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1/48 Hobby Boss A-10 N/AW "what-if"


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Guys, here is my latest model.

It is the 1/48 Hobby Boss A-10 N/AW kit. I bought this kit when it first hit the shelves. I was trying to complete another model for our local IPMS contest when I realized that the kit I was working on had warped wings...and there was no way to fix it and it still look nice. So...I decided to throw it to the side and start on this A-10.

I had been wanting to build this kit since I purchased it, but I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. The real aircraft was painted in overall 36118 Gunship Gray. That was sooooooo boring that I didn't want to build the kit until I came up with something better to do with it. At another IPMS contest, I purchased some old TwoBobs decals called "A-10 Experimental Camo". This was the perfect sheet of decals for what I wanted to do with the two-seat kit. After seeing marine4ever's what-if with this kit, I knew I had to do a what-if as well. The decal sheet has markings for the one-off "peanut" and "flipper" schemes that the AF tried out for some reason or the other. The "peanut" scheme was kind of ugly to me, so I opted for the 3-tone gray "flipper" scheme....probably heavily influenced by my buddy David "drhornii" Horn's recent F-18 Fighting Omars build. I just loved that 3-tone gray scheme and thought it might look okay on a 2-seat hog.

First, I want to brag on this kit. This thing fits impeccably. I have never built a kit a that fit so perfectly. The only issue was with the final fit of the speed brakes. It took a fair amount of sanding and trimming to get them to fit. I assume it was something I did when putting the wings together because the rest of the kit fit so well. I can't speak for the single-seat kit, but the 2-seat Hobby Boss was a pleasure to build. The kit has an abundance of weapons (more than you can actually fit on the aircraft) and a full GAU-8 cannon that you can either stick in the model or sit outside the finished model for display. I used the cannon's ammo drum as a ballast in the aircraft. Even after filling the thing completely up with BBs and putting 3 or 4 lead sinkers in the nose, the thing is still borderline tail-heavy. If you build this kit, I suggest you find some creative ways to place the weights because it takes quite a few.

The kit may be inaccurate or poorly shaped (a buzz term around here), but it looks like the 2-seater to me, so I usually let inaccuracies slide.

I free-handed the camo and it took me about 7 or 8 hours over three nights to complete the paint job. That might sound like a long time, but it was only the second camo job I had ever done.

The build is completely out of the box except for the aforementioned decals.

I wholeheartedly recommend this kit to anyone who likes the 2-seat A-10.

I hope you enjoy the pics.

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Here is the link to all of the build photos should you care to see them link

JED

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Very nice. I am working on the 1/32 version on this kit and I'm thinking about doing a what if as well. Not sure of what but something more colorful then the dual gray. Due to work/school/family I have been falling behind but looking at yours want to finish it soon. So, thanks for sharing yours. It's exactly what I need to jump start my build and finish it.

Mike

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  • 2 years later...

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