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

[opus999]

10 minutes ago, billn53 said:

i found Yahoo has started sending my email updates to the junk folder, so you might check there. 
 

I also have the Iwata cleaning kit, and you are right that a thorough cleaning can be done pretty quickly. I usually do mine anytime the airbrush starts acting iffy, and whenever I finish a big painting project. 
 

I only wish I had an extra set of brushes, mine are getting a bit ragged. 

Good idea I'll check my spam folder... All the school district notices are going there, which is kind of annoying.  We've got three email services that get forwarded to another and then a couple of clients in the house so trying to figure exactly who declares something "Spam" is a little time-consuming!

 

Finding good brushes in my little berg is actually quite difficult.  Luckily I have some nice quality brushes from a long time ago that seem to be holding up.  I'll have to ask my wife where to get good brushes as she does a lot of painting.

[billn53]

8 minutes ago, opus999 said:

 

 

Finding good brushes in my little berg is actually quite difficult.  Luckily I have some nice quality brushes from a long time ago that seem to be holding up.  I'll have to ask my wife where to get good brushes as she does a lot of painting.

Actually I was speaking of the cleaning brushes that come with the Iwata kit. 

[opus999]

31 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Actually I was speaking of the cleaning brushes that come with the Iwata kit. 

Oh!  Yeah... I've wondered that too.  My wife found "airbrush cleaning brushes" at Harbor Freight and bought them for me.  They're about the same, but only the smallest one fits. The ones that came with the kit are dental brushes.

[opus999]

I decided to look for myself since I I keep meaning to do it anyway.  If you can find them at Wally World, I suppose you can find them anywhere: https://www.walmart.com/ip/DenTek-Easy-Brush-Interdental-Cleaners-Mint-16-ea/508346267

[billn53]

10 hours ago, opus999 said:

I decided to look for myself since I I keep meaning to do it anyway.  If you can find them at Wally World, I suppose you can find them anywhere: https://www.walmart.com/ip/DenTek-Easy-Brush-Interdental-Cleaners-Mint-16-ea/508346267

yes, I’ve used those. The trick is to rig up a narrow handle for the brush part to replace the thick plastic one that it comes with. That allows you to get the brush into more places for cleaning. 

[billn53]

I got back from my weeklong trip around midnight last night, and today I was busy catching up on housekeeping-related things. But, I did get a few hours at the bench this evening...

 

I glued the engine pods and tail feathers in place, and puttied the seams:

 

 

I also installed these airflow control thingamabobs, which I'll paint when I do the seams mentioned above:

 

 

Another item that will soon need to be added is the Pave Penny sensor and its pylon:

 

 

Here's the kit's Pave Penny pod. The forward dome should be transparent, so I sanded a piece of clear sprue to shape:

 

 

then carefully removed the kit's dome and replaced it my clear piece:

 

 

On the actual Pave Penny pod, a large sensor sits directly beneath the dome and should be visible:

   

 

That was too much for me to attempt, and fortunately the real dome has a dark tint, so I'll give mine a coat of Tamiya smoke and hope it doesn't look too empty. (Along that line, I should have painted the mating surface for my clear piece black or some other dark color. I forgot to do that, so I may need a couple coats of smoke to hide the light gray plastic underneath.)

 

Tomorrow's plan is to touch up the camo where needed, then give my Hog a coat of Aqua Gloss in preparation for decals and some light weathering.

[billn53]

Here's today's progress. Touch-up on the camo is complete and a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss clear has been applied. Not much to show there, so no photos.

 

I did finish up the Pave Penny pod, here's how it looks now:

 

The Tamiya smoke on the dome turned out nicely. It appears black in the above photo but to the eyeball it's fine.

 

I next painted the landing gear parts. Unlike most USAF aircraft, the Warthog's gear and bays are a light gray color (instead of white):

 

 

I followed my usual habit and used stick-on reflective lenses to simulate the landing lights:

 

 

Gear complete! I could have done additional detailing (and I might, eventually) but for now I'm satisfied:

 

 

I got courageous this evening and tackled one of the more fiddly jobs: the heads-up display. It consists of a photoetch frame and two clear film inserts:

 

 

 

Frame bent and first clear pane in place. I used Gator Grip to attach the clear piece to the frame:

 

 

The second pane sits parallel to and behind the first one. I applied Gator Grip to the upper edge and used a piece of plastic strip to get the proper spacing. Some Future, run along the edges, hopefully will hold the pane in place:

 

 

This is either going to work, or fall apart like a house of cards as soon as I try to attach the HUD to the cockpit combing.... Stay tuned!

[giemme]

Great job on the Pave Penny pod and the struts, Bill!   

 

The HUD is fiddly, but it really sets the model off once done - keep going

 

Ciao

[billn53]

More minor, but necessary, odds & ends finished today:

 

Painted the various landing gear doors in their appropriate colors:

 

 

Masked off and painted the gear bays, again in light gray:

   

 

I also masked & painted the opening for the access ladder. Photos show this to be white, instead of the gray used elsewhere:

 

 

I did a panel line wash along the moveable surfaces (only). I'm beginning to believe that modelers often over-emphasize panel lines, and I want this Wisconsin ANG bird to look well kept:

 

 

The numerous louvers, vents, chaff dispensers, and other openings also got the wash treatment:

 

 

Finally, I polished out the canopy scratches, then masked & painted:

 

 

 

[billn53]

Added the little resin hinge piece at the back of the canopy:

 

and the PE framing to the forward and rear canopy pieces:

    

 

Added the large PE piece that forms the rear deck of the cockpit:

 

 

and painted the refueling port door with AK Interactive XTreme Metal:

 

The forward windscreen piece fits nicely, little (if any) putty will be needed. (Here's hoping the HUD will fit under the windscreen ok. Giorgio had no problem, but it looks like a tight fit):

 

 

It's a good thing I will be posing the canopy open. If I wanted it closed, some adjustments would have to be made!

