red Dog

Too bad I already have one specific A-10 chosen. I just found this and with the old tail camo and the flying tiger, it is very appealing But no ... No way I'm building another one

Station #4 & #8 These pylons are almost identical to station #2 and 10 and needed the same process, so nothing much more to add

Station #3 & #9 This pair has the more or less correct fairing but the particularity is that both location for the sway brace need to be moved. The forward one is just a bit too forward and the rear one is as always way too much aft. The MAU-40/50 bolts location must all be replaced alongside the sway brace location. I first mark the new 4 bolt locations, then drill 4 holes taking care not to go through the plastic. It happened quite a few times and in that case I had to slide a thin piece of styrene inside the pylon. The inner bolt recess shape is made more pointy Then I simply placed the moulded bolt I created with Tamiya light curing putty in the drilled holes Once in place, the bolts are given a quick dip of Tamiya ultra liquid cement which is usually enough to hold them in place. Repeat the operation for the other side of the pylon... and then repeat the whole process for the other 10 pylons It's rough in Macro, but looks much better painted and attached to the wings

Yep, I am afraid so Station #2 and # 10 I have a feeling these 2pylons are not high enough. But I won't correct that. The reason I feel that is the way the bump at the wing junction is implemented by Trumpeter. The bump is very small and when compared to the real picture above, it seems it's been cut with the whole top part of the pylon missing. I have no way of checking this, so I decided to compromise and implement a larger bump and leave with the probable smaller pylon. The same conclusion was done for pylon #4 and #8 which also have a very small bump where they should have the same one as above. They were modified as well. Correcting the bump was done with white milliput on one pylon. It's done by eye with no accurate measurements. The other corrections are done as well - filling the rear sway brace location which is too far apart from the forward one. - digging the rectangular hole for the impulse cartridge retainers, Filling all rivets and panel lines with putty and sanding The bump was then replicated with thermoplastic with the pylon placed on the wing. And Tamiya light curing putty was used to duplicate the bumps to be used on the other pylon (same was done for the #4 & #8 pylons) Next: drilling the holes for the MAU-40/50 racks and, making new panel lines and adding rivets. I usually use Archer's for the biggers ones, Quinta 1/24 for the middles and Quinta's 1/32 fo rthe small ones. Before painting these gets at least 3 coats of decal solution and 2 coats of X-22 gloss.

They are pale yellow. I can't really see the difference between these unlighted and the usual decals we use for these. When I have to paint them, I usually mix radome tan with a bit of white. Here's the phosphorescent strips when "unlighted" And in total darkness after being energized

Awesome winter effect

those pylons ... Wow

Pylon #1 & #11 The outer pylons suffer from the wrong decelerons structure line on the bottom of the wings The rear fairing must be cut at the end of the wing, the decelerons attachement point moved forward a bit and the pointy end of the pylon shortened as well. From the picture above you can also see that the distance between the two sway braces is way too long and must be shortened. It's the case on all pylons. The rear one must be moved forward. The original was filled with styrene bits and sanded smooth. The new one was just created with a file. The recessed rivets and panel lines were all filled with Water based Perfect putty in 2 subsequent applications. The impulse cartridge retainers were created on the left of each panel by first making a rectangular recess and then gluing two large dots moulded in the Green stuff rivet silicon moulds I used earlier in this build. The rear of the pylon has been modified by cutting the hydraulic decelerons arm, which will be lengthened and replaced inside the new pylon opening. The MAU-40/50 bolts were added (I will detail the process with another pait of pylon work) and the pylons were engraved for panel lines. Before adding positive rivets I always gave the modified pylon a coat of gloss X-22. Then using different size rivets I tried to replicate the real rivet patterns. It's not 100% perfect but IMHO close enough. After the rivets were all placed and given 3 coats of daco ultra strong decal solution, I applied again a Coat of X-22 to seal them Small door hinges were created with stretched sprues and holes for the safety pins were drilled. An interesting feature missing from the Trumpeter pylons 1 & 11 are the refuelling lights located on the fuselage side of each pylon. They illuminate the nose for the boomer I guess. These were added from scratch

great stuff as always Steve, I knew you'd chime in with your knowledge Thanks

Greg, An alternative to paint is to use phosphorescent self adhesive tape. The one I used above were sourced from Magic scale modeling but I guess other brands are available. They are uncut and need to be cut to size. More work but more flexible. I cut mine with the silouhette which was very easy. It's widely available in rolls on amazon too, but I guess the trick is to find one which is very thin. It is a gimmick, but I reckon it's fun to take the model in light and then bring it in the dark room and see the slime lights ON

