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A-10A changes to make a grey painted combat version in 1:48


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I have the 1:48 Hobby Boss A-10A.  I have always been set on doing a desert storm green machine with the shark mouth. But lately I have been more and more drawn to a grey painted version.  I do not want to buy the Italeri A-10C, but I may have to in the end. I only want to do a combat aircraft with live ordnance, not fussy on the conflict.  I just want the path of least resistance to modifying the Hobby Boss kit.     Ideas?

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If I remember right, the Hobbyboss kit gives you an A-10A with the LASTE mods and EGI, so with no modifications you're looking at roughly 2002-2010.  So options include Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan); a 2003 OIF Hog would open up lots of robust ordnance options.  With very little work, namely removing the EGI antenna on the spine, Allied Force would be in play (Guard 131st EFS or 81st FS).

 

Let us know what you decide and we can help with accurate loadouts.

 

- Tom

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A-10s were originally in the gray scheme when they went to USAFE in 1978/79.  I remember having a  walkaround admiring the GAU8/A cannon putting 2 finger tips in the barrel.  They went Euro 1 lizard scheme shortly thereafter before reverting back to the gray scheme.

 

John

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On 1/21/2021 at 12:49 PM, ST0RM said:

The 81st FS out of Spang, flew combat missions over Afghanistan in their A-10A+s. They never converted to the C before being shut down. 

 

Spang didn't fly A+.  Only the ANG and AFRC did, as they funded it and ran it through the OT process internally with their own AATC.  Spang did transition to the C and flew them for a few years prior to the jets leaving.  They flew combat missions over Libya with the C-models.

 

Jake

 

 

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5 hours ago, ST0RM said:

Sorry Jake, but when I took this photo in 2008, these were A-models. I confirmed it with the pilots and our DoD serial database. 

Definitely A-models in 2008.  Just not A+.  They went to Cs beginning in 2010.

 

Jake

 

 

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I don't want to derail this thread, but just want to clear up the A vs A+ config. So the A+ mod was, as Jake said, initiated and fielded by the Guard and Reserve.  It was a simple modification that, from the modeling perspective, removed the TVM (green screen on the right side of the instrument panel) and replaced it with what was called the "Smart MFCD."  Additionally, a different stick grip was installed; I think there was a small mod to a panel near the throttles that allowed the pilot to plug in the USB with the mission data for the Smart MFCD.  Can't remember if the throttle quadrant was different.

 

There was no official Mission-Design-Series change, so the "A+" remained an A-10A on paper.  And with limited modification kits, jets would go from A to A+ and back again.  When I was crewing Hogs, my jet might be a straight-up A-10A one day and an A-10A+ the next; if she was going to be down for a bit, Avionics shop would come out and pull the Smart Kit for use in another jet.

 

The only visual indication of an A+ was the cockpit set-up.  The targeting pod remained on Station 9, and both the A and A+ were limited to LGB's as the upgrade the Guard & Reserve bought did not include 1760 wiring for JDAMs.

 

Active duty went straight from the A to the C; the Guard and Reserve fielded the A+ capability as a stop gap measure to provide better capability to its fleet of A-10A's while awaiting the C-model conversion that required the jets to go to depot for modification.  

 

The Idaho and Pennsylvania Guard, and Whiteman Reserves, took the A+ into combat in Iraq 2007 and Afghanistan 2008.

Edited by Guard Hog
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