Fourteen months after
starting it, the Monogram Hog is finally finished. I was away from building for
eight of those months, but it still seemed to be one long build, though a very
satisfying one.
It started as a modern LASTE/EGI-equipped jet, but that idea was soon abandoned
after seeing the results of my attempts to scratchbuild the mods. So, it would
have to be a Hog from the period leading up to and including Desert Storm. I
decided to make it aircraft 78-0633 of the 103d Fighter Wing, Connecticut ANG.
The reason? Most of what I’ve learned about the A-10 has been while working on
633 with her DCC, also my trainer. He proudly refers to her as “The Pride of
the Fleet,” and it’s tough to argue with that. 633’s one of our original
jets we received back in 1979, and she’s seen action over Bosnia in 1994 and
1996, Iraq during Southern Watch, and most recently, Iraq in 2003. She sports
markings for 55 combat sorties, as well as some great ladder door art. A great
jet with a great DCC!
Now onto the kit. It’s Monogram’s Hog, and while the fit isn’t great, I
can proudly say I did not lose a single rivet during its construction. Just
kidding! Hundreds were lost, but all in the name of getting near-seamless
joints. Here are some of the things I did to spruce up the kit:
-Added the Legends Productions cockpit set
-Drilled out a new gun using 3/16” tubing, a 1/32” bit, and the kit’s
muzzle end
-Added the missing vent cover forward of the ladder door
-Added a missing antenna on the forward bottom fuselage (made from a Maverick
fin)
-Removed the Pave Penny from the pylon and added two attachment braces
-Made a new, sturdier pitot tube using a needle and brass tubing tapered with a
file
-Closed the decelerons by cutting them off the center bracket and sanding them
till they fit closely
-Drilled out the doghouse intake and exhaust
-Drilled out the APU exhaust and added the cover
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The Legends cockpit
was my first venture into using resin, and it was a positive experience. The
detail is great, and though this was my first try with resin, I think it pretty
much slipped right into the fuselage. The floor, though, had to be sanded almost
paper-thin to get the landing gear bay to fit properly.
Achieving a seamless intake is
quite the challenge to tackle. My method was to paint the fan blades first, then
install the piece containing the blades and inner wall into the nacelle halves.
Next, I applied lots of putty into the seams, and sanded it smooth. Then the
intakes were painted the same colors as those which would be in that region
after applying the entire paint scheme. The result makes for a much stronger
representation of the aircraft, as the nasty seams really detract from the
model, in my opinion (and in my previous two Hogs!).
The jet was masked and painted the three-color camo scheme seen on the Hogs till
the gray scheme was introduced around 1993-1994. After gloss-coating it, the
model received the markings using a variety of decal sheets. The Experts Choice
A-10 sheet was used for the serial numbers and some stenciling. Two Bobs Black
Lightning sheet was used for the “CT” tail code and most of the stenciling.
Astra’s Spangdahlem sheet supplied the white RESCUE arrows and the rest of the
stencils. On the computer, I made the pilot and crew chief names, and they
turned out alright, though there was some silvering. Everything else went great,
and after applying a few final details, this Hog was ready to go kill tanks!
Eventually, I plan to add a few stores to the underwing pylons. When I can find
a nice single-launch Maverick rail, a captive AGM-65B will go on station 3, and
some TERs will go on 4 and 8. She’ll look as the Hogs did when they recruited
me at age 7 by doing a few passes at the Memorial Day parade. I thought I’d
throw in a pic of 633 as she looks today.
I hope you guys enjoyed my Hog. It was certainly my most satisfying build. There
was stuff I didn’t really go into in the article, so PLEASE feel free to email
me with any questions you may have if you’re building or planning to build
this kit. Like I said this was my third one, and I’ve learned a whole lot
about it. Next time, it will be a LASTE/EGI/LITENING-equipped hog. Which
one, you may ask? Aircraft 78-0586, of course -- the best Hog in the fleet.
Tom
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