boxes from Academy, so I'm happy with the Korean kit.

[dreamwriter]

14 hours ago, ESzczesniak said:

 

The only real needed correction of the aftermarket being offered are the engine faces.  It's a bit of a puzzling error and I agree fairly difficult to understand how a new tool from a good company has this happen.  However, the kit is otherwise rather nice.  None of the other aftermarket is outright "needed", although I'm sure many will contend they want more detail, etc.  This can be said of almost any kit.

 

The build is much more pleasant than HB and there's much more and refined surface detail than HB or Italeri.  I'm hoping GWH will be even better, but this honestly is a major step up for the moment. 

I´m not saying that the kit isn´t good or not a step up from previous A-10 kits, of course it is. But no corrections should be needed, specially on an area that is known to be, on previous kits, the area with bigger errors in design. Is hard to understand how Academy didn´t "learn" from looking at the errors on the engines of previous kits. They could and should have at least not make the same mistake. And now with the correction needed, it will push the final price over 50£. That will still be less than getting the future GWH kit, which has a good chance of being more accurate? Probably yes. But then there´s also the work needed to install the correction parts. Getting aftermarket to add extra detail to a new kit, I get that, I do it all the time. But I don´t get the need to get aftermarket to correct mistakes on a new tool kit from a big company like Academy. And if you take into account that Wolfpack is already selling a correction set, and is also reboxing Academy kits with extra parts, who´s to say that down the road they won´t rebox Academy´s A-10, correction set included, for a more friendly price?

I will at least wait for GWH A-10 and then see which one is better, even knowing it will have a higher price tag.