Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

So this is a more intentional build to rebuild some of my foundational skills after having been out of the hobby for quite some time. I've gotten a few other small builds out of the way, but I had this very old kit laying on my shelf, and decided that this would be a good one to use to practice and rebuild some memory of the basics of creating a good looking model, no matter the quality of the base kit.

And I tell you what - this kit needs some SERIOUS work to get looking any kind of nice on close inspection. This is not at all surprising, based on the age of this kit. The seam lines for any joining parts are terrible (wings, fuselage, armaments, etc), and virtually every part requires trimming, flash removal, and multiple test fits before assembly. The gaps have been horrendous thus far.

I've had to keep my urge to upgrade and replace inaccurate or parts lacking detail, but I wanted to keep this one as simple as possible - just use what I'm presented with in the kit and try to make the best of it.

But, all of this has been great - I've been able to practice using plastic putty, solvent based fillers, stretched sprue, and lots of sanding to get things back in order. Its actually been a lot of fun, and exactly what I was hoping for out of this kind of build - lots of practice and no pressure on maintaining integrity of a "high value" base kit.

I wish I had taken more photos of the beginning stages of this build, but initially I didn't really intend to share this model project with anyone. After thinking though, I came to the conclusion that it might be best to share my experimentation and learning phases also. After all - its all in the journey, right?

This will be built and painted in a "Europe I" camo pattern using AK Real Color paints, but not intended to be a true/accurate depiction of a specific aircraft.