 

Unless I've forgotten something, I'm now at the point where adding decals will be appropriate. Yee Hah!

[giemme]

Interesting approach on adding those PE at this stage Bill, especially the rear deck one. I went the other way round, but was forced to glue that part back because the masking tape I used pulled it off the plastic - I had no knowledge of Gator's Grip glue back then and had used regular CA for the job. I guess doing it your way and using an easy-clean-up glue is the best way to do it.

 

Anyway, all looking excellent from where I sit  

 

Ciao 

[billn53]

4 hours ago, giemme said:

Interesting approach on adding those PE at this stage Bill, especially the rear deck one. I went the other way round, but was forced to glue that part back because the masking tape I used pulled it off the plastic - I had no knowledge of Gator's Grip glue back then and had used regular CA for the job. I guess doing it your way and using an easy-clean-up glue is the best way to do it.

 

 

Yes, I had seen where you had problems with the PE deck, so I thought it best to delay adding it until all my masking work was done. I used CA to glue it down... and I doubt Gator Grip would have kept it from coming up if I had masked over it.

[giemme]

16 hours ago, billn53 said:

and I doubt Gator Grip would have kept it from coming up if I had masked over it.

I doubt that too; my point is that using Gator's Grip to glue the deck afterwards (just like you did) would be easier because of the cleanup. You just need a moist bud to remove any excess, without affecting the paint job   (I tend to spill CA in most unwanted places of the model, you know....   )

 

Ciao

[billn53]

Two sessions at the bench, last night and early this morning, and the decals are on! Usually, I find decals add a bit of "pizazz" to a model, but not in this case! Low-viz black markings on what is mostly a dark green aircraft just don't add much in the way of bling.

 

Here she is:

 

 

There are tons of small stencils, most of which are invisible unless one gets up very close and in bright light!

 

 

And, of course, Bucky the Badger:

 

 

I had a hard time finding the above version of Bucky. Nearly every image I found had him standing straight, not running as on the Wisconsin Warthogs. Finally, I found the version I needed being used by a local bus company!

 

And, I've been accused of being "posh" for my new water warmer, but it worked like a champ when applying the decals! Just a few seconds in the water, at the lowest heat level, and they came off the backing lickity-split.

 

 

BTW, all the markings are from the Caracel decal sheet, except for a few I did on my laser printer.

[billn53]

7 minutes ago, giemme said:

 I tend to spill CA in most unwanted places of the model, you know....

 

 

Me, too! I believe it's a variant of Murphy's Law.

[giemme]

Most excellent decals job, Bill    

 

And the water warmer is super handy, I used something similar (scented candle melting pot) after @CedB (yes, the usual suspect  ) advice.

 

Ciao

[billn53]

I was up early this morning and sprayed a coat of Winsor & Newton matte varnish on the Warthog. I then did a bit more work on various bits & pieces, and then having run out of excuses for delay, I tackled this task:

 

 

 

    

 

Here are the tools I employed for this job. My strongest reading glasses (6.0 power), fine-point forceps, and Gator Grip glue. Also, not shown, is some super thin CA glue and a strong cup of coffee:

 

 

Since I have only two hands, some double-sided tape helped keep the tiny parts under control. First step was to glue the circular face plate to the front of the cylinder section, taking care to properly align the holes:

 

I then glued the other circular plate to the opposite end of the cylinder. Gator Grip helped me get it into position, but I then added a tiny bit of CA to ensure it would stay in place:

 

 

First gun barrel inserted from the rear, held secure with a drop of Gator Grip on the back:

   

 

Repeat six more times and the job was done:

 

Tedious work, but not as difficult as I had feared. Not bad for an hour and a half of work!

 

 

[giemme]

 Great job, Bill!  

 

Ciao

[Serkan Sen]

A micro surgery. Well done Bill. I am not so good with the brass parts. Soldering yes, glueing no...

Serkan

[billn53]

9 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

A micro surgery. Well done Bill. I am not so good with the brass parts. Soldering yes, glueing no...

Serkan

Well, I’m glad I didn’t need to solder these tiny brass parts!

[Cookenbacher]

Wow, that must be tiny, nice work and I'm sure it will be well worth it.

[billn53]

44 minutes ago, Cookenbacher said:

Wow, that must be tiny...

 

Yes, it's a bit on the small side

 

[AliGauld]

That's nigh on microscopic. Fantastic work there.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[opus999]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:57 AM, billn53 said:

Low-viz black markings on what is mostly a dark green aircraft just don't add much in the way of bling.

Maybe so, but the decals look sharp nonetheless!

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:57 AM, billn53 said:

And, I've been accused of being "posh" for my new water warmer,

Where did you get that?  I've unsuccessfully tried several wacky schemes to keep water warm...

 

The Warthog is looking superb!  I'm amazed at the brass gun, though... I'm not sure if I'd have the patience to put that together. 

[billn53]

8 minutes ago, opus999 said:

 

Where did you get that?  I've unsuccessfully tried several wacky schemes to keep water warm...

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.