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1/32 Trumpeter A-10C Hog- "Putting Lipstick on a Pig of a Kit"


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  • 2 weeks later...

“My greatest accomplishment as I grow as a modeler is not how well I do certain modeling tasks, but how I am now able to fix mistakes at all stages of a build, even the very end”.

It’s been a long time! Two months since my last real modeling update, due to vacation and real life getting in the way of modeling time. That’s not to say I haven’t been busy at my modeling desk, because I have. I may not have much to show for it, but I have been very occupied with my quote at the top, which I tell myself almost every modeling session. As I have gone over every square inch of this model with a fine toothed comb, I have found many small errors that were either completely missed, or they revealed themselves after a coat of glossy Future to prepare the Hog for decals. A first coat of paint always reveals a few small flaws, but a shiny clear coat makes the rest of the boo-boos pop out of nowhere. To fix them I had to do many, many touch-ups, which involved more sanding, filling and re-painting. At this late stage of this build, I would have let many of them slide without correction a few years ago, but if you want a really good looking model that does well at model contests, you need to sweat the details, even if it’s painful and time consuming.

As mentioned in a post above somewhere, I have modified my method of applying Future. While I have always used a bit of Windex mixed in with the Future to thin it a bit and reduce the surface tension, I now mix it 50% Future and 50% Windex. I find that it sprays much smoother, doesn’t clog the airbrush tip as much and it lays down flatter at lower air pressures. Future is naturally quite thick out of the bottle, so you need to keep air brush pressures fairly high to avoid splattering. This creates air turbulence around tight areas and the resultant “dust” of paint (or Future) drying before it has a chance to lay down on the model. If there's interest, I could do another tutorial on the application of Future to get a smooth and almost flaw-free finish.

Before I show some preliminary decaling results, I’d like to comment further on the Caracal decals I complained a bit about before. The decals for the specific squadrons, like the “Blacksnakes” of the Indiana ANG that I planned for this build, are very, very thin and difficult to work with. So much so, that large decals like the snake head itself would have to be cut up into smaller pieces to lay them down properly over a curved and complex surface like the nose of this jet. Since I thinned the nose of this kit and moved the black circular antennae, which are the nostrils for the snake, trying to fit everything together would be a big mess and I’m pretty sure I would have regretted trying at all. These decals are made in the Czech Republic and as Kursad (owner of Caracal) pointed out above, he no longer uses this printer. The rest of the decal set, which is mostly stencils, is from Italy and printed by Cartograf. These decals are fantastic and they are still thin, but they are also very strong and they react with Microset and Microsol beautifully. I just love them.

Well, it turns out that the super thin Czech decals are great too, but you need to be extra careful with them and a second set of decals as back-up for the inevitable mistakes is a must. Here’s the port side of the front fuselage showing the new squadron I have now adopted, which comes in the same decal set: The Idaho ANG “Skullbangers”. While the snake head would have looked a lot more evil and nasty, the skullbanger decals are still pretty cool and a LOT easier to install due to smaller size and location of installation. Here it is with a few caveats:

1) There is dust on almost everything, including the sensor of my camera, which has since been removed. Please excuse all the bits of crap.

2) A second coat of Future has not been applied yet, so the edges of some decals are still visable. After another coat of Dullcoat, these should disappear.

3) The “Armament” black square box is not required, but unfortunately Trumpeter placed a rectangular panel where the decal should go that does not exist on the real deal, so I applied the decal to cover the "panel".

4) The gun vent panel I made from styrene still appears to stick out too much in close-up pics like this. I real life with the naked eye, you hardly notice it.

5) The panel line and rivet detail on these first few pics are from the “pre-shading” I did with the Tamiya panel line wash. More on that later.

Decals1.jpg

As suggested by someone earlier, I smoothed down the nose a bit more. It’s going to be a crime to “chip” the paint to replicate refueling boom hits, but I’ll try to keep it at a minimum.

