A-10 kits??

[ThunderGrunt]

What is the best A-10 kit out there in 1/48??

[B-1 Nut]

I'm sure you'll get a myriad of answers, but I will always go with the Hobby Boss kit, personally, if you can find one at a good deal. They are rather pricey if you can't find them on sale or such.

I've only fooled with the Monogram and Hobby Boss kits. The Hobby Boss kit fit very well for me and comes with a bootay load of weapons, a GAU-8 cannon to either display or put in the model, rubber tires and wheel chocks. You get a lot for your money, but if you're looking to buy an inexpensive kit, buy the Monogram one. Just remember that the Monogram kit has raised panel lines. If that bothers you, you might want to check into the Hobby Boss kit.

JED

[PNW_Modeler]

As the immortal Stan "the man" Lee once said "Make Mine Monogram" or something like that

[Jay Chladek]

Well, I am currently involved in my own A-10 build, so I can provide a little input into this.

Hobby Boss- Currently regarded by many as the best in terms of detail and fit if you crave something with recessed panel lines. It is well supported by the aftermarket. Cost is a bit prohibitive though unless you can score one from the Far East for less. As it stands, even with discounts in the US, the prices tend to be in the $70 to $80 range.

Italeri- This is the one I am currently working on. It came out a little before the HB kit did and sort of got forgotten. Panels are recessed and detailing is decent for what you get. Price is reasonable as well with these usually selling for about $36.00 or so. Fit-wise, on mine I haven't encountered any show stoppers as for the most part it seems to build up pretty well. I've also heard it supposedly has some shape issues, but I honestly don't see anything that is a show stopper on it. It looks like an A-10 to me. There are two areas that it comes up short though, the intake/engine fan area and the cockpit. The engine fan faces don't look right at all, but Quickboost has come to the rescue with some resin fan faces that look FANTASTIC when installed (Sprue Brothers stocks them). The cockpit panels have no relief on them at all as you are supposed to use decals on them. In my case, I opted for a set of Eduard Zoom photoetch and that seems to do the trick. Thankfully both these tweaks don't add much to the price and one still sells for less then a HobbyBoss A-10, even with the aftermarket bits. Italeri also makes a "factory" aftermarket set for this kit featuring resin engine details and pre-colored photoetch, but this set is more expensive then the kit it is meant for!

Revell (Monogram mold)- The old dog, still regarded by many as the best in terms of shape, price and detailing. This was the first rather accurate A-10 done and it can still be built up nice today. It has raised details (which is fine for the rivet detailing) and needs a fair amount of filler, but these can be had for great prices and you get a good product in the box.

Tamiya- Not so good as it can really only be built as a very early A-10. It is a bit overpriced for what it is. In my own case, I acquired one as given it has some pre-production aircraft features on it, I figure it might work for a YA-10 with some modifications.

Revell before the merger also did one that I hear is decent for its age, but Monogram's kit is still better. Esci also did one, but I understand it has some problems.

[a4s4eva]

I like the Hobby Boss Kit. primarily for the recess detail. I know it is "inaccurate" for the tail section sut hey so is he raised detail, those rivets would be huge when scaled up. And at least the recessed will be there after you gott he fuselage together.

Still the HB kit does need some work as it's neither a pre nor a post laste jet out of the box.

See my build HERE

And the finished kit HERE

[Andre]

Italeri also makes a "factory" aftermarket set for this kit featuring resin engine details and pre-colored photoetch, but this set is more expensive then the kit it is meant for!

And it replicates the wrong number of fan blades in the original plastic parts to boot..!

Cheers,

Andre

[Stefan buysse]

Tamiya- Not so good as it can really only be built as a very early A-10. It is a bit overpriced for what it is. In my own case, I acquired one as given it has some pre-production aircraft features on it, I figure it might work for a YA-10 with some modifications.

Hi, Jay.

There are (at least) two versions of the Tamiya kit. They modified the fuselage in 1991.

I don't understand why it is being said that it can only be built as a very early A-10.

Could you describe those pre-production aircraft features, please?

The only difference that I have seen between a Tamiya A-10 from the 1980's and the 1991 version are the gun gas vent covers.

I wonder if there was an even earlier version?