It has been mentioned before the pylons of this kit are a PITA - They need positive rivets (a lot) and they are engraved. All 11 pylons will be puttied to fill the rivets - The panel lines are mostly wrong and the rivet operation above will fill them anyway - The sway braces needs to be redone - The bomb racks are not separate. The spacing of the sway brace is way too long on the Trumpeter pylons. the most rear one must be filled and a new opening needs to to be done at the correct distance from the forward one. - The 4 bolts per pylon side to attach the bomb racks also need to be redone - Other specific details are missing such as the double dots in the middle of the sway brace on the left of each weapon (no idea of the name and purpose of that recessed area with these 2 dots, lights on pylon 1 and 11 and bumps and fairing on various pylons. - The pylon are fit into a recessed bay in the wing which is a good thing to ensure proper pylon angle. All pylons on the other wing remains vertical whereas the outer wing is angled upward. The fit is so so and as Chuck mentioned before the pylons must be contoured with a wire once placed in their bay. - Some pylons are wrong in shape, being too long or not high enough. I am aware of pylons replacement available on phase hangar resin and these are looking great. Unfortunately I already started working on my pylons before that set became available and I decided to press further with converting the Trumpeter pylons as best as I can. But if you plan on building this model, save yourself the hassle and get these pylons (2 different sets for A-10A or A-10C) as pylon 2 and 10 are different to accommodate the targeting pod. Regarding the loadout, I will go with one of the standard load of the 354th when deployed to Incirlik in 2017: Station #1: GBU-12 (Eduard Brassin) Station #2: APKWS laser guided rockets (Phase hangar loaded and flying leathernecks empty pod) Station #3: AGM-65 LASER + launcher (from F/A-18 Academy kit) Station #4: GBU-38 (Videoaviation) Station #5: GBU-38 (Videoaviation) Station #6: Empty Station #7: GBU-31 (from the F-16 Sufa kit if I remember right, but it may be the F/A-18 also) Station #8: GBU-54 LJDAM (Reskit) Station #9: GBU-12 (Eduard Brassin) Station #10: Targeting pod (picture above shows a AN/AAQ-14 from the SUFA kit but I sourced a eduard Brassin AN/AAQ-28 Station #11: dual launcher for AIM-9. Launcher is from Reskit. Sidewinders are from anykit as long as it's not the Trumpeter A-10 . The ones I will use come from the Academy F/A-18C More about pylons and weapons soon...

It took 5 coats applied with a paintbrush and 2 with a spraycan for finish. With a good sanding session between each coat Glad this is done and I'm happy with the result I might start looking for a cool 354th patch to decorate the stand. I completely forgot I used phosphorescent strips for the foration lights but when I took the model this morning to take picture of the base, I saw this when I came back in the dark office: They glow nicely !! How cool is that

yep, it's probably a DDS for a flight sim. The daco book has some great F-104 drawings but even he minimizes rivets as they are all flush and polished. Most of them are invisible. If I were to do a F-104 I wouldn't sweat the rivet too much and would probably stick to the rivets drawn in Daco book references, not any other.

