Subject: Re: article about A-10 at 1/32 building...part 2 !
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "Patrick SPITAELS" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Aug 2002 13:55:30 -0700

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you have never been hurt; and
Dance like no one is watching!

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Patrick SPITAELS 
  To: Steve Bamford 
  Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 2:30 PM
  Subject: article about A-10 at 1/32 building...part 2 !

  Dear Steve !
  don't know if this could be interesting for you, i'll try to make some " in progress" shots about the A-10 from TRUMPETER...as i'm working on and off on it.....lots of people are talking about this model, but we didn't see a lot on the tables !!!
  Note in red show you the right pics for the article, hope it could help you !
  sorry to be long for a time, i catch a bad thing medically, and i'm grounded at home since March...pretty difficult ti live it ! So my modelling time was reduce at " zero" for a long time.....i'm actually restart my job, slowly....taking heavy medicine...which cive you hands shacking all the days.....very good for modelling !!
  There is another artice i'll have to send, about the building of the P-51D Tamiya, with engine opened....and other stuffs...that's coming shortly !
  Hope all i going to be good for you there and to meet you during the Nats !
  Patrick
  Belgium

   

  The Building..... pics are electronic.i: 
   
  Maybe you remember my first post about the very first part of this building, with the Cutting Edge cockpit....after this i've started the Electronics bay and the battery too...all coming from the VERLINDEN set. As seen here, both are not yet finished, still lots of wires to add ! For most of the wires i drill holes all around; add copper wires or plastics one, and then add some super glue on. they were painted in grey. I simulate some markings with the use of a black pen.
  As i was a bit bored of this area....i've stated the right wing...just to change the job !

  RIGHT WING: pics are; insideflaps 1 and 2; wing1; wing2 ; wing 3: endwing1 ;; ailerons.1 and 2: flaps.1 
  Well, the first problem is that there is nothing inside the wings to " end " the flaps...i never found pics showing this area...so i decide to  " close " the area with plastic cards....sure it is not real...but with that you can't see thtough !!
  About the flaps, just be careful with the edge , because it's an area that you'll see when they are low. TRUMPETER made them as for a toy...maybe some want to play with..but i prefer gluing them in the lowest position. 
  When gluing the wing, you'll have to take care to glue " part by part".....this is the worst part..the fitting ! with lots of dry fitting you could notice all the bad area before gluing, one of the most difficult is around the wheel well nose....you couldn't avoid the putty.....last difficulties...the end of the wing....very difficult to sand after !
  Most of the time i use TAMIYA liquid glue..but it seems that the TRUMPETER plastic dislike her.....making " marks " on the plastic of " distording "  it....as i'm used to build strong..i'll have to take care !
  On the ailerons, i've add some of the activators pieces, with plasticards....just for the look ! At the bottom, you could notice that i've also add the small pice at the trailing edge...don't know how to name it...looks like a " balance wheight "....sorry but i'm french speaking !
   
  WHEEL WELL: ( pics is frontwheelwell !)
  There is nothing inside them......pretty bad at 1/32 scale no ? So, with all the pics i found i decided to add some plastics inside it ! Still, there is nothing very close of the reality....but it give somthing good when looking through ! Again, nothing very difficult to add life, take some plasticard and add pieces by pieces...trying to follow the reference pictures. copper wires where also added. The end of the wheel well was provided by Cutting Edge, and you really need this piece !
   
  Back of the fuselage: ( pics are badarea 1 and 2, and raeend ; apu.1; badarea.1: badarea.2; )
  Second time i was bored....and change of area.....after the right wing was completed i start the end of the fuselage. First with the add of the resin pieces for the APU, at both side, coming from the detail set of CE....again ! you could notice that the APAU is at the wring place on the fuselage......but i didn't want to move it....! Gluing the two half of the fuselage is still a difficult job....as there are all those damm rivets all around ! You couldn't avoid sanding them after...so, no more after ! The next try is to simulate those rivets, maybe with fine points of white glue ??? i'll try that after !
  A bad area, as seen in the pictures, is the bottom of the fuselage, place you have to sand just inside a forest of rivets....still didn't decide how to do it properly ! The back end is very difficult too, when adding the tail, i've made dry fittig too, sand the place before gluing, but at the end thete is still a border....sanding   it or not is the question !
   
  ENGINE NACELLES; pics  engine .1 .
  Another difficult area, i want to show the left engine opened....looks like there are some problems to do it clearly ?
  - First, on most of the pics, it show two doors on the necelle, TRUMPETER just made one !
  - The pieces ( hinges ) are made for toys....and are pretty big !
  - this damm transparent pice is going verticaly in my trash.....take a look at what it looks when assemble as folowing the instruction ? Next problem, the resin engine looks a bit small inside the nacelle, i'm i right ? and the front part ( compressor ) is too large too...i'm trying to find a solution for that too. Normally i didn't have to used the plastic " cocoon", just using the compressor transparent pieces, the center of the resin engine, and the back from the CE set.! we shall see that after !!
  The  right engine nacelle is going to be closed, with nothing inside, just be display with a cover at the ends....like i've made with my MONOGRAM at 1/48 !
  Well, i stop here the rear part of the fuselage for now...returning at the front !!
   
  CANOPY: (pics: canopy from 1 to 4.)
  Another point of vue, i'v read somewhere in the net that the front windscreen was bad in shape.....in the first time is was smiling of that....but "re " opened my box and place the canopy on the fuselage !!! and yes, it's too large and too high ! this give s strange look at the bird....which is enough strange in fact ! So i decide to sand the bottom part of the front canopy, trying to reduce this effect. that looks good like that, not perfect but enough ! Second thing is trying to silulate the frame of the canopy as here with TAMIYA tape, so you could widened the frame around. That's just a try, i've to sand carefully this area and then gluing light plasticard in place of the old frames....next time !
   
  FRONT WHEEL WELL: ( pics is " wheelwell .1 to .7 !)
  Actually working on, adding frames in plasicard, wires from plastics...there still plenty stuff to add in this area, but it's pretty small inside ! This come life when painted !
   
  Ok, that's not a lot actually....i've to start the left wing.....yep another time ! finishing the differents bays and finding a solution to show a part of the gun inside the fuselage !!! lot's of job for the future.........
   
  This birds is going to wear the clothes of the 23 TFW....with a great sharkmonth....and European one scheme......
  As i told you, i'm working on and off it, but progressing in the good way ! You could say that i'm an   " hair cutter ", no that's jsut i want to have a best replica of this wondrfull jet....i was so impressed when building my MONOGRAM one....and this is sooooo huge !!
  take care that normally i've got a dio project for it...with a truck and personnels around......my god !!
  hope that i was clear enough....if not, don't worry to contact me, i'll try to modify my english !!!
   
  CONCLUSION:
  Hope all those small bits could help you to statr you project, remember that, you didn't have to be s " sharp shooter " to build this model, just take your time and make it with fun......nobody have  to smile because you didn't detail the wheel well or correct another place, you build it for you only ! Mabybe guys like me are boring, always complicated the building process.....but that's my way of building !, just try to take good parts for your skill and start the model ...and show it ! 
   
  THIRD ARTICLE COMING SOON.....WITH OTHER PARTS FINISHED , hope......before leaving for the NATS !!!!
  Patrick SPITAELS
  IPMS BELGIUM
  ANS MODELISME
  http://www.ansmodelisme.com