I have one from the mid-1980's and it even has the boxes for the chaff and flares, they don't have the individual holes moulded in like the Monogram kit does, but they are there.

I know they don't have the level of detail of the Monogram kit, but I regard them as a good basis for production A-10A's.

Cheers, Stefan.

[Jennings]

those rivets would be huge when scaled up

Ever been under the tail of an A-10?? They *are* huge!

J

[borz666]

I'm no expert but this what i've learned working on the Italeri for a Desert Storm GB. (I also have the Hobby Boss and have built the Monogram.)

Yes the Monogram's shape is excellent but I really really hate raised panel lines, and the fit was shocking.

If thats not a problem, I say go for it.

Now the Italeri has its shape issues on the nose section and the fan blades. Fan blades remedied with the Quickboost replacements (although still not 100% accurate!) and the lame cockpit looks great with the colour Zoom set from Eduard. All simple fixes we all agree on I'm sure.

Now the other bit some people fuss over is the wheel wells. I find the nose wheel well not too bad, but the MLG's are very sparse.

Not an issue for myself as I never really care for looking in those bits anyway. Aires have released a set of new MLG nacelles but they seem very pricey

and a PITA to fit.

Now on a par with the Fan blades is the nose. Its shape is wrong... FACT!

But... with a little bit of trepidation (or modeling?) easily sorted with 30mins with a file and sand paper.

Here it is OOB:

And now with a little work:

This kit builds real well if you take your time to dry fit and sand carefully.

Finally the most "accurate" part of this kit is the fact it has raised and recessed rivets.

Hobby Boss A-10 is still in the stash to build as a LASTE bird but I must say it looks stunning in the box even if it doesn't have the correct raised rivets on

aft end.

IRC the Tamiya intakes are the best for depth, but don't quote me on that!

Lastly I suppose is money... In the UK the Italeri is about the same price as the Monogram, but I think its quite pricey in the US.

The Hobby Boss is pricey where ever you are :D

Hope this helps.

Chris

[kozlok]

The fit of the Monogram kit can be made nearly perfect with careful assembly. The wing to fuselage join needs careful attention. Dry fit, cut sand, dry fit some more. Mine is a perfect, putty free seam after that. The rest of it benefits from a bit of attention as well. Here's mine:

[ThunderGrunt]

Thanks for some insight I am wanting to build a Maryland A-10 in OEF ,Before they became A-10C's so im thinking Hobby boss then. Right??

[Jay Chladek]

Hi, Jay.

There are (at least) two versions of the Tamiya kit. They modified the fuselage in 1991.

I don't understand why it is being said that it can only be built as a very early A-10.

Could you describe those pre-production aircraft features, please?

The only difference that I have seen between a Tamiya A-10 from the 1980's and the 1991 version are the gun gas vent covers.

I wonder if there was an even earlier version?

I have one from the mid-1980's and it even has the boxes for the chaff and flares, they don't have the individual holes moulded in like the Monogram kit does, but they are there.

I know they don't have the level of detail of the Monogram kit, but I regard them as a good basis for production A-10A's.

Cheers, Stefan.

Good points. I will concede saying it can "only" be built as an early A-10 is probably not accurate. It can't quite be done up as a 1991 vintage A-10 out of the box though either as you only get part way there. Looking over the kit though (mine being a 1991 tool) and looking over images of one built from an original kit, I do note a couple of oddities that have carried over. The current kit still has an ESCAPAC seat when those were replaced with ACES II seats long before 1991. The chaff and flare dispensers on the wingtips are also a bit devoid of detail compared to the other kits out there. I do see the gun vents were added to the 1991 version while the original still had the clean nose (Italeri's can be done both ways). The cockpit is also decal panels only. Others have mentioned some oddities as well (the position of the two vent areas on the front left side of the nose look a little off in position to my eye).

As such, after reevaluating my original statement, I concede the Tamiya can form the basis for a good production A-10A, provided it gets some help in the cockpit department (at least a resin ACES II seat) and improvement to the chaff and flare dispensers on the wings. Considering its price though, there are better options out there for about the same price or more (or less if you count Monogram). In the case of mine, I was able to acquire it for about $22 on clearance from a Hobby Lobby. Granted that is not an option not open to everyone, although they can be acquired cheap if one looks for them.