The way I fill panel lines or small gaps is a two step method: 1. Use any putty to first cover your gap or line. That putty will sag anyway and you will need a second application 2. The second application I do it with cyanoacrylate applied with a toothpick. Then sand within 30 minutes. Don't let that glue turn rock solid before sanding The fact that the first layer of putty create a recess while drying makes the perfect minimum amount of glue required which dries quickly and is relatively easy to sand. and being superglue, you can re-scribe it easily. When the gap is very small, go to step 2 right away. I lately discovered a water based putty (perfect plastic putty brand) that's not too bad to fill small gaps and requires no sanding. Just wipe it with a humid rag (works even better with a dry rag actually. Quite useful but you can't scribe it either. Works perfectly with the above method though. I was told that Mr White Putty R is a putty that you can scribe but I don't remember being flabbergasted when testing it - so basically I always revert to the superglue trick which is by far the best one for me.

Thanks gents, Of course I could not resist placing the model in different situation. Apologies for the picture, outside light is kinda hard and the weather was rapidly changing from rainy overcast to sunny. The carbon stick I use is 1m long and 6mm in diameter I had reservations to replace that stick with a 8mm carbon stick in case the weight was too much. I'm happy to report that it will not be necessary and the 6mm rod supports perfectly the model with almost no bend at all. Carbon is awesome !! It's about 50cm in the model and I have thus 50 cm outside of the model allowing me to have the model closer or further away from the stand. Even at the further point the carbon does its magic and hold the model perfectly. So here are the pictures: A slight level climb initiating the popup: (sorry I forgot to retract the speedbrakes in the scenario. Just pretend they are closed (they are left mobile and can be opened or closed) Rolling just before reaching at the Apex: Rolling further before pulling on the stick for the dive Apex, in Hot Keep rolling to the same side and acquire the target Bbrrrrrrrtttttt yes I did that sound in my driveway This is the last time you see that A-10 clean gents. That airframe needs a lot of gun powder strain and residues . Thanks for looking, as always

Productive Sunday the say the least The MDF stand is now complete. The three MDF part making the vertical stand have been sanded smooth on their front and back edges. The 2 outer feet are dry assembled in the base recesses and the whole is secured with 4 screws from the bottom of the base. The middle piece of wood making up the vertical stand of the stand will provide the support for the 6mm carbon stick. it has been bored in its length so the carbon rod can be inserted longitudinally. Easier said than done... That part is then sandwitched between the two outer ones and will rotate thanks to a middle bolt placed just under the carbon tunnel. With the internal cut, the middle section top rotates from -15° to +15°but obviously a single pivot point will not hold the weight of the model so I placed two holes for real remove before flight pins at +15° (giving the A-10 a positive attitude) and +5° (giving me a level flight) and I can let it go all the way down for a -10° dive for a bbrrrrt run Here's the stand with a positive attitude. The pin hold the carbon stick in the desired angle. The other hole to the left is for the level attitude. I just move the RBF pin from one hole to another depending on which pose I want. I attached a keyholder red flame to the pin. I have real ones but they are too long. I will source a new red keyholder suited for an A-10. The patch is a very old one I have not sure I will use it or not. But the stand will have some A-10 stencils placards and goodies. The middle part is cut so that once the moving part rests on its base, the A-10 is diving for a gun run, giving me an extra position. I can have intermediate positions as well thanks to a triangular piece of wood I can insert in the hole as well; but I doubt it will be required. Here's a final picture with the level position and the pin inserted in the left hole

pleasure mate. Don't hesitate to ask if you need specific stuff. I'll be happy to help

Same process, I usually use clear laser decal sheet. Luckily this A-10C is pretty straightforward as all decals are black over light grey so printed color density is not an issue. That said there is a simple way to overcome the issue you mentionned. A perfect example was when I converted the Revell Mirage v to a Colombian Kfir C10. Dark grey aircraft with yellow decals Big no no with decals only. Since you design your own decals it's easy to cut masks from the decal computer design. For instance the colombian roundels outline were taken from the decal sheet design, reduced by a couple pixel in size (to avoid white flash) and imported in the silhouette software. Once cut as masks they can be painted white on the model and provide a perfect background for the light ensity color decals. I think I finally elected to do the whole roundel in masks in the Kfir example but I used that technique for the squadron finflash on the tail. With that technique all custom decals project became possible. It's more work but after all that's aircraft modelling. I love doing decals sheets for unique projects because I love the research that goes with it. I'm nowhere close to the pros on this forum and elsewhere but I do have my own custom decal project where I offer my previous decals/masks combos and do custom work on request.

