This week the wing tip lights were placed. I made an optic coupler to go from a PICO sized LED into a .5mm fiber optic line. One wing has a red LED and one has a green LED. Then the fun part, the wings and tail assembly need to be installed before the fuselage halves so the wiring and optic lines could be routed properly. I added weight to the node area so it will sit on the landing gear correctly then carefully put the fuselage together. The main gear was then detailed and installed and the engine assembly was built up, painted, detailed and exhaust was weathered. Once installed on the fuselage I checked that there is enough weight in the nose. There is, it sits on the gear without and need to prop the tail. I then added all the photo etch details to the fuselage.

I then set up the model with the power cable and performed a light check. In my build log is a video that was taken with my cell phone to get an idea how the lights look from various angles. The photo etch HUD was then assembled, detailed and painted. Need to do some more cleanup work on the fuselage then start the base coat of the paint scheme. I am currently working on scaling and making the custom decals. The client wants a specific weapons load so I had to order some resin weapons that should arrive on Monday. The GPU cart will then be finished after the aircraft is completed.

You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-a-10-thunderbolt-ii-dcs/

Link to video: https://videopress.com/v/H04hAhkK

12 attached images. Click to enlarge.

The weapons load out will be 2 AIM-9M's, 2 AGM-65L's, 6 APKWS rocket launchers, 2 GBU-54's, 1 Mk. 84, 1 AAQ28 Litening Pod, and the ALQ-184 pod.

David, as usual, your work is spectacular. I am following with great interest your progress on this amazing creative build!

The A-10 Thunderbolt II is heading into the final stages of the build. The aircraft was painted and the custom decals to match the combat simulator scheme were added. The Master Model was then assembled and installed. This accessory set also comes with a brass pitot tube for the wing. The hole in the wing was too large for the brass one so I filled the hole and re-drilled it the correct size.
I was searching around the internet and stumbled upon a fellow modeler who used a glow-in-the-dark paint that he used for the formation lights (nicknamed “Slime Lights”). I looked up paints and found a brand called Spacebeams. They make a line of glow-in-the-dark paint called Aquaris. I purchased the Bright Aqua color. The paint is very thick. Almost as thick as the acrylic gel. Since the photo etch set came with the formation light frames, I used a toothpick to fill in the areas where the lights go then used the edge of the hobby knife blade to level it out. The paint itself has a leveling property itself so it dried to a smooth level. In normal light the paint has an ivory color to it. Once you place it in the sunlight or “charge: it with a UV flash light it glows brightly and is a match to what they look like on the real aircraft. The effect is amazing!
The boarding ladder and the canopy were detailed and installed. At this point the basic aircraft itself is finished. So I am now working on all the weapons and pods. The weapons load-out will consist of two AIM-9 missiles, two AGM-65 Mavericks, two GBU-54’s, one mk.84 bomb, six APKWS rocket pods, the AAQ28 Litening pod, and the ALQ-184 pod. The missiles and bombs are Eduard Brassin, the APKWS rockets are from Phase Hangar, the ALQ-184 is from GT resin and the Litening pod is 3-D printed. Once the weapons load is completed all that will be left to do is finish building and detailing the Aircraft Test Cart.

You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-a-10-thunderbolt-ii-dcs/

8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Awesome! Well done.

This weekly update for the A-10 Thunderbolt II covers the power cart and most of the weapons. So the Hasegawa accessory kit came with two carts. The A/M32A-60A generator and a TTU-228/E Hydraulic test stand. I used the TTU-228 as it was large enough to hold the 9V battery. The cart was detailed with the wires and hoses that came with the kit. The top panel of the cart sits in between the side rails so it kind of clips in. I had to extend it to match the modification I did to the cart. It was then painted and decals added. Then a final coat of matte clear coat was sprayed. I then assembled the wheel chocks and painted them yellow.

Moving onto the weapons and pods, I started with the AGM-65 Mavericks. The inside of the window was painted with chrome paint and the outside with 3 coats of Tamiya smoke. This give the head a tinted lens look but reflects the chrome when the light hits it. The ALQ-184 was painted. The resin pod did not come with ant decals so I made the decals as they were in the game skins. The CBU-54’s were assembled and painted then moved on to the mk. 84. The game skins have a shark mouth and some graffiti on the side. I made the decals from the game skin sheets. Finally comes the 3-D printed Litening Pod which was detailed and painted. All of these were then paced onto their stations to match the game skin. The only thing left is the APKWS rocket pods. These were ordered from Phase Hangar and arrived earlier this week. The other thing that was on the skins was FOD covers for the engines. These cover match the same style as the ones used on a YouTube video titled “A-10 Thunderbolt II Maintenance in HD” which is the same squadron. For the FOD covers I cut out two circles from a styrene sheet and used red wire to make the handles. I made a decal of the squadron logo and put one on each cover. The covers were then glued to a small piece of black foam. This gives them the black seal for the edges and holds them in place. These can be removed to show the intake vanes.

All that is left to do now is to scratch build the triple rack to hold all six rocket pods (3 on each side) mount them, then take the final photos, and pack it up for its trip out to the west coast.

You can see more photos and details from the start in my build log at https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-a-10-thunderbolt-ii-dcs/

11 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Fantastic build, David @davids_models
Really like the way you solved the way to hide the battery.