Thanks for showing your nose fix Chris. Now that I see the problem and know there is a simple fix for it, it doesn't seem so bad now.

As for doing an A-10 from OEF before the C mods, you'll need a LASTE bird. As such, I believe the only two choices there would be Hobbyboss (assuming it has the LASTE parts) and Italeri kit #2655 which does have the LASTE lumps (chaff/flare dispensers and some additional antennas). Italeri also makes an A-10 in the JAWS scheme, but that is an early plane and considering the LASTE parts are molded seperately from the airframe, I wouldn't bet on all those bits being in the kit. Tamiya and Revell's kits don't have the LASTE bits.

Edited October 11, 2009 by Jay Chladek

[Stefan buysse]

Hi,

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, Jay.

I had been wondering about that for a long time.

The Hobbyboss kit has the LASTE parts, exept for two bumps under the tail. These are not easily seen, anyway. On the real aircraft on the ground, you practically have get under the tail to see them.

My recollection from the Hyperscale preview is that the Italeri JAWS kit doesn't have the LASTE bits. Pity, it's a neat decal sheet and the LASTE sprue would give you the bumps that you could add to the Hobbyboss kit. Or all the bumps to a Tamiya or Monogram kit.

For all the kits that don't have the LASTE parts, there is still the fine update set by Shawn Hull.

Cheers, Stefan.

[Aigore]

Here´s the odd one tho.....don´t know if it´s available anymore but I do remember building an ESCI A-10 in 1/48th scale in my youth. I don´t remember much about it tho...

How would it rate against the modern ones?

[Keith Diamond]

This is what I wrote in a past thread

For 1/48th scale, your options are as follows

Monogram (often referred to as Revell Monogram)

Revell

Tamiya

Hobbyboss

Esci (AMT-Ertl boxing as well)

Hobbycraft

Italeri

As mentioned, your best bet overall is the Monogram kit. Its pretty cheap, is the most accurate, pretty detailed and has the best shape. As mentioned, the rivet detail in particular is very nice, and really is the only 1/48 kit that depicts them correctly. Most kits, such as the Revell, Tamiya, and Esci kit ignore that detail, while Hobbyboss chooses to have innacurate recessed detail in that area.

Hobbyboss is a popular option, and if you don't want to deal with Monogram's panel lines, this is probably your best bet. Its pretty pricey, but has a lot of detail. Some sticking points for me is the shape of the nose and canopy area, and the recessed detail on the empennage (instead of correctly depicted raised rivet detail)

The Italeri kit is pretty new and has recessed panel lines, but it lacks the detail found in the Monogram and Hobbyboss kits. The cockpit is severely lacking, there are some shape issues (the nose in particular) and the engine faces have the wrong number of blades.

The Tamiya kit goes together well, and looks the part, but was based on early A-10 prototypes. As mentioned earlier, rivet detail is absent. Also, the cockpit relies on decals, and includes the Escapac instead of Aces II seat. The weapons included are useless, even to be used on other aircraft. If you replace the cockpit though, I feel that this can be made into a nice model though.

From what I understand, the Hobbycraft kit is just a very bad attempt at copying the Tamiya kit.

I would put the Revell kit in the same league as the Tamiya kit. They both have pretty much the same issues in terms of shape, missing rivet detail, and the need for a cockpit replacement. I haven't built my Revell kit yet, but I imagine there are some fit issues. Like the Tamiya kit though, I feel that with a little work, and a new cockpit and weapons, the Revell kit can be built up pretty nicely.

The Esci kit... shape is bad... real bad. Cockpit was not based on actual A-10 photos, but rather the drawings of a 2 year old. Fit is horrible, detail is non existant... Of all the kits listed, this is the only one I believe cannot be made into a decent model, mainly do to its many shape issues. The only redeeming quality of this kit is that usually it comes with a ground crew set with a jammer. I specifically bought 2 of these kits just for the jammers.

In my personal opinion, I would rank the kits this way

1. Monogram

2. Hobbyboss

3. Italeri

4. Tamiya

5. Revell

6. Hobbycraft

7. Esci

Considering the fact that only one nation, and one service branch ever used the A-10, there are a whole lot of 1/48 options available.

It sounds like your best bet is either the Hobbyboss kit, or the Monogram (now Revell boxing) kit with Shull24 update set.