The Warthog Project

As a model builder, it is fun to pick and choose your builds and watch how they develop from a box of plastic parts into a fully detailed kit. The joys of building your favorite airplane catapult that fun up a notch. The four builds were great for me but I do have to say that I am ready for some variety. It’s also been a little while since I had a German airplane adorn the workbench so I am excited for the upcoming three in the new set.

Grouping the four A-10’s together in one picture proved to be a challenge with limited space in my photo box. I tried to get the best shots that I could to show the different paint schemes. No matter what scheme the A-10 wears, it remains a striking aircraft. So the question is…which is your favorite? 

    
   

A-10A Thunderbolt II

Wrapping up the Warthog Project is a soothing accomplishment. I was worried the paint wouldn’t come out looking right and I am glad to say that I was completely wrong for thinking that. After the overspray dilemma, the hard edges concerned me. To me, they look pretty decent all finished. The weathering is what really stands out to me. It’s enough without being too much. I don’t want to say that this is my favorite out of the four recent A-10 builds but the snow scheme looks sharp on there. 

So the build itself was typical Academy. Given the fact that this was my tenth A-10 build in five years, I’m pretty seasoned with the kits. The chin issue remains an across the board problem that I haven’t found a solution for as of yet. I’ll get it under control eventually. Other than that, I can’t complain. The finished kit looks great to me. I’m happy to add it to the shelf. 

   
      

   

  

Done and Done…

In some ways the repaint was a success and in some it remains disappointing. I’m thrilled that it was such an easy fix but not enthused with the hard lines in the camouflage. I could try spraying the white again but I think I’ll let this sleeping dog lie this time. My hope is that I can hide it in the weathering. It looks like I can so my fingers are crossed. 

I spent about fifteen minutes today at the airbrush spraying the final color of Dark Green. I removed the mask and it will sit until tomorrow when I start the decals. Not a whole lot longer and this A-10 will be complete. 

   

Fixing My Mistake

As you can see, the remaining A-10 is undergoing a mask to alleviate the white overspray. Progress was halted because of a very strong cup of coffee. My hands were a little jittery so I felt it best to put my hobby knife and model down for safety purposes. There isn’t much left to mask off so I feel pretty accomplished given the circumstances. I will try to resume later tonight or in the morning. Final paint will resume again as soon as the masking is completed and hopefully nothing else tries to interrupt the build. 

 

The Pothole

I was on my way to being finished with painting the Snow Hog when my airbrush decided to putter out on me. I started off with the nose section and that went fine until I stopped to adjust my grip. From that point on, it was spits and sputters causing the mass of overspray you see in the photograph. My guess is it needs a deep cleaning from all the paintwork lately. I tried turning the air pressure down resulting in no paint flow at all so I had to bite the bullet and continue. I have already had to fix one mistake of my own so what’s another? The white will get masked off tomorrow and I will re-spray the camouflage. It’s not my happiest moment but at least it’s only paint and not another dropped kit. The airbrush will get a thorough break-down before the next color goes on so I have a few minor hurdles to get across before I can think about final assembly. No worries, though. I have my next six kits on deck that I can begin while everything gets sorted out. 

   

A-10A Thunderbolt II

The third installment of the Warthog Project is the A-10A from the 103rd Fighter Squadron’s 80th anniversary. Building this kit provided a nice challenge in painting the lightning bolt instead of using the provided decals. I did end up having a few issues that needed to be fine-tuned but it worked out for the most part. Another mishap of my own doing was the darker gray color. I used up the remaining color on the A-10C build and had to mix my own color for this one. The new color looked dead on in the bottle but came out darker than I had intended. It’s a minor error that I really don’t think affects the build much. In my opinion, it came out pretty decent. 

Aside from the anniversary markings, this was a normal A-10 kit. To be honest, I bought this kit never intending on building this version. The scheme was not a favorite of mine but eventually it grew on me and I had to attempt it.  The kit itself had the same minor problems as the rest along with the same benefits as well. With three down, I still haven’t tired from building this great plane. 