Decals2.jpg

Remember how that top formation light showed a little gap underneath? The Future has sucked underneath and you can’t see a thing- another reason I like using Future. The dome antennae behind should be slightly lighter in color, but at scale it always looks the same color as the rest of the top of the jet, so I left it that way. Those wire “rivets” look pretty good and I’m making another “Winnebago” antennae behind it that looks more accurate than the old one, so the slot at the base remains empty.

Decals3.jpg

Prior pics of this area did not show the demarcation line between the two Ghost Greys of the camo-scheme very well, mostly due to sanding and a dull finish. A shiny surface makes these colors pop more. I also made another slot vent for the one missing at the leading edge of the vertical strake.

Decals4.jpg

OK, this is where I LOVE the super thin Czech decals. Try and get those big rivets to show through a thicker decal without making a mess!

Decals5.jpg

Especially here on the vertical stabilizers with the huge rivets! The top decal took two attempts and I managed to get it reasonably straight. From a foot away, it looks very straight, so "good enough"!

Decals6.jpg

This is the wing tip that gave me all the grief with liquid sprue reacting with paint solvent. It seems to be stable now…

Decals10.jpg

On the starboard side, I tried a little more of the Tamiya panel line wash. I really like it- and I’ve now decided to keep this jet fairly clean, especially since most of the pics of this squadron have them looking that way

Decals8.jpg

Using this panel line wash on specific panels, I can keep other panel lines, like those on the nose area, more subtle. That “miscolored” central area is really a reflection off the super shiny Future surface.

Decals9.jpg

After I finish with decals and weathering washes (SUBTLE weathering washes!), I need to finish the landing gear and ordnance. One other thing that has been delaying the completion of this build is waiting for the new Sierra Hotel wheels for this kit. Alas, after waiting for 6 months with no product available, I need to drive on with the Cutting Edge wheels, which are not bad and WAY better than the kit ones. One flaw of the CE wheels is the central hub, which should be a larger disk. To create this disk, and just about any other small disk I may need in the future, I bought a new modeling toy: The Micromark Micro Punch Set. It’s way too expensive (~$60) for what you get, but it works like a charm, so to me it’s worth it. Here’s my first attempt at making a new hub out of thin styrene sheet. Not bad…

PunchSet1.jpg

I’m really pumped to keep going on this project now, but I have taxes to do, spring cleanup and other chores that will drag this project out a bit more. All I can promise is that it WILL be completed and it WILL look good when done. Thanks for your interest- and patience- with this never ending project!

Edited by chuck540z3
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It was worth waiting for your update...Wow!!!!

That will be another masterpiece and the best part of your build is that one can learn so much from your hints and ideas. Thanks again for sharing!

Thanks!

What really gives me some modeling satisfaction is that the kit parts come out of the box looking like this. That front tab with the 3 screw/rivet holes (should be 4) is in the wrong place and I have yet to see it corrected on another build of this kit.

Start-5.jpg

And this, the "Salamander" look....

Nosejob1.jpg

Nosejob13.jpg

Start-4.jpg

And this, on the right...

Wings16.jpg

Edited by chuck540z3
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It's too bad the "Blacksnake" decals wouldn't have worked out. I was really looking forward to seeing them on your build; they do look bad a**!!!!

As others have said thank you for sharing your builds through the highs and lows! They are very informative, and I have learned quite a bit from them.

Look forward to the completion and of course your next build.

Mike

Edited by Ichitoe
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Hey; I thought I recognize the structure in the background!

78-0707.jpg

That's a new parking structure they built at the airport a few years ago.

The airport's main runway separates the civilian side from the ANG side. Civilian on the North side and Gowan Airfield on the South side.