Yeah, I know those edges drinks paint quite a lot. I have built my share of cabinets and dressing with MDF, and my 1:1 F-16 cockpit too The only trick is paint, sand, paint sand paint sand - rince & repeat. you can really get a very nice finish though. Haven't decided which color yet, but I usually end up with black.

Thanks for the reminder Chuck. that's an advice I was indeed planning to follow. The pylons actually need a lot more work as you found out before me. The sway brace location are wrong, bolts for attachment are wrong, the panel lines are wrong, rivets need adding, distinctive fairings are missing on 2, 4, 8 and 10 and let's not even start about some being underscaled and others overscaled. Most of it is a PITA to correct but I will go over my modification soon - although I have been working on that on and off for quite a bit of time. Having such a big model on my bench now made me first work on the custom display stand prototype. It's massive and by far the largest display stand I ever built. The idea is to have 3 positions for the airplane 15° up, horizontal and -10° The A-10 also need to rotate freely so I can decide to display it inverted, in a turn or level. This is only the first prototype and a lot of work are still required

Great scene Peter. Love the dynamics. I have the exact same project with a 1/24 stuka. So I took notes, especially about the way you dealt with the support rod. Really awesome

The decals I designes accounted for all three options. And one more for Champs 1 after being converted to an airshow bird but now I am committed to 976

Thank you all for your comments. One year after starting this project I have now finally decided which specific A-10C I'll model. The 354th Bulldog squadron during their 2017 OIR Incirlik deployment was picked up quite a while ago but I was still hesitating between two (actually three) specific aircraft. 81-976 Ditzy Daisy 81-983 Champs 1 80-275 The Dirty Pearl my requirement were: - dirty airframe not yet cleaned from the gun soot - the bulldog nametage under the left windscreen - live weapons, so during deployment - bomb tally if possible During deployment, the aircraft had bomb tally on either left or right side but no names Just before returning to the states names were added to the airframes on the left side under the fuselage Some sported bomb tally on their right side fuselage Once back in the US, the aircrfat were cleaned, names deleted and most of the bomb tallies removed as well, Some were kept for demo aircraft (Like Champs1) Pictures of specific armed aircraft with bomb tally, nicknames and dirty with gunpowder are quite rare. Although Dirty pearl (976) appeal was obvious with my weathering plans; I wasn't able to find a lot of info about her. All I can see is that she didn't have the DM code and was almost free of any markings. So I discarded that option. Even the serial on her nose were absent. Champs 1 (983) has a lot of picture available both during and after deployment. During deployment or at least during the return ferry trip, she had all my requirements and even more with Linda Lee being printed on her left side and an impressive bomb tally on her right side But my final choice is Ditzy Daisy (976) There are a few pictures of her at Incirlik exactly like I wanted my model to be. The only thing I never was able to find was her bomb tally. I recently found a picture where the right front fuselage has been cleaned where exactly bomb tally would have been. So I guess she sported tallies and I could add them - even though I don't know how much. The above picture was probably taken at Incirlik, just before the squadron came home.

Finished mating the two fuselage parts together. Quick splash of paint in the usual two greys and I started adding stencils with eduard PE masks made for the F-16 in 1/32 I could not resist dry fitting the wings to the fuselage as you can see. But before that I added stencils on the wings as well. Data is eduard PE and the star and bars is from my silhouette Once fitted with the tails and wings this thing becomes massive and harder to take pictures of. Please meet my floor because the cutting matt is now officially useless More touch ups and more masks for this weekend. I'd love to secure the wings as well but I'm concerned about handling such a big piece on my small bench But I'm getting to the point where I wanted: I'll soon start heavy weathering. But there's one final thing to address: the 11 pylons Thanks for following

No weathering has been done yet. So yes, I plan to address that later on . She will be filthy as a desert hog.