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Manuel Magrinho
78 articles

A-10A Thunderbolt II

January 19, 2022 · in Aviation · · 36 · 4.6K

Having fun with the ancient kit

The kit really shows its age (not Tamiya's best) with some fit problems joining the fuselage halves and a few raised panels. But, when it's solved, all the rest goes quite right.

Until started, I had plan going mostly by the built out-of-the-box approach, with just one ejection seat set, but soon changed my mind. So, ended up using Eduard's 48328 detail set, Aces II 4144 Ejection Seat set and Reskit RS48-002 wheels set, plus some small scratch details were and there.

Decals are from the kit and a few home printed for the armament and ladder door. Paint job and clear coat was done with Mr. Hobby and weathering with artist oils. Regarding the weathering, I did want to go a little (but not exaggerated) overboard, looking for a quite worn-out aircraft.

Apart from the details set mentioned before, I also did some scratch in the wheel wells area, some panel rescribing and riveting and redo the canon. The poster on the ladder door was a personal touch to cheer up and give some colour to the final result

Despite a troubled start, it ended up as a very satisfying and fun build which I truly liked.

Hope you like as much as I did,

M

Reader reactions:
21  Awesome 1 

36 responses

  1. A truly spectacular result, Manuel!
    Your extra work really paid off.
    Congratulations!

  2. Excellent work Manuel! You managed to bring this A-10 to life, the paint work and it’s wear and tear looks great, very realistic!
    O postér da menina é mesmo a cereja no topo do bolo 😉 Fantástico!

  3. This is fantastic: great weathering and realism. . . much better than my attempt at the Revell/monogram A-10 a few years ago!

  4. Amazing result on this Warthog, Manuel @magrus
    Excellent detailing, painting and weathering done.
    A real eyecatcher on your shelves.

  5. I find weathering that shade of green to be rather tough. I’ll have to use this build as a reference going forward. You did an amazing job!

  6. I'm really impressed!

  7. Very nicely done! I flew the A-10 for 12 years and I actually flew that specific jet when I was assigned to the 23TFW, 1988-1991 and flew with the 76TFS. I know the jet inside out and you did a superb job on the details.

  8. That is a great-looking Warthog! I love the A-10, and you did a fantastic job with the paint and weathering on this.

  9. The airplane that everyone loves but, the Airforce. Some strong work Manuel.
    Had to smash the like button.

    Two thumbs up.

    • thanks Stephen! Yes, everyone loves it, its a pitty USAF dont :-/

      • @magrus - the Chair Farce hates the A-10 because its purpose is to do nice things for the Army, an organization they've hated since 1918.

        And this is great work - that kit is sooo ancient, it goes back to the late 70s, and what it is out of the box is a prototype. You did the right thing getting all that aftermarket.

        • Hi Tom @tcinla,
          Yes, you may be quite right about "Chair Farce" motivations, I dont know... But, as happened before, if the Navy buys some A-10, maybe it would be of interest to the flying guys again 😉

          • @magrus - the Marines tried to get the Navy to buy the A-10 for them but couldn't convince the Admirals, and when the Air force wanted to get rid of them the first time, the Army tried to get them, but the Air force changed their mind when they found the Army wanted the A-10.

  10. I grew up watching these planes fly out of England Air Force Base in Louisiana. They were always flying low and slow around the countryside, almost hanging in the air. Sometimes the pilot would even wave to the kids on the ground. Congrats on a great build of one of my favorite aircraft. I have this kit in the stash along with a new set of decals and one of these days...

  11. She looks great, really nice job!

  12. Awesome build. " I have this big gun, build me an aircraft around it.." A couple of photos from the Cradle of Aviation museum, the gun and the armored tub in bedded in cockpit.@magrus

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

  13. @magrus, That is some superb scale modeling Manuel! ? I love the pin-up poster on that door-nice touch on a beautiful model! ?

    • @garybrantley, thank you for your kind words! It's great to have such positive feedback, it means a lot to me.
      I also saw your profile (thanks for sharing such beautiful stories) and found your A-10! The pictures at the airport turned out great! congratulations!

  14. Some phenomenal detail, what an awesome model. Love the camouflage paint job, the cockpit and your shading are fantastic. Is that really 'Michelin' highlighted on the rear tires? Fun to look at!

    • Hi @jroamer,
      Thanks for your kind words.
      Yes, both tires have a lot of detail and some other lettering too. It's really a nice add-on to the kit. It's not easy to highlight it, but it pays off.
      Greetings from Portugal,
      M

  15. Ah @magrus - what a beautiful build, I've just finished my exact kit in the exact same scheme and will be posting it in the next day or 2. Well done you've done an incredible job, looking at yours now I see where I've made mistakes on mine haha.

    I'm sorry you found it a difficult kit, mine went together really well and I was quite impressed with it. I have mainly built older kits though so maybe that is why.

    You've done an incredible job - really well done.

    • Hi @anthonyricco!
      Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I built some nice new kits recently and maybe that's why I found this one old. But it really had some fitting problems in the fuselage bottom. The rest went very well and I enjoy the build. But, as I think it shows, what I really enjoyed was painting it 😀
      I'm looking forward to see yours.
      All the best my friend.

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