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Hi Chuck. Very slick job on the paint... After the repair work, it looks like you've come out on top! Those raised rivets really "pop" as well, which really makes it look like a "flying tank". As far as the decals go, this Hog is gonna be a show stopper no matter what the scheme is :thumbsup:/> Nice work. I don't know how you made it this long without a punch set, but I know you'll get plenty of use out of it... However, I agree that it's WAY overpriced dry.gif

/Jesse

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Looking great as usual Chuck, and so far yes you will need to continue with the CE wheels as I have yet to see the SH wheels myself, and I am part of the team! There are those here on ARC who would scorn you for using Windex (Ammonia) with Future! Well, maybe not you but whenever mentioned to do so, was met with replies of ruining the chemical matrix, etc! I use clear non-sudsing, non-lemon scented Ammonia but it is getting difficult to find without all the Foo-foo stuff added these days. Also wanted to tell you no need for further concern with those wing tip issues you resolved if they appear again, as those wingtips are Honeycomb Fiberglass and sometimes have an irregular surface anyway. Will be great to see her completed may you have no further complications!

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Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate all your encouragement. I’ve had a few PM’s, so I thought I should clarify the decal situation and provide a tutorial on how I apply Future.

The extra thin “Czech” decals and the “Italian” decals both come with the Caracal set. The Italian Cartograf decals are stencils and placards common to all A-10C’s, while the Czech decals are squadron specific for the Indiana and Idaho ANG. Caracal also sells decals for the Arkansas and Michigan ANG in a second set. Both decal sets are excellent, but the Czech decals need a lot more skill to be applied properly and I highly recommend a second set of decals for back-up. I also used some super rare DACO (Astra) A-10A decals for the Spangdahlem air base in Germany. The quality of the Caracal stencils is much better than the DACO set, but the DACO set has several stencils not included in the Caracal set, so I used a bit of both. You don’t really need the DACO set all that much, but it was nice to have every stencil available, like the black square labels for the oil doors at the top of each engine.

Over the past few years I have used a variety of methods to apply Future (Pledge) acrylic floor polish to my models, to prepare them for decals. I’ve used straight Future, Future mixed with a bit of Windex and now I use a 50/50 mix of Future and Windex after a first coat of 10% Windex and 90% Future. Sometimes I even spray a flattening coat of 100% Windex to the surface after a coat of Future, which can level out the finish even further. As Erik mentioned above, there’s some guys out there who will tell you about all sorts of bad chemical reactions between ammonia based products like Windex when it is mixed with Future, but I’ve never had any trouble with it and I suspect any “molecular damage” is temporary until the mixture dries. That’s my polite way of saying they are all full of it! ;)

Like any paint sprayed from our airbrushes, we want the mixture thick enough to get saturation, but thin enough that we can spray the paint at low pressures to avoid “dusting” and air turbulence. On a big flat surface, you can spray 100% Future with no problems, but you need to keep the air pressure relatively high- say 25 psi or so- to keep the thick acrylic finish from sputtering. Like any acrylic paint, Future also has a tendency to clog up the tip as it dries, creating more sputtering. Like a paint retarder, Windex slows down the drying time and thins the Future enough to make it less viscous, allowing you to spray it at lower air pressures.

Here’s a pic of my F-4E Phantom, using a mixture of 90% Future and 10% Windex, followed by a “flash coat” of 100% Windex after it dried for 10 minutes to smooth things out even more. Here I have no real tight areas to worry about air turbulence, other than the wing root, where dusting is common.

Future13.jpg

I started out using this same method on my A-10, but due to the tight spaces around the engines, sponsons and the many pylons that I had to install earlier (to eliminate gaps at the base of each of them with lead wire), there are tight spots everywhere. This is why I usually leave pylons and other small items off the model until the end, but in this case I was forced to deal with them.

Firstcoat17.jpg

Sure enough, I got way too much of a rough surface due to dusting, so I sanded everything down and tried again, but this time with a much more dilute mixture of Future and Windex, since I already had a good coat of Future to begin with. It worked great!- so here’s how I spray Future from now on, based upon old and new experiences.

