Fresh off the bench: A-10 Thunderbolt II ‘Tank Buster’

Hobby Boss 1/72-scale A-10 Thunderbolt II

In my last post, I mentioned the part that nostalgia can play in deciding what models I build. Nostalgia for my childhood certainly played a part in my decision to build this A-10 ‘Tank Buster’, as the ungainly shape and turbofan sound of the A-10 was a daily presence in Lincolnshire in the 1980s and 90s. Back then, as the Cold War was entering a decidedly ‘hot’ period, I lived my childhood in an area peppered with airfields which were home to some of NATO’s strongest and most fearsome warplanes. Despite the on-going and supposedly knife-edge threat of World War 3, which would be expected to begin on the East German border about 600 miles away, it was a great time and place to be a small boy: several times a day the peace would be shattered by low-flying jets like Tornados, Harriers, F-111s and of course A-10s.

Owned and operated by the USAF, our local A-10s were based at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, though they also spent time training at FOLs (Forward Operating Locations) in West Germany to familiarise themselves with the terrain and locations in which the next world war would unfold. The A-10 (known as the A-10 Warthog in the US) was designed from scratch as a ground attack aircraft, destroying threats on the ground to enable ground forces to advance, hence the nickname Tank buster. Most military jets of the era would appear over our heads and then vanish in a matter of seconds, often flying at low level with afterburners engaged and often creating sonic booms. The good old Tank Buster was a different story: the open countryside of East Anglia was an ideal training ground for the A-10s, and we became used to them slowly circling our villages, farms, and even school buses as targets on their training missions. A great memory from those days is of standing in my granddad’s back garden with my dad’s binoculars, watching Tank Busters doing circuits on the bombing range at Holbeach Marsh and hearing the distant thunder of their massive rotary canon as they hammered the targets on the range.

I grew fond of the A-10 simply through familiarity, these quirky-looking planes being a daily sight in Lincolnshire 25 years ago. Since then, I have read more about the A-10 including a compilation of memoirs by A-10 pilots in the Gulf, and I have become impressed by the aircraft’s uncompromising design, tough reputation and awesome ability to deliver firepower. A standout feature of the A-10 is the 30mm Avenger canon mounted in the nose, a weapon which fires an armour-piercing 30mm round 65 times per second – and can punch through 38mm of armour from one kilometre away. Aside from its fighting ability, the A-10 boasts some really smart design features, including main landing gear units that can be swapped to either side, a titanium-armoured cockpit, and turbofan engines which are harder for heat-seeking missiles to lock onto.

This model is built from a kit by a relatively new name on the scene, Hobby Boss. I must say it is a pretty good kit which goes together well, though it is disappointing that it doesn’t include any bombs or missiles – hence my A-10 is ‘clean’. The overall shape looks pretty accurate to me, and the cockpit detail is quite good with decals to represent the control panels. The biggest problem during construction was fitting the under-wing weapons pylons: these were attached to the sprue/frame by unnecessarily thick gates, and the effort needed to remove the parts led to me damaging several of them. The locating pegs which are supposed to help line up the pylons in the correct places were too long, and needed trimming in order to fit them. However, the assembly of the fuselage and wings was very good and I only used a little filler on the wing roots and below the cockpit.

I tried to recreate the USAF European One camouflage scheme as used in the 1980s, and I don’t think I have got it quite right but I am happy with the overall effect. The light in the photos makes the plane look pale, but it is actually very dark.

*Edit: I took a photo in different light this morning to show the dark camouflage - see below*

Bad bits:

Lack of missiles and bombs

Small parts difficult to remove from the frame

Some of the decals have 'silvered' (you can see the clear backing film)

Good bits:

Captures the look of the A-10

Good cockpit detail

Camouflage turned out well