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 As a kid I often saw A-10s from the first operational squadron flying up and down Myrtle Beach, SC. Years later when out working near Ft Bragg I frequently watched A-10s doing gun runs with their 30mm GAU-8 gatling gun and it's bizarre, ear tickling sound (Pope AFB at Ft Bragg had the Flying Tigers based there for a spell).

 

The kit is the old Tamiya as it was based on the early preproduction aircraft and lacked many features on production aircraft (chaff/flare launchers etc) and other bumps that featured on production aircraft. It's old but a pretty good kit, accurate shape and panel lines, I added a lot of rivets and the vertical and horizontal stabilizers from the Monogram kit to get the skin right. The wheel sponsons are a bit boxy and empty so I replaced them with Aires resin.

 

I used a lot of aftermarket, most of it for other A-10 kits, Quinta Studio combined with Black Box cockpit parts, Aires wheel sponsons, an ESCAPAC seat (used on the early aircraft-ACES later), Monogram tails and landing gear struts, resin wheels, Printscale decals, Model Master paints, Master brass gun muzzle (awesome) and pitot, some Eduard etched brass and somebody's two part fan blades..

 

Joint Attack Weapons System (JAWS) was an exercise in 1977 at Nellis that tested A-10 tactics with US Army helicopters. The idea was to integrate the firepower and overall effect of artillery, battlefield helicopters and A-10s. The A-10s flew low and used the terrain as cover. Finding the original gray schemes were far too visible to ground defenders and aircraft, several mottled camouflage schemes were tested and altered during the various exercises (which also took place in Germany). The mottled camo was considered too difficult to maintain and the Euro 1 dark green and gray (lizard) scheme adopted.

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A fllbufuD.jpgew of the real ones

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And the business end

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It's a big aircraft

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