VVS modelling

Front wheel bay wired, painted and weathered – looks quite busy, ain’t it?

A view of the other side of wall which would be otherwise bare – better than bare wall, don’t you think?

Red circled sensor of some sort was only present on early model A-10As and since I am doing a ’90s version Hog, this lump has to go. There’s gonna be a few other differences from the early (as Italeri boxed it) to late version along the way which I intend to point out.

Fuselage is glued together (don’t forget to add a huge amount of nose weight – instructions suggest 30 grams – I am keeping instrument panel cover off until wings, engines and tail assembly will be attached just to be on the safe side. No I have to rescribe lost panel lines and start flush riveting the fuselage.

After a while and a couple of finished models, I am back with the Hog!

Since A-10 is covered with rivets, I started with the riveting job and managed to finish the main wings. I will also be using raised rivets later in the build for fuselage and engine nacelles but more on that latter when we get there

Comparing reference photos of A-10 wheel bays with other modern aircraft, I found out they are rather wireless. I guess aircraft survivability is one of the main reasons for, though several wires can be seen in the bays. I’ve used 0.3mm soldering wire to add interest to the forward wheel bay.

Right wall of the front wheel bay is located on the fuselage side and is moulded bare. I know it’ll be hard to see inside when finished, but there are certain angles from which you can see it. I added a few styrene strips and some soldering wire to the area – it is not authentic at all but if you do happen to look inside the well, you’ll something is there and not just bare plastic.