Jinxter13 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 :worship: 'nuff said. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) Thanks Guys! A big problem I had with this kit was painting it. Very unwieldy with the wings attached to the fuselage. When / if I do another one, I'd paint the wings and fuselage separately, and then touch up the paint when they were finally attached. 1/32 is always a challenge - but the 'Hog presented some size issues. Hitch Thanks Hitch, I think we're on the same page, although I'm just going to have this beast in two parts with the wings attached to the front half. I understand the wing fit is poor, so I'll need to do a bunch of filling before I paint, which I'd rather do in one step. As indicated in above posts, the wing detail, fit and panel line consistency is quite bad. There is flash everywhere, panel lines come and go and some important ones are missing. The general fit is poor, so even simple mating surfaces need to be sanded and tweaked to just get them to touch each other. With the work I've done so far on the fuselage, both front and rear, I need to do a lot of work on the wings to get them up to the same standard. I spent most of this past weekend cleaning up the wings, re-scribing every panel line and then adding a bunch of rivet and screw detail to the four wing halves. It took many hours and is mostly mindless stuff, so I did most of it while watching football to keep me from going crazy. Here's a small example of a completed wing half on the left (with a bit of wash) compared to the vague wing detail you get out of the box on the right. A closer look so that you can see some of the rivet detail. I cut off the poor kit wing fence and replaced it with the Cutting Edge resin ones. In order to get a strong fit, I cut a slot in the front of the wing close to where the old one used to be..... When I get the wing halves glued together, the new wing fence will be an easy slide in with a little CA glue at the base. When I did the same thing to the starboard side (left wing in this pic), I found the wing fence a bit too long, because the front panel is shorter than the port side! Oh well, I can trim the wing fence to fit and it's a good thing the wings are quite far apart from each other. The Cutting Edge kit also comes with a few tabs for the front of the wing chaff/flare dispensers which are missing for some reason, while the Eduard exterior kit has some nice brass frames to add detail. In some pics I have of this area, the frame is sometimes left bare metal, so I may not paint the frame at all. Unfortunately, the dispensers are slightly under sized for scale.... There's also some dispensers on the rear of the landing gear sponson, but the Cutting Edge kit has some replacement parts which are the correct size, a little longer and provide a rear wall to the gear well. I'll need to add more Archer rivets to these new parts to match the kit detail... The front of the sponson has some "detail" for the landing gear, which is even worse than the front gear well. I plan on sanding all of this out along with the big pin mark and replacing the detail with something a little more realistic... Now is the time to add this detail while access to the interior is easy and I can wire plumbing through the bottom of the wings, then paint everything. Now a question: Is the gear well supposed to be white or grey? I have many pics that show it to be grey, but I also have a few that look pretty white and some have both colors. I painted the front gear well white, but after a dark wash it looks almost grey, so that's what I'm likely to do, but I'd still like to know what is "correct". Thanks for checking in. Edited November 19, 2013 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMan Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Very nice job so far on the wings. Cant wait to see how this turns out! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaxos345 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I never get tired to follow your updates - tutorials Chuck!!! John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 (edited) I never get tired to follow your updates - tutorials Chuck!!! John Thanks John. I hesitated putting up an "update" that was fairly boring without much in the way of big changes, but the reality is that unless you do major work to the wings, your model will suffer accordingly. My next update should have some scratch built detailing of the gear bays, so hopefully there will be more to see next time. Edited November 19, 2013 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zaxos345 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 You shouldn't hesitate Chuck, considering your approach to modeling every post of yours is a tutorial! I will be waiting for the next one. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Mullins Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Chuck, I was an Air Force Crash Rescue Firefighter with the 442nd wing at Whiteman AFB Missouri. The 442 flies the A-10. During the time I was there 93/99 I recall the A-10 gear bays all being white. They really stood out from the grey of the aircraft. I think if you use white with the wash you've spoken of it will be fine. Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmel Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Now a question: Is the gear well supposed to be white or grey? Page 40, Chuck. :) Keep up the great work! Jake Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Finn Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Chuck, here are some pics of the sponson chaff and flare dispensers: http://www.moody.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/120330-F-PO994-151.jpg http://www.moody.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/110817-F-EI771-102.JPG Jari Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Amazing work Chuck. The gear bays should be light grey. Most, if not all, of the interior compartments are this color. Just go with what Jake's book shows. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 20, 2013 Author Share Posted November 20, 2013 (edited) Thanks for all the color input guys- and also thanks again to Jari for digging up such cool pics of the chaff/flare dispensers. Page 40, Chuck. Jake Duh! I was reading the pages of the main landing gear and completely forgot to look at the front gear pages again, probably because I finished that part already (thank gawd). To paraphrase what's in Jake's book for those who don't have it, which explains all of the above, original A-10's gear bays were all light grey- and a bit glossy at that. Over time and maintenance, many of these gear bays were painted white like other Air Force jets, but sometimes it was a bit of both colors, depending on what was repainted and what was left as "stock". I bet this was a bit site specific, with certain locations having more white than others. Bottom line is that you can have grey, white, or both colors in the same gear bay and it could be accurate. I spent a lot of time last night looking at pics and thinking about how I was going to modify the gear bays to make them look a lot more detailed and better. It was pretty overwhelming and there are 6 pin/hole locations along the sides of the sponson to wing join which are fairly prominent and inaccurate, but their removal would jeopardize the strength of the join and to tell you the truth, I really doubt that anybody would notice them without flipping the model over and looking for them. I've decided to concentrate on adding detail that can be seen from directly below and from the front only, like wiring, some hydraulic lines and a big fuel line on the port side behind the fuel filler assembly and leave the sidewalls alone, other than a little cleanup. I'll also upgrade the main and front landing gear extensively, since these are items you can easily see and I think some reinforcement of the wings where the gear legs plug into them would be a good idea. This pig will be heavy and a tilted or out of alignment gear leg is a model contest killer, should I ever enter it in one. Don't ask me how I know! Edited November 20, 2013 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Chuck, glad to hear the surgery went well! Phew, just looking at how much work you are putting into this is making me break out in a sweat. The result is exceptional, very impressive how you have turned the wing surface detail from something poor into something stand-out. Marcel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Chuck, can't add anything that no one else has other than fantastic work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) Thanks Gents! I have been working for several hours on the landing gear sponsons and I don't have much to show for it yet, mostly because the modifications and changes are HUGE in order to get everything to fit together and still have some level of detail worth looking at. I'm trying to document it all, but it's difficult to do with all the fiddly changes I've had to do so far. