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

[red Dog]

I didn't need two months to find the courage needed to hack that saw with the grinder. I just was pulled to the dark scale building another AMK Tomcat

 

I made a solid template in plasticard and started sanding symmetrically the assembled nose. 
I marked the area to be sanded with a red marker and then sanded "gently" until all red disappeared. 
Step by step I was able to push the template more and more backward shaping the nose accordingly.

 

 

 

When more precision was needed I switched to a less aggressive tool and worked my way through with baby steps

 

Almost there and the nose looks much better already.

 

I need to reinforce the inside of the fuselage further back towards the cockpit because I'm almost through the plastic and I need just a tiny more sanding to get the final result

 

 

It is well worth doing as the nose really looks much better that way

 

 

[jmel]

Agreed.  The nose profile makes a ton of difference to the completed model.  I'm looking forward to seeing more progress!

 

Jake

[F`s are my favs]

Wow, I had to catch up through the topic. Awesome modifications! And quite needed of course. In the beginning, I didin't pay attention to the nose section, but after reviewing the pics a few times, I got the idea. Btw it could be too late already (at least for the inserts for the thickening of the nose section), but I found out that just stacking/glueing sheets of plastic is the best working solution. Some bare curved pieces frome the same plastic of the kit, for exampe, from unused fuel pylons as they have similar shapes. Otherwise, you will see it when you get to the painting stage, but with the time, the boundaries of the ''surfaces from CA glue'' create visible edges, as the ''material'' is different from the surrounding plastic. I assume you may know that already though. Anyway, if you really like how it goes with the CA glue method - you could try with cotton as well. Just a little bit of cotton - a few drops of CA glue - a little bit of cotton - then another few drops of CA glue, etc. Until you get the required thickness. The cotton absorbes the liquid along the fibers, while the baking soda is powder, which means that the CA glue will soak up in only the uppermost ''layer'' but there is risk of unsoaked powder underneath. Just a tip.

 

A very nice project, but I kept missing it because of the title that doesn't sound like A-10 (I forgot the nickname)...  I'm following now. Btw it is very nice to see another examplary build of this model after the Chuck's build quite some years ago. I kind of remember it. Cheers,  and happy modelling! 

[Shujaa]

Following with great intrest since I also have this box in my stash. Kinda wondering how You will tackle the shape of the main landing-gear sponsons... It looks like Trumpy has shaped them "up-side down". I can kinda live with the mis-shaped nose and the windshield- / canopy-shape, but those sponsons really bother me...   

 

When gluing the fuselage You will surely destroy some of the rivet-detail. Here's a nice tip that will work restoring them:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003444681343.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.17.4b1643adk00oBk&algo_pvid=2c5a6f3d-843c-4d40-8434-e9fdb33f6ec4&algo_exp_id=2c5a6f3d-843c-4d40-8434-e9fdb33f6ec4-8&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id"%3A"12000025818255205"}&pdp_npi=2%40dis!EUR!2.83!1.98!!!1.22!!%40214527fd16717350034554949d06f0!12000025818255205!sea&curPageLogUid=zCxJGG5uP2NN

 

Ranging from 0,25mm up to 0,76mm and with 25.000 in a bottle You'll even be able feed the carpet-monster some. 

 

Just drill a small hole at the desired spot, let's say 0,2mm, apply some CA and drop in a 0,25mm soddering-ball. If need be You can even "squash" the soddering-ball into shape since the material is very soft.

 

Kind regards,

 

Rudy.

 

P.S.:

Just look around at the web-site & You'll find cheaper offerings.   

Edited December 22, 2022 by Shujaa

[red Dog]

On 12/21/2022 at 5:04 PM, jmel said:

I'm looking forward to seeing more progress!

Jake

Thanks Jake,

I went to the local aviation bookshop hoping to find the modern hog guide yesterday. It was unfortunately out. Luckily I have the first one which is going to help me quite a lot.

[red Dog]

 

On 12/21/2022 at 7:43 PM, F`s are my favs said:

You could try with cotton as well. Just a little bit of cotton - a few drops of CA glue - a little bit of cotton - then another few drops of CA glue, etc. Until you get the required thickness. The cotton absorbes the liquid along the fibers, while the baking soda is powder, which means that the CA glue will soak up in only the uppermost ''layer'' but there is risk of unsoaked powder underneath. Just a tip.

 

Thanks Milan,

Didn't know about the cotton trick.
Baking Soda worked fine so far, I'm just barely NOT through the plastic and I'm considering stopping right here. I'm not perfectly along my template but the modifications are very well visible and I fear that that last 0.5 mm is not worth the trouble. So I'll probably leave it at that.

[red Dog]

15 hours ago, Shujaa said:

Following with great intrest since I also have this box in my stash. Kinda wondering how You will tackle the shape of the main landing-gear sponsons... It looks like Trumpy has shaped them "up-side down". I can kinda live with the mis-shaped nose and the windshield- / canopy-shape, but those sponsons really bother me...   

 

When gluing the fuselage You will surely destroy some of the rivet-detail. Here's a nice tip that will work restoring them:

Ranging from 0,25mm up to 0,76mm and with 25.000 in a bottle You'll even be able feed the carpet-monster some. 

Just drill a small hole at the desired spot, let's say 0,2mm, apply some CA and drop in a 0,25mm soddering-ball. If need be You can even "squash" the soddering-ball into shape since the material is very soft.

