EmperorKai Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Between your A-10B and Chuck's A-10C threads, I've picked up a lot of stuff I'll need to do to my kit when the time comes, although hopefully mine will be a little easier as I'll be backdating it to a JAWS marked jet, instead of adding lots of updates to the modern jets. Your attention to detail is very useful, and it seems on top of a lot of the bits I already have, the SHM wheels will have to join the bits for my build. Hope to get mine back on the bench once the big Scooter is out of the way. Talon- Thanks for looking in! I agree with you- backdating will be easier than updating. The Sierra Hotel stuff is pretty awesome. Mike mentioned they are looking to do more for the A-10, so you might be able to add a few more bits to the stash before you get started. They do great work and every little bit helps on this kit. Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 (edited) I'm planning to draw some bits in SolidWorks 3D for the A-4 and get them printed. Might see what I can do that will work with the A-10 at the same time. Edited January 18, 2015 by Talon EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Good show, Kai. Nice details. Sincerely, Mark EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 I'm planning to draw some bits in SolidWorks 3D for the A-4 and get them printed. Might see what I can do that will work with the A-10 at the same time. Kewl- would love to see that and follow your process. Maybe a tutorial for those of us unfamiliar with this new technology/capability? Good show, Kai. Nice details. Sincerely, Mark Thanks Mark and for looking in! Kai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Well, got a good bench session in last night and today. After going back-and-forth with reference pics and the kit parts a hundred times, I think I've finished the right landing gear sponson. Not entirely accurate but more like "based on a true story" and definitely more detail than out of the box. After about 30 hours, I think I'm at a point where I can live with it. First up- the kit flare-chaff cartridges on the rear of the sponsons are too small. New ones were built using K&S 153 square tubing and .030 strip styrene. Alliance Modelworks .85 mm large mesh photo-etch was used for the grid for the cartridges. The grid is pretty neat in that it has a woven effect on one side, and a flat grid on the other side, which is what was used in this case. A new fairing was also built up. Here, a comparison between the kit part and the replacement. The dimensions and shape of the sponsons are off enough that some artistic liberty is required to get everything to fit. The rivets were also removed from the entire sponson and will be replaced (only where appropriate) later on. The entire perimeter of the opening for the landing gear was thinned with a Dremel. Then some of the shape issues with the opening were addressed- mainly getting rid of curves in some places, and adding curves in others. Here, a before and after with the still untouched left side sponson. Another view of the work done on the wing half and the sponson interior. In preparation for priming, the wing was taped off. Dry fitting the sponson to the wing. View from the front. One more shot from the outboard side. Lastly, the flare-chaff dischargers on the wingtip from the Eduard photo-etch set. Will be spending the next few days duplicating the detail work on the left side. Thanks for looking! Kai Anthony in NZ and Uilleann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Thats just incredible! Very clean and inspiring to watch. Thank you for these updates Cheers Anthony EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Amazing as always Kai.......Harv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Beautifull ! EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Nice detailing. Great execution. Sincerely, Mark EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Kai Awesome detail work - simply stellar Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 (edited) Great work on the sponsons Kai! I have a tip that you likely know about already, but I'll show it here, just in case. On every A-10 kit there is a center panel line at the top of the sponson, but it doesn't really exist- or at least it has now been filled in. Here's a pic I took of an A-10C at Nellis last November to show you what I mean. The side one is real, and horizontal, but very subtle. Edited January 19, 2015 by chuck540z3 EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmperorKai Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Thanks a ton guys! and Great pics Chuck! I am planning on doing some re-shaping of the sponsons once they are together, so that panel line along the top should disappear quick enough. I'm also planning on extending the sponsons to reflect a true A-10B, so still lots more to do on these. This is a great opportunity to illustrate some of the shape issues with the sponson. Here are some pics I took of the kit part- compare these to Chuck's pics above... The upper half is oversized and its contours don't coincide with the lower half. As a result, the upper half is too rounded. The slab-like sides should continue on the upper half. A 3/4 view- when compared to Chuck's pic above, it becomes pretty apparent that the upper half should angle downward much more. This is a pretty major mis-shape and and in order to really fix this, the entire sponson would probably need to be removed and modified or replaced. Since I'm extending them for the A-10B version anyway, I won't be going that far with it. Here, the top view. Because the centerline axis of the sponson is at the wrong angle, the intersection between the sponson and the wing is convex. They should be more concave (yellow lines). To best illustrate the angle issue, here is a really good side view of the sponson. And the kit's rendition for comparison- the entire sponson should have much more droop. I've already cut the cone off the front end, but I've drawn its approximate profile in red. All in all, fixing this would entail some pretty major surgery. As a compromise, I will be flattening the sides, and tone down some of the longitudinal curve on the top. Don't have in-progress pics today as I've been working on detailing the second sponson. Fortunately it's going much faster and should have an update with pics in the next day or so. Thanks again! Kai Talon and Uilleann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 The shape issues are pretty apparent. That would take some serious work to correct, but nice to know what the issues are. EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marauderdriver Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Nicely Done Kai, Your detail work is amazing Sir! Catching up on things since I've been unable to keep up recently watch'in you :punk: jack EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninaustria Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I don't know about the rest of the apprentices here on site... but, I sure am learning lots from this outstanding build! Thanks for taking the time to really present everything so well and explain your build strategy! Cheers Alan EmperorKai 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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