Hog's firepower display - A-10C - Full makeup

[red Dog]

Painting the inside of the canopy was a success thanks to @Isar 30/07 who pointed this topic for help: 

 

And following exactly Rick's advice it went without a hitch.
So many thanks both of you.

 

 

I decided to go for Tamiya X-24 with a few drop of X-19 to darken it a bit. 

 

 

One side painted one side left untouched 

Happy with the result - less is more so I stopped before it was too tinted.

 

 

 

[scvrobeson]

Tinted canopy looks great. Definitely nerve-wracking to airbrush the canopy glass I'm sure

 

 

 

Matt 

[Jim Barry]

Looking good! 

[red Dog]

After two weeks of holidays away from the bench, I'm back working on this hog of a kit.

 

First a better picture to assess the tinting of the windscreen sides: The right part is the original untinted A-10 canopy I will use as test for the next step.

 

I designed some head tracker reflector for the canopy. As always I made some sizing test before printing on decal paper:

Just a bit too small, so I increased size by 10% and printed on laser decal paper.

 

Then a quick and thin coat of X-22 and once dry I applied one of the three to the original A-10 canopy.

I won't place it in the right spot because of that ugly seam line. it's just a test and I want to see clearly the whole area

 

The idea here is to see how much of the carrier film remains visible on the transparency and also assess if the decal solution I use will not alter the transparent plastic (you can't be too careful with transparent parts)  

I also made such tests on the sprue of the vac canopy just to be sure

 

 

Close-up and you see the carrier - that's after one drop of decal solution.

I'm always a bit concerned with the edges of the carrier film, that's where it's the most visible and sometimes it has a tendency to lift and curl which is really awful. 

 

From a bit further away, it's barely visible.

 

 

It's the best compromise I could come up with. I'll give it a night before repeating the process on the vac canopy.

 

Don't hesitate to share your comments or let me know if you guys think of a better way to do this. 

Thanks 

[A-10LOADER]

Would applying the dot decal with a drop of future make the carrier film less noticeable ??

Steve

[red Dog]

great suggestion Steve, thanks

 

I tried with the Future (Klear) that we have available here in Europe. that's the milky one, not the transparent one

and here's the result:

 

 

Same result IMHO

 

 

[A-10LOADER]

This maybe as good as it gets unless you try what Pete suggested ?

Steve

[red Dog]

I can't believe I missed Pete's post. Sorry P

[red Dog]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:43 PM, Pete Fleischmann said:

I think if I were going to replicate the constellation of helmet trackers (dots)- I’d create a template of the dot pattern, temporarily tape it to the outside of the canopy, and from the inside, tap a tiny dot of JB WELD (applied with a fine strip of wire held in a pin vice) at the dot locations.

I do rivets like this all the time.

JB WELD dries to a very dark grey. It domes beautifully; and after you practice for a bit, you’ll make consistent sized dots.

No decal film to deal with either

 

P

 

Sounds like a great way for me to screw that canopy  Something I am good at

But let's give it a try and abuse that trumpeter transparency first

 

I am not familiar with JB WELD. is that the 2 component thingy:

 

[easixpedro]

3 hours ago, red Dog said:

I am not familiar with JB WELD. is that the 2 component thingy:

Bingo.

[red Dog]

ordered. Will try Pete's suggetsion over the weekend

Thanks all

[A-10LOADER]

I use this stuff all the time for gluing my resin parts to the models. Do some "testing" so you get a feel for how it works. Mix small batches at a time and try to keep your mixing ratios as close to 1:1 as possible otherwise it will harden too fast ( too much hardener ) or, it will take forever to harden ( not enough hardener ). Keep track of your time while mixing as well, when properly mixed it should start to set up in about 5 to 8 minutes, after that it's too hard to work with especially for what your trying to accomplish.

Steve

 

 

[red Dog]

thanks. 

Sounds like milliput

[red Dog]

While I practice the delicate JBWeld operation, I further converted the pilot and IP.

 

The oxygen mask had to be cut from the original left hand and the insides were hollowed to allow the mask to fit the pilot face.
The oxygen hose was also remade.
Maps and datacards were glued on the two big kneeboards and the flight stick was glued in his right hand.
The flight stick base is glued in the cockpit floor and these two will match as the pilot seat slides into the pit

 

Also noticeable is the right eye lens necessary to convert the helmet to scorpion. 

 

On top of the helmet, the sensor for head tracker was added as well as the big cable running from inside the visor to the side panels. 

 

Here's a unforgiving closeup of the pilot's helmet converted to Scorpion. 

 

I usually print my own flight suit patches and HUD decals as unfortunately very few decal sheets provide these important details.
I know most combat missions are done without them but call that artistic licence as I prefer my pilots to wear these. I usually design these by scaling down the aircrfat decals I design. 
Small detail that I actually never see on commercial decals are the mirrored US flaf to allow wearing it on the right arm. I heard the stars have always to point forward

 

The super thick Trumpeter HUD glass was replaced with a thin sheet of acetate on which the HUD decal was applied 

 

The top plate HUD is missing and was added with a small plastic plate. I kinda hesitated to make the special glareshield pouch the A-10 pilots all have and place in front of them.

 

All pieces together in the pit. I just need to add the scratched DTU box and repair the two seat rails that I broke previously. 

 

 

 

 

 

[geedubelyer]

Superb modifications. 

The addition of the right eye sight glass is very convincing.

Great stuff