Tutorial: Creating a glossy, blemish free finish with Future

1) The surface to be sprayed must be totally smooth to begin with. If you think that a coat or two of Future will eliminate rough spots, think again, it won’t. It will just make it harder to get rid of them later.

2) I usually don’t worry about my oily fingerprints before painting because I use solvent based paints, which dissolve the oils on contact. Like any acrylic paint, the application of Future requires that all those oils be removed or it will repel them, leaving a mottled finish. I just use a rag soaked in Windex and go over the entire model.

3) Get rid of all the dust particles and CRAP you can find! I cannot emphasize how important this step is, because little bits of fuzz, hair and dust will get trapped in the Future, which is very difficult to remove later. A dust rag, followed by compressed air gets rid of most of it, but some of it will still be left behind no matter what you do. More on that later.

4) Mix up a batch of 90/10 Future and Windex in a bottle, then shake it. You will see the two components swirl as they try to repel each other at first, then surrender into a clear bluish mixture.

5) Set the air pressure for your airbrush so that the spraying pressure is about 12-15 psi. Airbrush spraying pressures are often confusing because some guys quote the “shut-in pressure” on the regulator, rather than what the pressure is when the airbrush is actually spraying. For my particular compressor, I need to set the regulator to about 21 psi, to get a spraying pressure about 6-8 psi lower when I pull the trigger. Your results will likely vary from this, so experiment a bit.

6) They key to spraying Future, especially diluted Future, is to always spray on a level or almost level, horizontal surface. Gravity is the enemy, but you can work with it if you are able to pick up your model in your hands and turn it as it dries. Wear rubber gloves to avoid fingerprints.

7) Use a space heater with a fan to accelerate drying times. My spray booth is in my garage to avoid fumes in the house, so I discovered by accident that a space heater to warm things up works great to accelerate drying times of all paints.

8) Get a good source of light from a variety of angles where you plan on spraying. Since Future is totally clear, the only way you can tell how much you are spraying is to look for the reflection of the Future under indirect light.

9) After filing up your airbrush with Future, do a few test sprays to make sure everything is coming out nice and smooth with no sputters. If it does sputter, your airbrush is either clogged or maybe the air pressure is too low. Fix it first or you'll be sorry!

10) When you spray Future, shoot away from the model then gradually pull the spray to the model without stopping. As with any paint, stopping and starting the spray cycle results in sputtering, so keep the flow going as long as possible, which also avoids clogging of the airbrush nozzle because the Future doesn’t get a chance to dry if you keep spraying.

11) Holding the model in your hands, spray enough Future to get the surface totally wet with no orange peel- but no more! Keep the airbrush moving, getting all level surfaces wet, then stop and let the space heater dry the mixture until it flashes or sets. You can then rotate the model a few degrees, as required, to get curved surfaces wet as well, blending in the set Future with newly sprayed Future with overlapping spray strokes.

12) Now the real tricky part that takes lots of practice. Sometimes I overspray a bit and the Future starts to run down the sides a bit. Don’t panic! Turn the model and spray more Future on the run, then rotate the model back and forth next to the space heater so that no surface is truly level for more than a few seconds. Eventually the Future will set and won’t run anymore, but keep turning the model until it does.

13) You should notice by now that, sure enough, there is some crap trapped in the Future coat. Leave it alone and let it dry! Again, more on that later. If you play with it or try to remove it, you will make a bigger mess than the dust particle.

14) Spray in “quadrant sessions”, so that you can handle the model from underneath without fear of leaving fingerprints. For instance, I might spray the top of one wing, the top of the fuselage and corresponding stabilizers, along with one side of the fuselage using the above rotation method. I then let the whole thing dry for at least an hour, before I attempt to touch the Future coat as I spray the remaining parts of the model. Again, use rubber gloves and a light touch. To do this big Hog which is just under 2 feet wide by 2 feet long, I had about 6 spraying sessions over the span of an afternoon.