I haven't looked at the sponsons in details yet. The cutting edge kit has some replacements with correct dispensers which I intend to use and my build will be wheels up which i going to solve the main gear location issue. I think that should address the most obvious issues around that area.

 

Thanks for the ball tips. It's a great one but I can see a lot of them flying out all over the modelling room as I try to make them fit in their hole. This is going to be funny

 

Rivets will be one big challenge for this kit. I never quite used positive rivets yet but I know I will have soon. Current plan it to use HGW rivets I have available, but I fear these may not be large enough so I'll seriously consider your tips indeed. Many thanks

[thierry laurent]

By the way, as far as I know, Micromark is still making positive rivets. Archer's were slightly better but fully OOP now. I'm afraid the HGW will be too shallow.

[chuck540z3]

You are doing a great job with the fat nose correction and I would agree to stop while you're ahead.  Nobody will notice the last 0.5 to 1.0 mm and you might regret it if you did.

 

As for rivets, I found that a few sets of the Archer decal rivets worked really well and they are much higher profile than any HGW offerings that I know of.  While now OOP, I bet you can still find some somewhere, maybe even from Woody himself?

 

Cheers,

Chuck

[red Dog]

Thanks Chuck

 

I do have both Archer (not many of them) and HGW and I think I want to give a try with these micro balls Shujaa recommended above

 

In the meantime I think I have found the most important aftermarket needed for this

 

 

this will come in handy for a modelist's  lifetime

[themongoose]

4 hours ago, red Dog said:

Thanks Chuck

 

I do have both Archer (not many of them) and HGW and I think I want to give a try with these micro balls Shujaa recommended above

 

In the meantime I think I have found the most important aftermarket needed for this

 

 

this will come in handy for a modelist's  lifetime

Oooooh PRETTY! Did you find that at the end of the rainbow 

[red Dog]

13 hours ago, themongoose said:

Oooooh PRETTY! Did you find that at the end of the rainbow 

It's worth gold indeed :

 

First a beloved "picoti" technique on these old vents panel. The ladder door closes without too much trouble.

 

The smaller recessed area was filled at the bottom with .3 plasticard. The new panels will also be made with 0.3mm plasticard.
The mesh will be set flush with the plastic thanks to 3 little tabs

 

The coffee filter mesh got a change of career and was cut to shape: one big rectangular panel and another punched in a circle. I was kinda surprised it worked so well

 

 

New panel was cut to shape with 0.3mm plasticard, It's not perfect as the venting holes are a bit large but that will do for now

the original bottom right panel line needs to be filled, but as many other do, I'll do that later

 

 

[brahman104]

Loving your work! One day I'll have a crack at this one; definitely going to be using your build for reference  

 

Craig

[red Dog]

Thanks Craig.

 

I am no too happy with the rear facing vents Trumpeter provides. They are too narrow IMHO

Unfortunately the few parts I have as possible replacement are not suitable either: One is too small, the other is too large.

 

I created a new one using a half round tube.
I first filled one end with cyanocrylate and to avoid the cyano to run away I applied a drop of CA accelerator

Then I shaped the tiny part by sanding as I wanted. 

 

The shape in the fuselage was contoured with the usual paper and pencil trick which was reported to 0.3mm plasticard. A little more sanding and the plastic fill the fuselage recess. The new vent is placed on top for a much better result but the picture below will let you judge by yourself:

 

I need 3 of those (the 4th one is unfortunately larger and will need another scratch one).
So Oyumaru once again came to the rescue.
This is really something I have used a lot lately to reproduce small parts. For those of you not yet aware of it, It's a paste that becomes soft when immerged in boiling water. It can then be applied on a part to create a mold. The paste hardens as it cools and the master can be easily unmolded. 
I usually use Tamiya light curing putty to create parts. It really comes down to fill the mold, and let it dry in the light before unmolding. 

the three other vents were quickly created, the first one seen below suffered from a default and was rejected.

Obviously I will have to hollow the insides separately. Once you have enough parts, the oyumaru paste can be reused by warming again to create another mold. 

That thing is really useful on our benches.

 

 

Another thing I am not too happy with are the formation lights on the forward fuselage. Trumpeter does not feature the formation lights anywhere on the model but on the forward fuselage. Unfortunately they are just a bit too small and badly placed.
I have the exterior Eduard PE set that provides all the formation lights except the forward fuselage ones. ?? Too bad.

The forward fuselage navigation lights are looking the same size of part of the T wingtip formation lights. So by replicating one wingtip formation light I have enough for the two sides of the forward fuselage lights.   

  

 

Although I didn't have high hopes of success I tried to replicate these with Oyumaru as well.

The parts are very thin and I was afraid it would break at unmolding. 

The original PE part was placed flat on the cutting matt and warm oyumaru was pressed hard on top of it and let to cool.

The PE part unmolded correctly and then the mold was filled with the usual putty.

The part came out great and didn't break when taken out of the mold. It was then cut to extract the 2 relevant parts.

It's very hard to see the details on the newly created parts without paint. But I can now fill these original panel lines and place the formation lights at their correct place, that is lower than the original Trumpeter location.

Hopefully more details will come out with painting

 

The AOA vane seen top right in the picture above was cut off as it will be replaced by a resin part included in the Cutting Edge set.
 

 

 

 

[crobinsonh]

Great work and solutions on a difficult kit by all accounts (to get shape wise). Love the A-10.