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Here is my 1/48
Monogram A-10 built straight from the box with the exception of the decals and
weapons. There's really not that much to say about the kit other than that
I didn't find it to be such a difficult build. Sure, the fit could be
better, but I think I did a pretty good job considering my modeling skills are,
at best, average.
The real fun in
modeling for me is the research of the actual aircraft which I am building, in
this case an Operation Allied Force A-10 Warthog. As NATO escalated its
air campaign over Kosovo in the Spring of 1999, it realized that it needed more
ground attack assets, particularly tank busters. So in early May, the U.S.
Air Force mobilized three Air National Guard units: the 104th Fighter Wing,
Massachusetts ANG; the 110th Fighter Wing, Michigan ANG; and the 124th Fighter
Wing, Idaho ANG. Each unit contributed six A-10's and about 12 pilots to
what would be known as the 131st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron of the 104th
Expeditionary Operations Group. The 104th deployed to Trapani Air Base,
Italy, and also kept a smaller detachment of A-10's at Taszar Air Base, Hungary,
for Combat Search and Rescue alert. By the end of the conflict, the 104th
had flown 434 combat sorties over the Kosovo Theater
of Operations.
I chose to model
aircraft 80-262 of the Michigan Air National Guard. I chose this one
because I found two pictures of it at www.af.mil/photos
a while back. I built the Monogram kit straight from the box. I used
Model Master Acrylics for the Light/Dark Ghost Gray paint scheme, and then gave
it a gloss coat in preparation for decaling. The "Killer Bees,"
as the 104th EFS called themselves (they came from Barnes, Battle Creek, and
Boise), painted over their distinctive unit markings (DUM's), so I lucked out,
as there are no modern decals for the 110th FW! All I needed was the
Expert's Choice A-10 sheet for the serial numbers, and the Two Bobs sheet with
markings for the MD ANG (I used this for stenciling and LASTE tape lights).
No pilot names were needed, as they were painted over for security reasons.
Stenciling, tape lights, and serial numbers were all that were needed on this
Hog!
I modeled
the weapons load on this jet based upon the picture I found of it sitting in
Hungary on CSAR alert: two AIM-9's, one ALQ-131 jammer, two AGM-65D Mavericks,
two LAU-68 rocket pods, and four Mk. 82 'slicks.' The AIM-9's came from the
Monogram Harrier, and the ALQ-131 and Mk. 82's came from the Hasegawa weapons
sets. I made the kit's Mavericks D-models by painting the seeker lenses
with Future tinted with food coloring, and the single-launch rails are actually
cut-down AIM-120 rails from a Hasegawa F-16 (they look good enough to me!).
Unfortunately, there are no
aftermarket LAU-68 rocket pods, so i made them out of wooden dowels. I
found one
with roughly the correct scale diameter and cut it to scale length using my
Mark-One
Calibrated Eyeball. They were painted black with aluminum faces, and I
took an old AIM-9, dipped the tip in some black paint, and shakily dabbed it on
the dowel to get the look of rocket tubes. It's the best I could do.
Well, this is my first Monogram A-10, and certainly no the
last. I look forward to building a lot more. I love my Connecticut
Air Guard Hogs that zip by my house once in a while. Now if someone would
just release some Connecticut Guard A-10 decals...
Tom
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