15) Always overlap your coats of Future, again, getting them real wet without running. Easier said than done, I know!

16) When the model has thoroughly dried for a day, you can fix the many blemishes that will no doubt occur. Using 1000 grit sandpaper, try to sand out the fuzz and crap from the finish. If the particle is too deep within the Future coat, spray a bit of paint over the blemished area, let it dry, re-sand lightly, then apply another coat of Future. You will be surprised how well everything blends in. For instance, I dropped a pair of tweezers on my model while decaling, chipping the nose right down to the plastic. Aaaaagh! I sanded out the blemish, repainted the flaw and the immediate surrounding area, then I re-applied Future. I can’t see it any more- it is now gone for Save # 22!

17) Dried Future sands easily, so if you have a few drips here and there, sand them out, then re-spray.

18) Depending on the results of your first coat, you may need several coats of Future to get the finish you want. My Phantom took 3 coats and the Hog needed 2. For subsequent coats, I found that 50% Future and 50% Windex works best.

19) Try to suspend your model while drying so that nothing touches a rough surface. This is why drying on one side is very important before spraying the other side. Also, before applying decals and Microsol, let the Future finish dry and cure for at least 2 days.

One last comment. Future is not better than any other gloss coat, but what I like about it is that if I have a disaster, I can always remove it entirely with Windex and not harm the paint. Also, I hate the look of Future on a bare metal finish because it looks artificial, so stick with thinner clear lacquers like Alclad gloss coat instead on metallic surfaces.

Edited by chuck540z3
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Chuck you know of course that I have saved the tutorial for future refs. :worship: :worship: In case you don't know it I'm recommending that you be declared an ARC national treasure, sort of like what they do with the elders who have knowledge of arts that after they are gone will have no one to pass on the knowledge of how it's done. It's guys like you and a few others here on ARC that make this the place it is. I'm thankful you are here and not one of those people you find all over this rock that have a unique talent and refuse to share tips and hints on what it takes to get to that level or that the finished product like theirs.

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Wow, its all coming together and looking awesome of course! Too bad about the snake decal, on the bright side, admirers of your model will now not be drawn to the fancy decal but will spend more time looking at the huge amount of work and skill you have added.

Big thanks for the tutorials also, it must take you a bunch of time to post these so much appreciated.

:thumbsup:

Marcel

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Chuck,

Thank you very much for taking the time and energy to type out in such great detail your secret recipes and masterful techniques.

I'm nowhere near your league and am really (Gasp!) mostly an armor builder, but with the newest armor weathering techniques being done with enamels over gloss coated acrylics, these are very timely.

Many many thanks!

Mike

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CORRECTION!

I need to retract, correct, back-pedal, etc. on my previous statements concerning a 50/50 mix of Future and Windex! While this mixture works great on surfaces already sprayed with Future (as described earlier), on "new" surfaces without Future, this combo is not good at all. I just found out today on some new small parts that had not been sprayed with Future yet, which came out mottled and lumpy. As a result, I have edited my tutorial above to 10% Windex, 90% Future for a first coat, followed by the 50/50 mixture for subsequent coats. In hindsight, this makes sense since I've already had good luck with the 10/90 mixture followed by 100% Windex. All I'm doing now is increasing the Future load for new coats, which adds to the acrylic clear coat while smoothing out the old ones(s).

I hope this hasn't resulted in some gibbled models. As mentioned many times, the good thing about using Future is that you can remove it all with Windex if you make a mistake or mess- as I did on the small parts. Sorry if this caused any grief!

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Thank you very much for the tutorial Chuck. Up until recently I have had no luck with future. I am going to try to your method when I finally get around to finishing my F-15. Hopefully I can get some consistent results. And thanks for the tip on future over NMF - it was just in time as I was about to future coat over a metal rocket pod! Phew - disaster averted! :thumbsup:

Oh yeah - and the A-10 looks great!

