1/48 scale IAF A-10I. A FAR conversion

[FAR148]

Here's another little update on my SandHog.
Well I rescribed the Fuselage from nose to engine mounts not going to rescribe the tail area. I save alot of raise rivet detail that will look great after some dry brushing.



And here's the other side. You can see my pile of used graphic tape in the background. Not knocking scribing templetes but I like to use graphic tape when scribing. Using graphic tape V's scribing templetes.... well it's easier to conform to surface and  I did not have to try to hold the template in place as well as holding the model and whatever scribing tool I was using. Just tear a piece off, place it where you want, start scribing and when your happy, peel it up and move on. I like Chartpak graphic tape, it's cheap, it stick well and it's think enough to use as a guide.



Had some work to do around the engine to airframe area. after a little putty/sand/putty/sand/ prime, look pretty good.

[FAR148]

She now got all 13 hardpoints glued to her wing. It took some time to clean up and glue all those sway braces in place. Still got some filling to do on hardpoints 1 and 13.







I used my favorite putty(super glue and baby powder) the fill above the hardpoints



and after a bite of filing and sanding...

[FAR148]

Painting of my Sandhawg has started. 
It is slow going, getting use to my new set up. I started with one of the hardest things first, the fan blades and the inside of the intake. Heres how I did it. With a pair of caliper I measured the diameter of the inside of the intake as well as the cone at the center of the fan blades. I then transfer those measurement on to a piece of .02 styrene. Making two intake Doughnuts(like Homer, Mmmmm....Intake Doughnuts)



I first shot each intake with Testors Burnt Metal Buffing Metalizer, not worry about over spray. I then let dry and buff then seal it. Next, I put the intake Doughnuts in place and shot flat white around the walls of the intake and once dry I pull out the intake Doughnuts.

[FAR148]

Here's a list of the major changes I have made to my Sandhawg
*Targeting pod added to the landing gear fairing
*Wing and fuselage reinforcement strips
*Wing extension
*2 extra Hardpoint, Total handpoints now is 13
*Scratchbuild/kit bash engines
*Brake parachute housing
*IR jammer
*rescribed panel lines
*Extra chaff/flare boxes under wingtips
*Close the decelerons

Here's how I made the mask for the fan blades. First you'll need a few things, a cicrle template, a triangle, a exacto knife with a new no#11 blade, a pair of scissors(not showed) a pen or pencil, a piece .20 of sheet styrene and your favorite sanding tool .Me , I like a sanding stick (rough/med) and sheet sand paper(320 or 400).



With my triangle , I drew a cross hair to guide for the two circle. For the Monogram kit, I used 11/32 circle for the inside diameter and 13/16 for the outside diameter.





Lets start with inner cicrle. With a new and sharp no#11 blade, I pushed the tip of the blade through the center of the cross hair and then slowly begin the twist the blade around in a cicrle. Starting a small hole and slowly carving. Getting larger but, I stop close to the line not going to it.



I then wrap a strip of sandpaper around the handle of the exacto and slowly sanded to the line.



And for the outside diameter. With a pair of good shape scissors, I cut close to the outside line but not right on. Now with my sanding stick, I can sand right to the line.

[FAR148]

Preshading done! 

[FAR148]

Here's a post I know many were waiting for, including me. Still have to paint underside and other detail.
Enjoy!









During paint, I dropped my Hawg....Like all model tragedies, it happened in slow motion. Breaking off the whole right tail assembly!    I finish spraying whatever color I was shooting. I than super glued the tail back on without any problem and without having to go though the putty/sand/putty/sand routine. After I finished the camo job, I was admiring my handy work and notice a new panel line running straight down the center of the fuselage! after a bit of     I let the paint dry for a day and then I hit the crack with some Proweld to seal it. After that I applied some red spot putty and let it dry.



After sanding and resrcibing a few panel lines back. I than reshot the sand color. Even those the crack repair is a pain in the ***, it give me a chance to add one of my bumps and antenna combo I forget to add before paint. With a bit of superglue, I placed the bump and antenna combo.



I then remasked the sand color with silly putty and shot the light brown. Good as new!

[FAR148]

I got the IF jammer glued into place.



This pass weekend I did manage to get her up and on her own legs! I all so painted the canopy as well as black out the low light stripes.





