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This is Tamiya's
1/48 scale A-10 kit. This kit has been criticized everywhere because of its lack
of detail and inaccuracies. Generally, the Monogram kit is to be considered
better. Everyone says that the only positive side of the Tamiya kit is its fit,
but I didn't see that positive side, either. I used lots of putty and sandpaper
to make some areas fit. Well maybe Monogram is even worse, but this kit is
definitely not a shake-and-bake Tamiya kit.
So why did I buy and
build this kit? This was the second kit that I bought when I started to build
models two years ago. I didn't know the details of the kits, and I wasn't aware
of ARC and other modelling sites. I just went to a model shop and bought this
model simply because of the A-10 factor. It was resting in my to-build pile, now
it's time to build.
| The kit has a
decal cockpit and a wrong seat. (Stencel seat I guess, it was used on A-10
prototypes). I used Eduard's photoetch set with Aires' excellent AcesII
seat to make the cockpit look better. |
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image below to see larger image
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Other modifications to the
kit are:
-I dropped the flaps
-Replaced ordnance with
Hasegawa sets
-Replaced the Pave Penny pod
seeker with clear acrylic
-Used a needle and styrene
tube for the pitot (makes it harder to break)
-Used CAM decals instead of
thick Tamiya decals
-Replaced the navigation
light at top of the fuselage with shaped and polished clear sprue
-Scratchbuilt the dual rail
adapter for sidewinders
-Scratchbuilt single
maverick launch rails
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I decided to paint the model
with Tamiya acrylics, that was a big mistake. I mixed the colors,
painted the model, everything was looking fine until I discovered that
the colors changed badly when they cured after one day. In fact I had to
paint the model three or four times (I even don't remember the exact
count :))
until I was satisfied with the colors, and now there is a very
thick layer of paint on the model.
Dana Nield's Tamiya paint
mix database was very helpful here.
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