If there’s one kit that’s long been conspicuous by its absence it's an accurate 1/48 A-10C Thunderbolt. As STU FONE explains, though, the wait is over thanks to Academy.
For many years, modellers have relied upon kits of the A-10 that were based on pre-production airframes, but Academy’s new-tool 1/48 A-10C is the latest to correct this oversight. Fairchild’s A-10 Thunderbolt II (commonly known as the ‘Warthog’ or just simply ‘Hawg’) might not be the sleekest or fastest aircraft (it’s rumoured to receive birdstrikes from the rear) but when it comes to close-air support it has no equal.
Academy’s all-new, quarter-scale offering is as you’d expect from this manufacturer, with crisply moulded components and plenty of interior detail – plus the parts breakdown hints at other versions being in the pipeline (Runner G is the only frame to be labelled as A-10C; the rest are just identified as A-10). There are nine styrene runners, including a clear frame, plus separate (one-piece) rear fuselage, engine nacelles, perforated gun cooling jacket and nose cone.
Above: The entire rear fuselage comes as a single part and is a superb example of slide-moulding technology; despite this, though, it still has a conspicuous seam along the top …
