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Tamiya U.S.A.F. A10A Thunderbolt II

Greg Kimsey

Greg Kimsey

Well-known member
20221214_221758.jpg
This first post will be short since all I have done is I have washed the parts and will let them dry overnight.
This build is for my friend, Ray Fuller. He is Army through and through. He was a tank commander until he was injured for the 3rd time and the Army retired him. His call sign was "Body Snatcher". You should hear him say it. He says it with flair and pride He didn't give the title to himself. He earned it. He told me the other day that if you were on his radar, one of two things was going to happen; either your body was going to be snatched either away FROM death, or INTO death. You were NOT going to get him. After a while they started calling him "Body Snatcher". I wish I could have known him back then. That same day he told me that story, he also said that his life-long dream was to fly the A10. I told him he should do it.
I didn't say how big the plane had to be. I got this model in today and asked if this was what he was talking about. "That's it! That's the one ". Nothing like a deadline to motivate one's self. I want this to be his Christmas present from me. I already built his tank, with a likeness of him in the open hatch, leaning on his elbow. I don't think I can give him that on this build, but I can give him his plane.
@paddy , I believe you just finished one or are working on one, so I am going to stalk your build! I would love to borrow some references from you 😁
That's it. More to follow tomorrow!
 
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I have known that man for 20 years and he leaks out a little more about his army life a little more every year. We were watching a movie, I think it was called "Navy Seals ", and one Seal did the classic "rise up out of the water silently with him eyes opened" and I asked him "Did you ever do that?"...radio silence, which means "Yes, but I don't want to talk about it "
 
PS: I want to do this plane justice, even if it takes well after Christmas, and honestly, I had never even seen or heard of this aircraft before seeing it in John's build; so if there is anything cool I can do to it to improve it, please 🙏 chime in!
 
I started one of these years ago. If I remember correctly, the underside of the wings had some fit problems at the tips. Also the rear of the plane ends up quite heavy. I have a method to remove a lot of plastic safely if you are interested. Removing plastic means less nose weight needed.
 
Heavens Eagle said:
I started one of these years ago. If I remember correctly, the underside of the wings had some fit problems at the tips. Also the rear of the plane ends up quite heavy. I have a method to remove a lot of plastic safely if you are interested. Removing plastic means less nose weight needed.
Click to expand...
I saw your drill press method, and I happen to have one so I may go that route. Setting, or making the pin is something I am not sure about. That is advanced model building for sure.
 
I know when I built the Monogram one way back in the day I had no issues getting enough weight in the nose.

Funny the A-10 coming up, as I just ordered a HobbyBoss A-10A via Amazon UK. :LOL: Despite being a Navy guy, the A-10 always held a soft spot as they used to always fly low level over my house growing up. The A-10 single handedly sparked my interest in military aviation....The F-14 (via Top Gun) ignited my love of Naval Aviation.

Said A-10 built by probably a 14 or 15yo me around 1990ish.
 
Seems every one is very familiar with this plane except me LOL. Has one ever been in a movie? That would be about the only way I would know about it. Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours @helios !
 
In the early '80s my first wife and I were on the Cimarron turnpike northeast of Stillwater OK heading to her parents. It is low rolling hills prairie in that area. Up ahead I saw a plane doing tight knife edge turns a few hundred feet in the air. As we got closer it turned out there were two A-10s doing mock attacks on the few cars running on the highway. I went "OH BOY!" and the (now ex) gave me a dirty look. We got into their area and I started speeding up, slowing down and changing lanes suddenly. (Yeah she got pissed) Those 2 pilots kept with us for a little while as we at least gave them some (slight) challenge. Then they banked around and flew low over us off to the south west and the second wiggled his wings a little. They were in the green camo of the day and I have always wanted to build one up in the green. Have the Trumpeter 1/32 A-10 with all kinds of goodies to do so one of these days.
 
We get a lot of A-10s here in England as they use Lakenheath as a stop off on route to Germany from the US , they often stay a few days and use the low flying facilities. Have to say i have never seen one tail sitting ;-)
 
I have FUBAR'd this aircraft well beyond a quick save. Anger and dejection ensued. I will use this as an "obliterated raised panel line" repair training kit. This plane may be a notch above my skill level. Ray wasn't expecting it anyway so no biggie. I will get him something else. I DO want to make it and see if I can save it. I hate raised panel lines!! I simply can't clean the glue seams without destroying them. However, I feel like I may know how to do it now after watching several YouTube videos on how to do it, as well as how to repair them. So Bob, this thread can be deleted or let it sit for a while. Whatever.
 
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