    
    
   

A-10A Thunderbolt II

The peanut scheme A-10 was finished up late last night with some caveman ingenuity in adding more ballast to the nose. I actually ended up drilling a hole under the cockpit to drop more weight in. Not the most attractive option on a finished kit but it worked out. Aside from my little weight blunder, all went great. Hobby Boss did a great job putting out a quality kit. 

I was apprehensive at first when approaching this scheme. For some reason it intimidated me. The warthog decals on the nose were a hinderance for me as well. Decals that need to conform over curves have never performed well for me. It turns out that I was half wrong about that. The teeth of the decals went on great, it was the nostrils that I knew would be a problem. I quickly ditched them to finish the rest of the airplane. Once all the decals had set up, I used Radome Tan and Flat Black to hand paint them. Aside from that, I am very pleased with the results. 

    
    
   

One Down, Three To Go

With one A-10 completed, I am still left with three more to finish up. My airbrush sessions are dwindling down with the 103rd and Peanut A-10’s all set. The Peanut A-10 will get it’s decals applied tonight or tomorrow. This should be the next to be featured here.

The 103rd is finished with paint but the lightning bolt will need a few touch-ups. I will work on that tonight and hopefully get the decals started tomorrow. There will be a lot of masking to do to achieve a straight edge so I won’t rush it.

The Snow Hog has been held up a bit by my own hand. This is a prime example to double check and follow your gut feeling. The Academy instructions are incorrect with their camouflage placement and I knew that but kept on going instead of stopping for two minutes to find a better reference. The instructions swap the Dark Green and Euro I Gray on the profiles causing a guessing game. I guessed wrong on the nose of the plane and flip-flopped the green and gray. It’s not a hard fix, just annoying. So I need to re-paint the nose section before I can proceed to spraying the white. Not all was lost yesterday though. The decals were created and printed out. It took me about five minutes to design them and now I am all set for prep work. I just have to get the airplane painted now. 

    
   

A-10C Thunderbolt II

So this is the latest and greatest A-10. The “C” is the updated version of the “A” that had been previously used. The main visible difference is right behind the canopy with the small fin and blister. Regardless, I am glad to add the new “C” to my shelf.

Hasegawa did a great job with this kit. It had great detail all around. My only setback was the installation of the chin panel which I have complained about many times so I will leave it alone now. The kit is finished and that’s what matters here. So doing the “C” version, I wanted to represent an A-10 flying the empty skies of Iraq/Afghanistan. It just so happens that the Blacksnakes of the 122nd Fighter Wing just returned from their participation in Operation Inherent Resolve a few months ago. Being an Indiana resident, it was a must to go with their markings. I used Caracal Models “A-10 Air National Guard” decal sheet. The decals were phenomenal with little release time. There are little bits of silvering here and there but nothing to get upset about. I gave it an up to date load-out of weapons to depict an A-10 prepared to give the folks of ISIL a front row fireworks display.

The end result is one that I am quite happy with. I did have an issue with not enough ballast in the nose during final assembly. The only place to add more weight was in the nose wheel bay so it is crammed full and lucky enough, it worked. The three remaining A-10 builds will no doubt have the same issue as I used the same weight on each. At least I know it’s a reasonable fix. I’m all done now and the Blacksnake sits right next to the Flying Tiger up on the shelf. 

    
    
   

Let the Paint Flow

Day one of painting began yesterday with all four A-10’s getting their initial colors. This afternoon I picked up where I left off and delved further into painting. This is where they start to seperate from each other.  The A-10C is finished with paint and ready for decals. I will get them applied tomorrow and hopefully be finished by the weekend. 

The yellow outline of the lightning bolt on the 103rd was painted yeserday and masked off today. I painted the base color today and all that is left is one last color. This should be the second to be completed.

The Peanut scheme is one color away from being ready for decals. I can see it finishing along with the 103rd. The Snow Hog trails but not far behind. It received it’s second color today and still needs two more. I have to completely paint the European scheme before I can get the white on. If I can knock the other three out by this weekend, I foresee an early week finish.