BASIC BUILD
Mike Williams couldn’t wait to see what was inside Academy’s new-tool 1/48 A-10C ‘Warthog’ kit.
Over the years the venerable old ‘Warthog’ or ‘Hog/Hawg’ as the A-10 is affectionately known, has been a staple of most model manufacturer’s catalogues in various scales. Until recently, though, there has not been a completely accurate A-10C in any scale, especially in 1/48. For a true C-model there are airframe additions such as SATCOM and GPS antennas, plus electronic countermeasures ‘lumps and bumps’, while the cockpit receives a multi-functional display (MFD) digital layout. This meant there were great expectations for Academ's new tooling of this type.
1/48
On first inspection it looked a highly detailed model, with all the C-model attributes present. There were finely scribed panels with plenty of raised rivets as befits the Thunderbolt, especially around the fuselage rear and engine housings. The latter is where the only shortcoming is found; the engine faces for the TF34-GE-100 turbofans are not set deep enough into the housings. This is a common anomaly with A-10 kits, so it was somewhat disappointing this was carried through to a brand-new tooling. There are already aftermarket sets to correct the issue, but the…