Thanks again for sharing.

Mike

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Thanks guys! I'm glad you appreciate the "Tips", even if much of it is already known by most of you.

When adding a panel line wash I describe below, I found another dreaded liquid sprue problem area on the bottom of the starboard sponson. I added quite a bit of it inside the sponson to create a back wall and, like it did on the wing, the LS leached through and created a depression on the bottom. Lesson again learned: If you use LS, use it in small portions only!

Here's the problem area.

Panel-linewash1.jpg

I briefly considered just leaving it because it's on the bottom and you'd likely never see it, but since I know it's there, it would always bug me, so repairs were made...

Panel-linewash2.jpg

All better now!

Panel-linewash3.jpg

Tamiya Panel Line Wash

I used this stuff for preshading certain small details that I thought might be filled with paint and Future, so now I'm using it again on big rivets/screws and panel lines that are very heavy and obvious on the A-10. The leading edge of the wings, most of the central fuselage and most of the belly show clear dark panel lines, likely because these parts are often removed for maintenance. I notice that even the vertical strakes are often very dark along the top edges, which might be some sort of dark sealant?

While this is going on, many of the panel lines are very subtle and you really have to look for them, like the ones at the very front of the nose, the sponsons and the vertical stabilizers. Traditionally we modelers apply an overall dark wash to all panel lines and rivets, wipe it off and call it a day. While it might look impressive, the panel lines that should be subtle now jump out at you and the model starts to lose a bit of realism.

I usually apply "salt weathering" to my aircraft, to replicate a weathered and often a mottled paint surface. This is best used on Navy jets and planes that get heavy weathering at sea, but sometimes it applies to other aircraft that sit in the sun all day, like my F-4E build. I have at least a thousand pics of the A-10 that I have gathered from just about every angle and for the most part, these jets are relatively clean and I see very few signs of a mottled weathering look. They might be quite dirty now and then, but most just have a "used look", with smudges of grease here and there and from a distance, you can hardly see it. No salt weathering for this bird!

Soooo, with all the above in mind, I applied the Tamiya panel line wash (Black) to those areas that need it and I avoided the areas that didn't. I even removed a lot of it that strayed from where I wanted it to remain, to get the contrasting look I was looking for. This takes a lot of time to do it correctly, but I think I've got it just about right- and about as dirty as I want to get it. I will touch up areas that I need a bit dirtier later with Tamiya pastels.

I'll let the following pics do the talking, remembering that I still have a glossy Future finish that doesn't look natural and my lighting isn't great due to the size of the model and where I can photograph it. I also don't have any small bits attached, due to fear of losing them.

In this first pic, I have made the new square but flat antenna fairing out of brass that replaces the older circular ADF antenna found on the kit. It has a square yellow surface within it, that looks very much like a formation light, so I painted it in this color. These are always very dirty, likely due to proximity to the front gun, so it will get soiled later. The oval panel behind it is where the UHF/TACAN antenna used to be mounted, which is now moved rearward. Real jets have this plate left behind as well....

Panel-linewash4.jpg

Panel-linewash5.jpg

Panel-linewash6.jpg

It looks like I still have some smudges to remove near the wing root.....

Panel-linewash7.jpg

Panel-linewash8.jpg

Panel-linewash9.jpg

Panel-linewash10.jpg

Edited by chuck540z3
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Panel-linewash11.jpg

Panel-linewash12.jpg

Panel-linewash13.jpg

Panel-linewash14.jpg

Panel-linewash15.jpg

Panel-linewash16.jpg

Believe it or not, that darker camo pattern line is supposed to avoid the inner rear flap, at least according to some pics of A-10C's I have. I bet it's all over the place on other jets.

Panel-linewash17.jpg

Now the very fine rivet detail on the nose can be seen...

Panel-linewash18.jpg

Thanks for your continued interest in this very long build!

Chuck

Edited by chuck540z3
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