Short update- worked on correcting the vertical fins for at an A-10 N/AW Late.
On the left, the vertical fin from the A-10A kit and the A-10 N/AW vertical fin on the right. The red band denotes the area that will be cut and is .25 inch in height. The original fin for the early A-10 N/AW had a 20.5 inch extension, but this was reduced to an 8.5 inch extension, for a difference of 12 inches. This 12 inch translates to a .375 inch difference that needs to be removed. The remaining .125 inch will be accommodated through a shallower cap.
Here, the cut has been made and the edge cleaned up. The half with the cut has been taped to the uncut half for reference.
The upper edge of the rudder needs to be horizontal rather than at the angled cut provided with the kit part (this is wrong regardless of A-10 version). This was accomplished by simply carving away the angled material. A .250 inch x .188 inch block of styrene (made by gluing two .125 inch x .188 inch strips together) was then CA'd to the top of the fin. For the rudder, a strip of .100 inch x .250 inch stryrene was CA'd in place.
The silhouette for the new cap is penciled in here as a guide for the initial carving, and is slightly enlarged to account for final shaping and finishing. Note also that the vertical pivot pins for the rudder have been removed.
Carving, shaving and sanding was also done on the rudder cap.
Here, the fin cap and rudder extension have been cleaned up. They are laid on top of the original kit part (from the opposite side) to verify the height difference, which is .375 inch.
A comparative with (from left to right) an A-10A fin, the corrected N/AW late fin and the original kit N/AW early fin.
Both fins, corrected and complete.
Will be working on the horizontal tail next.
Thanks for looking!
Kai
Edited by EmperorKai, 16 November 2014 - 06:33 AM.