#002 Monogram A-10A Thunderbolt II "Alligator"
"Alligator" 926 TFG/706 TFS "Cajuns", 1991

Michael Phillips autor
This is my second completed model ever... It turned out ok, but I definitely still need to work on my construction and dealing with seams. I think I was a little too cautious with this one due to the raised panel lines. I am happy with my progress with painting... this was my first attempt at spraying camo of any kind (my last build was overall Gull Gray). I masked the first color using blu-tac, but I found that to be tedious and mostly ineffective. I spray about half of the light green and all of the dark green and gray freehand. I liked that much better, and I could really feel my control of the airbrush improve dramatically by the time I finished the paint. I even started to do blending of the colors to give it a nice soft edge. One thing I learned is that painting an A-10 is a chore. With all of those nooks and crannies, and add in the 3 color Euro I camo, it was downright headache inducing sometimes! My next A-10 will be gray. LOL

The bad: The masking of the wheels was a real fail. Somehow I got dust INSIDE the cockpit on the canopy. Won't come off! The loadout is all wrong, I knew that when I did it. But I like the look of the fuel tank with weapons, and the napalm canisters look cool and give a nice contrast to the rest.

I originally wanted to use the kit decals, but man they were terrible. Now I know why everyone hates them. I don't think I will ever try to use vintage kit decals again, especially Revell/Monogram ones. I ended up getting Print Scale Decals. I had read mixed reports on them, some said they were fine, other said they were flimsy and hard to work with. I can say... they are all the above (except flimsy). The are reeeeaaalllly tricky to apply. They came free of the backing way too easily, and once off the paper they wanted to roll over themselves and be otherwise difficult to get straight. But never once did one tear on me, and on a few of them I spent many minutes getting them back to straight. Once on, they really settled down nice, no silvering at all. But with the difficulty I encountered with application, I am not so sure I will use that brand again.

I hope you like my pics! I def have a lot of room for improvement, but am happy with my progress so far.

Wim van der Luijt
I think your A-10 looks good! Not an easy kit for a second completed model. I have an Italeri A-10 in my stash and I am still afraid to start it 😉

Michael Phillips autor
Thanks Wim, I appreciate the comment! Yeah, this one was CONSIDERABLY more challenging to build than the Italeri Tomcat was. I don't think I will build another A-10 for awhile, despite the fact I have 2 Hobby Boss ones in my stash. I think those are easier to build, but the A-10 by nature of it's design does not lend itself to be an easy build in any capacity...