A-10C Warthog

December 2020 -- 1/72 Academy A-10A modified to C standard.

The gentleman who requested this one also managed to track down in Spain (?) the sadly out-of-print Caracal decal sheet featuring Air Guard A-10s. (Good job Jim!) We are both Michigan residents, so it was clear which choice would result. (If you haven't used them, Caracal decals are about as good as they get.)

Jim also wanted a full load of weaponry. It's been years, maybe decades since I packed so much stuff under a warplane. Gotta admit, it looks pretty cool.

All in all I found the kit to be above average, although the opening half of the canopy didn't fit very well in the closed position. Also ground out the the front fan blades of the engines and replaced them with a solid styrene disk. Stationary fan blades in this in-flight presentation signals out of gas.

The real kit goof, and I didn't see it until I could do nothing about it, is the seat location in the cockpit. It's too far back, making the pilot also too far back. Hopefully there's enough good stuff going on with the model, that that error can be overlooked.

 

 

Comments

[Tory Mucaro]

Gorgeous Pat! Super clean model! All those little 1/72 scale stripes on the ordinance must have been a real treat! LOL! If you hadn't said anything about the pilot seat location I wouldn't have noticed. And no sign of where the canopy fit gave you trouble. As my old boss used to say, "It looks like it grew there"! I really like this one a lot!

[Pat Hawkey]

Thanks, Tory. Looking at lots of pictures, I get the impression the Guard units that fly these Hogs keep them spiffy. As for the ordinance, I wish I'd kept track of time that went into bombs and missiles and racks specifically. It was quite a bit, as I'm sure you can imagine. Many tiny holes drilled and metal pins installed. As I told the guy that asked for it, when the A-10 first arrived on the scene, I swore I'd never build a model of anything so ugly. Interesting how time can mellow one's view. Even reverse it.

[Greg Gattermeyer]

I’ve been stopping by occasionally for years Pat. Always worth a look and it’s great you’ve kept it going. Love the in-flight builds, something more modelers should try.

[Pat Hawkey]

Thanks for the visits, Greg. Sorry the new posts have gotten fewer and farther between, but I'm not cranking them out like I used to do. Still plugging away, though. In fact got another in-flight job finished and imaged needing to be added to the collection here. Stay tuned!