Subject: Re: Trumpeter 1/32 OA-10B
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Mick Alderson" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:09:46 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
ARC Air - Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.arcair.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mick Alderson 
  To: [email-masked] 
  Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 10:49 PM
  Subject: Trumpeter 1/32 OA-10B

  Gallery Article Template

  "1/32 Trumpeter OA-10B OZHOG" 

  by "Mick Alderson"
   Cairns, North Queensland, Australia
  --------------------

  I have always been enthralled by the A-10NAW since reading the article about it in flight magazine back in the early eighties.  I normally work in 1/72 scale, but with an up-coming model competition, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and combine the trumpeter 1/32 A-10NAW with a in-club theme for 'what-if's'.  I have to be honest and say that while i was impressed with the size of the subject, I think Trumpeter needlessly over-engineered the kit in area's that were not totally and 100% essential, thus complicating the build to no good end.

          

  I decided against opening the gun and engine bays, refferences I checked show that way too much work was needed for the time frame available (2 months of weekends and the odd weeknight), so I contented myself with doing what would have been a production standard OA-10B in RAAF service (yes I know, but it is a WHIFF(flight mag pic).  This required a fully detailed cockpit (aarrgghh!!) and new canopy as the the prodcution variant would have been a full clamshell instead of the two piece of the prototype (not so much arrgghhing here (pic8)).  I was quite happy with the kit seats, but the interior, egad!! That had to change big time so off with the scratchbuilding and parts modification we go.  I think the end result was worth it (pic 3&4). I also extended the wheel sponsons as per the refferences to include the radar (port) and TV/FLIR LST/TD (strb).  

          

  The construction, once all the fiddling around the office was out of the way, was pretty much straight forward.  However, I felt that the wing join required strengthening so i inserted aluminium tubing in both the wings and fuselage to provide for a mounting for a continuous tube spar, inserted at construction end. The parts fitted reasonably well with little need of filler barring the dreadfull underfuselage/wing join (fixed with card and filler and sanded to shape followed by the inevitable rescribing).  The various di-electric panels, avionics bumps and whatnot were likewise scratchbuilt and fitted.  
  I ellected to go with a variant of the 3 colour OZCAM light green/tan/black (fs34102/30219/37038) by incorporating a dark green (fs34079) for a four colour scheme (again its a WHIFF)and airbrushed on over a week of nights.  Decals came from the spares box and/or laser printed.  The squadron i chose to represent the operator was No12, formally a Chinook squadron until being disbanded in the late 80's, hence the waterbuffalo emblem on the fins.
  I didnt want to hang too many stores and chose the ALQ ecm pod, 2 rocket pods, 2 mavericks, 6 snake-eye mk82's on TER's and 6 mk20 CBU's on an MER on the centreline (I did want to do a GPU-5 30mm geopod but ran out of time). Naturally the serial is completely spurious but just couldnt get past the nose art of 'Raging Bull' (well it is a WHIFF) as well as Magnificent Obsession on the inside of the crew ladder door. 

  In all I was very happy with the result with what is a very large and beautiful, yet ugly (something only a parent could love), subject.

  "Mick Alderson"