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I've been given advance notice of the new FSM magazine for January, 2014. For some of you who might be wondering why I do all this documentation of my builds, THIS is why! Yes, I'm bragging, but it's times like this that make it all worthwhile with our narrow focused hobby that most of the world just doesn't get. When I'm done with this hog, I'll likely write another article and see if FSM is interested in publishing it too. Thanks for your interest! Edited November 25, 2013 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Devilleader501 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Sweet Chuck congratulations. All of your builds are worthy of being in FSM. I'm personally looking forward to seeing your next build. You have great write ups and your building skills are top notch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Atta boy Chuck, congrats, well deserved. I would think that they will be interested in the A-10 build as well. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMan Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Chuck, maybe this is just a bonehead question but, what do you mean document? Is there somewhere else that you copy this all to, or what? If you have already discussed how this is done I do apologize but I am very interested in how this is done so that maybe one day others myself included can have something like this to show the world, well once I have reached the MOAMB of building status...... Mother Of All Master Builder..... like yourself, but I doubt it. Thanks again for any details on this subject! Congrats! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JesniF-16 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Bravo Chuck :clap2:/> well deserved!!! It's fun to watch the entire build process then to finally see the build put through the printing press and onto the magazine stands... Mission accomplished! Looking forward to reading the article and keep up the great work on the Hog buddy :cheers:/> /Jesse Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) Thanks Gents. I sort of hate to brag, but in my nerdy modeling life, this is a big deal so thanks for indulging me. Chuck, maybe this is just a bonehead question but, what do you mean document? Is there somewhere else that you copy this all to, or what? Hi Jeremy, You're thinking of the noun version of "document", rather than the "transitive verb" version, which the Webster dictionary defines as follows: "to provide with factual or substantial support for statements made or a hypothesis proposed; especially: to equip with exact references to authoritative supporting information". I've had a few other build articles published in FSM, so what I do is go back over my WIP thread, picking out the highlights and key photographs to explain (document) what the heck I did. Of course I skip all the flubs and pretend I never make mistakes. When the ARC website went down for a few weeks recently, I was getting a little panicky, because I didn't save any of my prior work on the A-10 build. I am now! Bravo Chuck :well deserved!!! It's fun to watch the entire build process then to finally see the build put through the printing press and onto the magazine stands... Mission accomplished! Looking forward to reading the article and keep up the great work on the Hog buddy /Jesse Thanks Jesse. It seems like only weeks ago, my F-4E was on the left/top of the FSM website with your Hornet build on the right. Now your Hornet bumped my Phantom to the trash can on the left and my Mustang is the new build in town on the right. Now how cool is that! Edited November 25, 2013 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jinxter13 Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 (edited) Thanks Gents. I sort of hate to brag, but in my nerdy modeling life, this is a big deal so thanks for indulging me. Hi Jeremy, You're thinking of the noun version of "document", rather than the "transitive verb" version, which the Webster dictionary defines as follows: "to provide with factual or substantial support for statements made or a hypothesis proposed; especially: to equip with exact references to authoritative supporting information". I've had a few other build articles published in FSM, so what I do is go back over my WIP thread, picking out the highlights and key photographs to explain (document) what the heck I did. Of course I skip all the flubs and pretend I never make mistakes. When the ARC website went down for a few weeks recently, I was getting a little panicky, because I didn't save any of my prior work on the A-10 build. I am now! Thanks Jesse. It seems like only weeks ago, my F-4E was on the left/top of the FSM website with your Hornet build on the right. Now your Hornet bumped my Phantom to the trash can on the left and my Mustang is the new build in town on the right. Now how cool is that! Gentlemen - your standards very high. It is with the utmost respect that I am proud to call you both friends. Along with those of us here on ARC; many more can now avow that you have reached the lofty status of Modeling gods. May you ever be seen as such and grant me the skills I need. BTW when I grow up I wanna do model builds just like you :D :worship: . Edited November 25, 2013 by #1 Greywolf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Check Six Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Thanks Gents! In the meantime, I've been given advance notice of the new FSM magazine for January, 2014. For some of you who might be wondering why I do all this documentation of my builds, THIS is why! Yes, I'm bragging, but it's times like this that make it all worthwhile with our narrow focused hobby that most of the world just doesn't get. When I'm done with this hog, I'll likely write another article and see if FSM is interested in publishing it too. Thanks for your interest! Oh, awesome! An article on one of my favorite modeling subjects: A GT40 MK I in Gulf Oil racing scheme ! But I digress ! You've made the magazine cover again, I see. With a beautiful subject/kit as well! Congrats, AGAIN! I have to get me a copy of that issue. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KRI76 Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Congratulations Chuck! Definitely well deserved article and front page! /Kristian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
billb Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Lovely work :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NavyF4s Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 Chuck, your not a modelling nerd! Think Michelangelo :D/> Just think. in a couple hundered years your builds will be worth... millions? Anthony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 Chuck, congrats on the publication, that just has to feel good Hope your recovery is on track. Cheers, Marcel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.