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A-10A "Warthog" of the Wisconsin Air National Guard


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15 minutes ago, billn53 said:

It’s a coffee mug warmer from Amazon. The glass dish is a Petri dish. 
If you get one, be aware there is a spring loaded switch underneath that turns the warmer on when the weight of a mug depresses the spring. My Petri dish isn’t heavy enough to activate the switch, but I fixed that by taping the switch in the “on” position. 
Buy one and you, too, can be posh. 

Thanks!  I would love to be posh. ;) 

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Entering the home stretch now!

 

Added the two dorsal blade antennae that I had removed earlier (they were molded in to the fuselage halves, and I cut them away in order to fill & sand the dorsal seam). I also added the dorsal navigation light using UV activated acrylic gel.

51421514980_07108ec608_c.jpg 

 

More lights added using the UV gel:

51421514965_178c49c3fd_w.jpg  51421293409_004b54f0e2_w.jpg  51419785057_8af320c134_w.jpg 

 

The wingtip lights came with the kit... I'm not very impressed with them or their fit.

51421514960_61338c78cf.jpg

 

I carefully glued the HUD in place with CA gel, and added the windscreen with Formula 560 canopy glue:

51421479323_d1796a517a_z.jpg   51421479333_cc0ec4e06d_z.jpg 

 

I'll let the canopy glue dry, then add the landing gear.

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Another milestone day today! It was time to install the landing gear. Before doing that, however, I added one last detail to the Warthog's belly: the "towel hanger" DF navigation antenna behind the nose gear bay.

 

The kit piece is much too thick. I installed it in the fuselage holes but then cut off the bar portion, leaving only the mounts at the fuselage. I then drilled those out for the replacement, smaller diameter bar:

 

51422170323_a95bbee6ee.jpg   51422901355_9d805f7dcc.jpg 

 

That minor task done, I next glued the landing gear in place. I'm using pieces of Blue-Tak to hold the gear in position while the glue hardens:

 

51421916396_bd2c0aaf50_b.jpg 

 

While waiting for the glue to completely set up, I painted the last remaining items on my to-do list:

 

51422189088_5ae4f363ae_c.jpg

 

Yes, those are practice bombs you see. I got my inspiration from this photo:

 

 51352176124_82966375df_b.jpg

 

We're getting close to the finish line now, so stay tuned!

 

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2 hours ago, thorfinn said:

Isn't that UV gel perfect for adding lights?

Great work!

 

My first use was to add the anti-collision beacon to my SR-71 build. Then, I used it to create the large (1/4 inch) lenses for the Ford Tri-motor's landing lights. It has become my go-to for adding lights (and instrument bezels, etc.). I also used it for the replacement door glazings on my Skymaster build. Great stuff, and lots of fun to use, too!

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3 hours ago, Slater said:

Those 25 pound practice bombs are called BDU-33's. They have a small aluminum-colored striker plate on the nose that fires the MK 4 Mod 3 spotting charge.

Thanks for mentioning the striker plate, I had missed that. 

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11 minutes ago, thorfinn said:

Love the low-viz Badger on the engine nacelles!

I'm with Erwin...the 'hawg looks best in those original colors, and your version is beautifully rendered.

Thank you Thorfinn, I quite agree with you on the wraparound green color scheme being best. I’m sitting at my bench right now, only four more things to add before she’s done (ejection seat, canopy rear, gun, and pitot tube), wondering if I should press on this evening or wait till tomorrow. The canopy might be a bit fiddly, and I’d hate to lose the gun to the carpet monster! So, I think I’ll get a good nights rest before closing this build out. 

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Add me to those who like the wrap-around 'Lizard' scheme. Whenever I get around to my old Hasegawa kit, I'll paint it in this camouflage. I seriously doubt it will turn out nearly nicely as yours has, though! I wonder how many hundreds of those bomblets the A-10 could carry if it had to?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Edited by Learstang
Additional comment added.
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4 hours ago, Learstang said:

Add me to those who like the wrap-around 'Lizard' scheme. Whenever I get around to my old Hasegawa kit, I'll paint it in this camouflage. I seriously doubt it will turn out nearly nicely as yours has, though! I wonder how many hundreds of those bomblets the A-10 could carry if it had to?

 

Regards,

 

Jason

Dividing the maximum payload of the A-10 by the 25-lbs weight of one BDU-33 yields the number: 640.  Of course, you’d probably be duct taping them to the bottom of the wings to get them all on. :bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb::bomb: . . . etc.

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Well if you can't fix it with duct tape, then it's not work fixing. Now I know how I'll do my A-10 - with 640 practice bombs duct-taped to the wing (what's a suitable 1/72nd scale replacement for duct tape? Why very thinly cut duct tape, of course!).

 

Regards,

 

Jason

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9 hours ago, Lifeline said:

Lovely!

 

Now I must have the MM GAU-8 cannon for my warthog.. It really add the realism.

Anyway, where did you source the BDU-33s from?

 

 

Cheers,

Mario

Hi Mario!

 

The BDU-33s came from this set:

 

51424308150_de21a5808b_z.jpg

 

 

 

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I was up bright and early this morning to finish off my Wisconsin Warthog. Armed with a strong cup of coffee, I got right to work.

 

Bang seat installed:

 

51423316066_3d4fff381c_z.jpg   51424078704_0507057f38_z.jpg

 

The access ladder adds a touch of color (other than green):

51424301795_9dbb9db735_c.jpg

 

TER with a couple of BDU-33 practice bombs:

51423572638_ced91984fb_z.jpg

 

I went to add the Model Master pitot tube, and found the hole in the wing was too large. I filled it with a bit of Apoxie Sculpt and used the MM pitot to make a properly-sized hole.

51423572583_8d2eda1664_z.jpg

 

This will need to set up for a few hours, so I continued on to the rear canopy section.

 

The canopy is held up by a hinged plate that attaches to a frame behind the ejection seat:

51424279320_cc80d9021f_c.jpg

 

Here's the corresponding piece from the Aires cockpit set. As is, I found it causes the canopy to be at too high an angle:

51423316031_07cb0c3637_z.jpg

 

Through trial and error I modified the plate until I could get the canopy angle closer to what it should be:

51422568472_01e011da2d_z.jpg

 

I used CA gel to glue the canopy in place. A bit of tape was needed to hold down the rear of the canopy while the CA set up.

51424301660_6f379b9810_c.jpg

 

To my eye, the canopy is still a bit too high, but hopefully viewers will be distracted by this beautiful GAU-8!

51422568442_306faac995_c.jpg

 

 

My next post should be the last one before the obligatory RFI.

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Wow, this looks fantastic Bill, it's really got me thinking about my aged Hasegawa kit in the stash.  The Aires cockpit is spectacular and is worth the effort because of the view that the bubble canopy affords, open or closed.  And that GAU-8!  Makes it look like a 1:48 or 1;32 (or 1:1...), not 1:72!

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44 minutes ago, opus999 said:

Wow, this looks fantastic Bill, it's really got me thinking about my aged Hasegawa kit in the stash.  The Aires cockpit is spectacular and is worth the effort because of the view that the bubble canopy affords, open or closed.  And that GAU-8!  Makes it look like a 1:48 or 1;32 (or 1:1...), not 1:72!

 

One thing  I would have done differently concerns the cockpit. Instead of using the Eduard PE for the side consoles, I would have painted & drybrushed it instead.

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