A-10B Desert Storm: 2/28 Taking a break

[dodgem37]

Nice detail work, Kai.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[EmperorKai]

Thanks for looking in Mark! Kai

[Viper Enforcer]

Nice work Kai. Do you have plans to update the cockpit represent a more modern A-10, or at least what would have been for an A-10B since not much of the N/AW  details would have been carried over with the advancements in avionics and Pods?  So many ways to go with this.

 

I have that actual flight journal issue; a great read. There are a few other concept A-10B proposal drafts here at the Edwards History office. One of the key notes was retaining the same windscreen in order to keep the jet as common-modular as possible; not to mention the fact that the one-piece/wrap around front windscreen would not have been be able to support the same “armor†protection as the original canopy. That was the main reason why is was not going to be adopted. This is why we will retain the same front canopy (corrected of course); following the practical concept sense.

 

For reference comparison, the A-10B one-piece main canopy looked really similar in side profile to the OA-4M Skyhawk main canopy.
For a Desert Scheme, I would go with something like the one Jet that we had over in DS; one of the 33rd F-16Cs. It was nearly the same colors are the Israeli F-16s, just minus the Light green and it too was light gray on the bottom; FS36275.  This is also similar to the current Moroccan Block 52+ F-16s, though the lower gray is FS 36270, like this:

 

 

Edited November 23, 2014 by Viper Enforcer

[EmperorKai]

Mike,

Awesome info- It makes perfect sense and the fact that they considered it, but decided otherwise is the missing puzzle piece for me that puts to bed the windscreen question for me.  I ordered the Squadron A-10 canopy today, so I should be able to explore that in the next few days.

 

The desert colors are pretty dang sweet- having pics really helps with the colors.  I envisioned wrap around desert colors but the light ghost gray undersides would be cool.  Between you and Jack, I'm really starting to look closer at it. 

 

As far as the cockpit is concerned, I added a couple of glass screen monitors in the back, and am thinking I'll add one in the front.  I wasn't planning on going much farther than that though.  I'll have some pics soon of my progress there soon.

 

You rock!

 

Kai

Edited November 24, 2014 by EmperorKai

[EmperorKai]

Two days ago, a small pile of goodies showed up in the mail that included some A-10 wheels, courtesy of Mike over at Sierra Hotel.  After taking a look at them, I really wanted to revisit the wheels.

 

From left to right, the Trumpeter kit main and nose, Sierra Hotel NST Michelin's and True Details.  

• The Trumpeter wheels don't reconcile well with reference photos much at all, especially the mains.
• The Sierra Hotel wheels are a dead ringer when compared to the reference photos (below).  As far as the nose wheel is concerned, it is the only one that come close.
• The True Details main wheels seem over-sized but are otherwise in the ball park.  However, the nose wheel is particularly baffling in that its dimensions are off and really doesn't look anything like an A-10 wheel.

 

Outboard view of A-10 main wheel

 

Left side view of A-10 nose wheel.

 

An angled view to highlight the depth of the rim (or lack thereof as the case may be).  Note that the rim edge on the True Detail nose wheel is almost non-existent.

 

Here, the backside view of the main wheels. As far as mounting the main wheels, the True Details wheel will need to be drilled out before it can be used.

 

The Sierra Hotel nose wheel may need to be drilled out slightly, but keep in mind that because the rim is deeper, it should be done sparingly.  The True Details nose wheel seems to be designed for a completely different kit, and will need some minor surgery to actually mount to the nose gear.

 

Inboard view of an A-10 main wheel

 

Right side view of A-10 nose wheel.

 

Edge view.  Comparing to reference pics, the Sierra Hotel wheels have the only accurate tread pattern and the Trumpeter and True Details main wheels seem too wide.

 

As with most resin wheels, there's always a little clean up around the casting block.  Here, the worst of it, which is not bad at all.  Note that the weighted portion of the True Details main wheel is considerable in comparison and seems a little exaggerated compared to reference photos.   

 

Here, the dimensions in millimeters

 

 

Trumpeter

True Details

Sierra Hotel

Main tire diameter

28.0

28.2

27.6

Main tire width

9.2

9.4

8.9

Main rim diameter

18.6

18.6

18.9

Nose tire diameter

5.7

6.5

6.3

Nose tire width

15.4 

15.3

15.0

Nose rim diameter

9.9

9.6

9.7

 

Conclusion:

To truly upgrade the A-10 kit, the Sierra Hotel wheels are the only way to go, and I'm very glad that I was able to get a hold of these in time for this project (Thanks Mike!).  I might also mention that there appears that Sierra Hotel has (or will have) at least 3 different versions of wheels for the A-10 -Goodyear (32322B), BF Goodrich (32322D) and Michelin (32322C).

 

Lastly, I have 2 sets of True Details A-10 wheels.  For sale.  Cheap.  

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Kai

Edited November 24, 2014 by EmperorKai

[Youngtiger1]

Kai, you can't go wrong using SH wheels.

[Guest]

Kai, I agree about the wheels as SH does some awesome stuff. You also said you got the "Sider" rails also. Can you post a pic of the kit part compared to the SH rails ? I'm still leaning towords the grey on grey when I try mine sometime before the end of time I hope. Watching and learning........Harv 

[EmperorKai]

Kai, you can't go wrong using SH wheels.

Mike-

Every project I learn something.  Sometimes it's trying a new process, a new material or medium, and always about whatever it is I'm building.  One of the many things I've learned on this project is that Sierra Hotel are the go-to guys for the A-10 aftermarket.  It's pretty clear that with the wheels, engine set and the update sets (when it come out), they will have the Trumpeter A-10 kits nailed.

