A-10A Plane Operation Iraqi Freedom

I enjoyed building this kit. It went together easily for the most part. The only real problem I had was butting the Mavericks on their racks and mount them to the pylon. So much that I almost cannibalized another kits for some extra laser guided bombs. Decals went on well. The directions did not mention putting weight in the nose. I generally do with all models that have tricycle landing gear. Even with that, it is very close to still being tail heavy.

This isn’t a bad kit. There is some pretty good detail, but the quality of the mold leaves much to be desired. There were lots of minor mold lines, and a few major ones (the tires for example were pretty bad). There are lots of really noticeable pinholes, especially on the ordinance (two per dumb bomb, and there’s 12 of those!). The directions are mostly clear, but in one or two cases they reference details or holes that don’t exist. The interior detail is pretty sparse, which is a pity since it’s very visible even through the closed canopy. There’s no option in the instructions for the canopy to be open, but the canopy comes in 2 pieces, and I think it would be pretty easy to wing it. My biggest complaint for the canopy is that the raised detail is on the inside. The fit for the model was in most cases terrible and extremely finicky. The cockpit, for example, has to be balanced perfectly on a single piece with no supports in order to attach it to a portion of the bottom of the fuselage. It is really difficult to get it right. In addition, that whole assembly has to be weighted heavily, but you have to be careful where you place the weights (not included in the kit) or the cockpit won’t fit inside the fuselage halves at all. And seriously, be sure you use a lot of weight. I used four, ¼ in lead bullet fishing weights and it’s barely enough to keep the nose on the ground! There are two paint/decal options, one for Kim Campbell, and another for the 81st FS in Germany. I had expected the decals to be garbage since it’s an Academy kit, but not so! The decals were great. They are thin, yet easy to work with. If you use a good decal setter/softener, they won’t silver or look raised, and they have no problem sinking into crevices and molding around raised detail. I was super surprised by the excellent quality of decals. Overall, this is a fun kit. I would recommend it to intermediate modelers and up. Because of the issues with fit and finishing, it makes a tough model for beginners.

A very detailed model with great options for underwing ordinance. The kit has one option, to have the ladder to the cockpit extended or to install the access panel closed. I would have liked to see an option to build the kit with the landing gear retracted, but that wasn't available. I was happy to see decals for the cockpit instrumentation.