paxtonm

I tried using some HGW rivet decals this morning. Needless to say, it was a debacle. I promptly ordered some Archer Fine Details rivets. I’m not sure why I didn’t get them in the first place.

Julien, i have some rivet decals I’m going to use to replace lost ones. My next big steps are rescribing the fuel door, and placing rivets on the windscreen and canopy, as well as where they’re missing!

Lots of assembly on the A-10! It looks like a lot of putty, but it’s a water-based putty that cleans up very nicely! The joint between the horizontal and vertical stabilizer is very small. The wing roots took a little more work and patience. Lastly, the gun looks so much better than the kit version. It was very fiddly to put together, and I wish the barrels extended through the housing more, like they do in the actual cannon. Regardless, it looks so much better!

My solution to the lump of plastic issue. I’d have made it out of thinner styrene if I’d had any. I tried to get some rivet detail on it, which may or may not show up once its painted.

I definitely hate this. This is supposed to end the air inlet for the APU. This is a block of plastic. So, first I tried drilling it out. That looked better, but still terrible. I thought, “Why not just cut off the whole thing? Then you’ll have to fix it!” We’re left with this! It can only get better, right?

I got the engine nacelles mounted and the Sierra Hotel resin fans and housing glued in and faired. When the cut is made where indicated, they’re really close! After mounting, I used a small amount of plastic putty, which took care of the top, aft end nicely. Underneath, both fore and aft is going to take a little work! Nothing that some CA glue and elbow grease can't cure!

Opening up some more holes in the fuselage! I used a .8 mm drill bit first, then a 1.0 mm bit. I’m not sure anyone will ever see it, but I backed it up with a piece of old coffee filter. The liquid in the fuselage is just the remaining CA accelerator!

Thanks guys! I feel like I’ve been making good progress so far. I got the SH fans put in today, so I’ll get those and a couple of other posts up tomorrow.

I continued work on the engines! The exhaust nozzles now look like they are heat stained. I used coats of Alclad Sienna, blue, and red. I also cut and sanded the openings back to where they widen enough to get the resin pieces in.

I don’t really like the kit heads up display (HUD). The hole is a bit kludgy, and the frame is way too thick. So, off she goes. I filled the gap between the IP and the coming with styrene and super glue, and I filled the hole with super glue. It’s starting to look better already!

Another exciting update. I got the cockpit installed, and despite all my efforts I still have a gap between the instrument panel and the coming. That’ll likely get fix with styrene strip. I cemented about 15 nickels behind the cockpit to keep the nose down once the engines are added. Speaking of engines, you can see all of the kit supplied parts, plus some beautiful resin engine faces and fans from Sierra Hotel Models. I sprayed the exhaust outlets with dark aluminum and the fans with magnesium. There’s still a lot of work to be done on the outlets! Lastly, I sprayed the inside of the housings

Some more work on the A-10 instrument panel. This is the True details resin kit. I gave it a primer coat and then a coat of Aircraft interior black. I followed that up with some light dry brushing with Dark Ghost Grey. Lastly, I started to place some individual instrument decals. It was really tough to get them centered and oriented correctly. It’s amazing how bad zoom photography makes things look!

Another small step! I got the rest of the vents drilled out, which I think really adds to the model. I drilled these out with a pin vise and the smallest bit I have, which I believe is a .8mm. After drilling, I squared up the corners with a disposable scalpel. got some panels in the cockpit painted Model Master Aircraft Interior Black. Until next time!

Yesterday's progress. Nothing too big, just drilled out four more lumps of plastic that are supposed to be vented. Much cooler! I think i'm going to open up the square vents on the sides too.

As great as the resin rendering of the AC ducting is, I know it’s wrong for a post-LASTE aircraft. The rest of the cockpit is substantially better than the kit version, so I’m going to live with it. I got the cockpit assembled and sprayed it all MM aircraft interior black and then shot the pieces that are not primarily black Dark Gull Grey. Lastly, I drilled out the port side APU exhaust and backed it with some tubing. I’ll get the pics up tomorrow! i agree about the panel lines. I’m just going to try to sand judiciously and carefully!

The first thing I did was sand down the interior detail on the sidewalls and installed the resin sidewalls. The resin cut and sanded easily and installed without problem. I am not sure whether or not to make this my first attempt at rescribing panel lines and rivets. Advice would be greatly appreciated!

It's been a long time since I've posted, and I've been doing more woodworking then model building. I, like everyone, have always loved the A-10. I have a stack of A-10 kits and want to start working on them. So, why not start with the oldest first? I have the Monogram with the 1995 copyright date on it. I am going to use the True Details cockpit, the Sierra Hotel decelerons, and dual rail adaptors, and a Master Models brass gun,. I have both the Shawn Hull and Sierra Hotel LASTE update sets. I'm not sure which would be better for the A-10A I want to build. I want to build the A-10A wit

Jorge, You are correct, only the center section gets tinted. I have taped the side sections which isn't super obvious from the pictures. Michael

You must model way more quickly than I do! At my pace, I'd be finished in about fifteen years! I can't wait to see them, as I have a new-found love for the Revell F-14! Michael

Well, I completed my goal of getting the canopy interior masked and both sides of the windscreen. Thank goodness for TNT's propensity for playing "The Dark Knight" constantly! Nothing like a 3 hour movie for getting tedious tasks completed. I sprayed a heavily thinned coat of Alclad Transparent Green on the inside of the windscreen. I'm going to let that set for a couple of days before masking to prevent it from lifting. Is this necessary or will the lacquer set enough in a day? Thanks for looking! Michael

I know this won't sound like an awesome accomplishment to many of you, but I was really happy that the Future on my canopy parts dried dust free. This is awesome because my modeling area is also my woodworking area. So, I got accomplished what I wanted to get done today, kind of. I got the gun port puttied in by thinning out some white putty with Tamiya extra thin glue. I also got the exterior of the canopy completed. Tomorrow, hopefully, I can get the interior of the canopy and both sides of the windscreen done! I always love when my canopy looks like an armadillo... Michael

Sorry for the long-ish delay. I have actually been working on the F-14A, but I was waiting on the gun vent from Darren to get back into it in earnest. Steel Beach F-14A gun vent in hand, I have ventured forward. I had to cut the old gun vent out which of course popped a couple of seams. No big deal. There was a pretty good sized gap on the bottom, but that is due to my overzealous sanding of the resin, cutting out of the old gun vent, or both. Either way, I'll deal with it. Not a super clear picture, but I have at least created another small challenge to overcome! After showing you t

I would think so! I can figure it out if I have the ES-3 instructions as a starting point! Thanks!

Any chance you still have those instructions? I am now the proud owner of the same instruction-less kit. Thanks, Michael