 

Kai

[EmperorKai]

You betcha Harvey- one LAU-114 DRA with LAU-105/A launch rails comin' right up...

 

The Sierra Hotel DRA and Trumpeter kit part.  Apologies for the lighting- was trying to show the subtle angles.  They are about the same length overall.

 

And an actual for reference

 

Close up of the forward section.  The LAU-105 launch rails are well represented with rivets and panel lines.

 

 

The rear section from the top.

 

 

Bottom view.  The Trumpeter kit part features four accurately detailed punch marks.

 

Bottom view from the forward...

 

Kai

 

 

[Guest]

Like I said, they make some great stuff.....Harv

[EmperorKai]

So aside from playing with the new goodies today, started working on the engine nacelles.  

 

Dry fitting the engine nacelle piece to the fuselage.  The seam at the aft looks pretty good.

 

The forward seam on top the fuselage is a little bigger, but not too bad.

 

Here, from the front quarter, there appears to be a seam on the underside, however it is actually hard to see beyond this view.

 

Same view but the opposite side. 

 

From the bottom, the seam is concealed by the curvature of the fuselage. 

 

I've gone ahead and started gluing, but I wanted to show the gaping hole on the inboard side of the engine space, which should actually be smooth.  Not really an issue from the front as the intake will conceal it.

 

However, from the aft this will be visible even after the engine is in place.

 

What it should look like.

 

There are quite a few "treaded" punch marks that needed to be smoothed out.

 

Done with this side

 

 

Starting to dig into the engine and will have pics next

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Kai

Edited November 24, 2014 by EmperorKai

[Guest]

OH BOY.....Harv 

[EmperorKai]

Worked on the engines and have quite a bit to show and tell, so this will be a two-parter

 

After gluing the upper and lower nacelle parts together, I decided to cheat on the gap and covered it over with tape.  Aside from the visible parts of the engine, I will be doing my best to hide the rest of the internals.

 

The Sierrea Hotel TF34 engine update laid out- beautifully done.

 

Here, the intake compared to the kit parts.  Note that the intake is deeper, the fan face sits farther back and though it is hard to tell here, the collar is thinner.

 

The kit fan and the Sierra Hotel piece- huge improvement.

 

The rear exhaust compared to the kit parts.  In reviewing reference pics, it appears that this part should be painted the same as the nacelle exterior color.  The pics I have are not exactly conclusive on Desert Storm era Warthogs though, so please let me know if this is not the case...

 

Here, the aft facing kit and upgrade parts of the low pressure turbine.

 

The internal arrangement of the Sierra Hotel parts dry fitted in place.

 

Here, a view of the exhaust duct. 

 

The exhaust duct from the aft.  Note that the tape inside the nacelle is already mostly hidden.

 

From directly aft, the exhaust...

 

So far, so good- now part 2

 

Kai

 

 

[EmperorKai]

So, while I haven't yet glued the resin parts into place yet (they need to be painted first), I decided to work on the dreaded access door, which I was expecting to be the worst of it.

 

The problem area of the access door seems to be the bottom seam line where all the latches are located.  In the pic, all the latches are pointed up except for the second one from the left, which I found to be the culprit.  It seems to be mis-located slightly to the left, which causes the other latches to bind up.  After trimming the offending portion away, I found that the access door lined up well enough on all four sides.

 

The big issue I ran into though was fitted the intake to the nacelle with the access panel taped into place.  There seems to be a mismatch between the circumference of the intake and the nacelle (lower left corner of the pic).

 

I decided to try reversing the priority and line up the intake and see where the access panel "gaps".  Here, everything is tight on top and along the intake.

 

The gap on the bottom is pretty extreme though.  As bad as it is, this alone is fixable, however....

 

The gap along the aft side is not fixable without building out the compound curve of the tail end.  

 

Finding myself between a rock and a hard place, I decided to back off the small step on the intake to get some room to play with in lining up the pieces.

 

The step was dremeled off, taking care to preserve edge where the intake contacts the nacelle. 

 

At this point, the access panel is tight on all four sides (as much as it will get anyway). and the intake is tight against the nacelle now.  However, proceeding to the next step will entail sanding the intake flush with the nacelle, which will unfortunately alter the corrected curve.    .  For this kit on this step, though not fatal, I will probably have to settle for a draw and move on.  

 

As this was going on, I was able to get a hold of Mike at Sierra Hotel, who actually got pieces out of a kit on his end and took a look at this with me (which is incredibly cool of him).  After comparing notes, I realized where I got off track on this.  Of course, it didn't dawn on me until too late  , but there is a different approach that would have probably mitigated the worst of this.  

 

I need to use some parts out of my single seater and take some more pics, but I'm pooped, so I'll follow up next with how to avoid this.

 

Thanks for looking and commiserating with me!

 

Kai

Edited November 25, 2014 by EmperorKai

[Viper Enforcer]

Wow, things are moving along with this Hog; nice work.

 

An interesting approach to the stepping, which is a problem with the kit nacelle assembly fit. Unfortunately, Just note by removing the step, you're changing the corrected inlet lip contour - transition to the nacelle. Yea, Both 48th Italeri and Hobbyboss kit nacelles did us no favors with their terrible fit either. 

 

I am still looking at an internal nacelle plug, as that nacelle pylon hole needs a plug!

 

Mike V