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!

Click on images below to see larger images

     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