I drop the scratchbuilt LGB idea after destorying two trying to cast them. So I'm going with two GBU-12 and two cluster bombs. They is a tonmore detail I'm going to do but just not now,
Here's my IAF A-10I "Chazir" as of July 3, 2008.

[FAR148]

A lot has happened since I last posted anything about my "SandHog". I loss my job of 8 years at Ford Motor Company, got a better job at Toyota and moved to California! After losing my job, working on the hog was not happening and had to put my energy into getting a new job. But after I got the job, I had to move from Detroit to SoCal. So I pack up all my modeling stuff and very careful packed up the hog. She was pack in a $hit load of packing peanuts but when I unpack her, this is what I saw.... 







Wings removed for the fuselage, one landing gear off, the blister with the fin on it came off,  the slats above the wing were removed, paint was worn down to bare plastic in a few spots and that crack on the top of the fuselage, which I had filled and fixed before, was back!    Needless to say four months went by before I wanted to work on her again. I was inspired by "Scale Model Addict" on one of his shows; he said the build was about completion and not perfection and I like the sound of that. So this past weekend I bust out my modeling gear and got my SandHog back on the table and back to where she was before I moved.

I finally got the nozzle painted and noticed a crack in the right nozzle 



After super gluing the wings back on, I had to address the new joint. I just added a strip of styrene over the joint. By the time the IAF gets the A-10's the wings are close or at their service life. I added reinforcement stripes to the wing early, so why not add a new one to cover the joint? The fit in the rear is larger then I like, but I'm going to open that can of worms to fix it. I can live with it.



After some white out, some sanding and alittle paint, that crack in gone... for now. I also placed back the slats on top of the wings as well as the blister with the fin on it.



With a few supplies and a few hours, My Sandhog is back!

[tanktastic43]

 . 'Nuff said! 

TT43.

[FAR148]

Thanks tanktastic43

Shiny hog on a stick!

It's time for my Chazir to get her gloss coat(a few coats of future). I was trying to figure out how I was going to shoot my hog and not have to hold her a risk putting finger prints in her gloss coat. So, I got a piece of 3/4 MDF, drilled a hole for a piece of brass rod.



The break prachute has not been install, so I can slide the rod in the prachute housing, one hog on a stick.



Here you can see the rod going through the cockpit.



As the gloss coat drys, I was thinking about what decals am I going to put om her? Going through my stash I found some expert-choice clear decal paper and got the idea for some custom markings. Well, all the tries with the expert choice paper did not work and just pissed me off. Got to wondering how I could do custom decal.Was I doing something wrong? Should I have custom decals made? How are other people making custom decals? So I did some research online and came across some paper that looked like it works well (http://www.decalpaper.com/). I ordered 10 sheets of clear, 10 of white and a can of can of Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic coating(1303). I did all my art work in photoshop CS and found a image of a flying pig online, pilots name (me) and some new IAF roundals. I did a test print on plain paper to check size and resolution. The clear coat and paper showed up yesterday. I printed a test sheet, let the ink dry and then spray a coat of krylon to seal it. After the krylon dried, I cut one of the flying pig decals out and place it in some warm water .... It works!!!! Now Im going to make a few more custom decals for me hog.



I feel like I just made it to the next level of nerd!

Enough posting for one day, going to get back to decaling my Chazir!

Until later,
Steven L

[B777LR]

 

I'm gonna go knitting!!!! This is..........

Welcome aboard!

[philp]

Got to agree, this build is awesome.

Can't wait to see the finished project (when did you start this build, by the way).

Are you going to use one of those funky tail art designs the IAF seems to enjoy so much these days?

This is a Whiffie in waiting.

[John Howling Mouse]

So, this is where all the ILM modelmakers went after CGI took over Lucasfilm!     I'm in greeblie heaven.   

Betcha everybody else was thinking the same thing as I was while they toured the incredible build tutorial:  "Man, this guy is GOOD!"

Thanks very much for the in-progress pics, especially those with the text and arrows right in the image (makes for very good tutorial/tips later).

Mental note to self: Do not enter any contests where FAR148 shows up!!   

[Martin H]

Now that is what I call a master class in kit bashing.

Welcome to the nut house. looks like u will fit in fine around here.

[BlackOps]

A beautiful build!    Love the detail work you've added to this. Also really enjoy seeing how you did everything    Thanks much for sharing!