Reviews : Academy A-10A Plane Operation Iraqi Freedom

The A-10 Warthog isn't pretty, but it's arguably the best ground attack plane ever. It was literally designed around its massive 30 mm rotary canon and can carry an armament load that is jaw dropping to say the least! Add to that, in can loiter over the enemy for a long, long time while it rains down brutal destruction that would seem almost biblical in scope. I chose to model Capt. (now Colonel) Kim Campbell's A-10A that she flew over Baghdad when she earned the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross for her incredible piloting skills and bravery under fire. Academy did a great job on this kit and detail, scale fidelity, and recessed panel lines are top notch. Pay particular attention to the cockpit assembly when you are ready to mate it to the fuselage halves. First, be sure to add as much ballast weight as you can fit in the areas noted so as to avoid this plane being a tail sitter. Second, be sure to have the necessary clamps, rubber bands and/or tape you'll need to hold it all together at the ready. I practiced this procedure a couple of times before I committed to glue and was glad I did. I had to use a little putty at the forward third of the wing roots and on the sides of the engine housings. Academy supplies an impressive array of bombs and rockets in this kit and I spent a little extra time detailing them. Included are (12) Mk82 bombs, (2) Mk84s, (2) GBU-10 smart bombs, and (6) Maverick missiles. The only thing I would try to improve in this kit are the decals. I used them as is but had to finesse them to get a satisfactory outcome. The adhesive seemed a bit light and I ended up using a little diluted white glue in a few places to get them to stick. The shark mouth decals required some strategic cuts to get them to lay flat. I also had to apply Micro-Sol a number of times to get them to settle to an acceptable degree. The shark mouth also ended up with a missing tooth in the front. It might have been due to a slight misalignment on my part, but I ended up hand painting a new tooth in that area and it turned out okay. All in all, this was a fun kit to build and I'm thrilled to have it in my display case.

This isn’t a bad kit. There is some pretty good detail, but the quality of the mold leaves much to be desired. There were lots of minor mold lines, and a few major ones (the tires for example were pretty bad). There are lots of really noticeable pinholes, especially on the ordinance (two per dumb bomb, and there’s 12 of those!). The directions are mostly clear, but in one or two cases they reference details or holes that don’t exist. The interior detail is pretty sparse, which is a pity since it’s very visible even through the closed canopy. There’s no option in the instructions for the canopy to be open, but the canopy comes in 2 pieces, and I think it would be pretty easy to wing it. My biggest complaint for the canopy is that the raised detail is on the inside. The fit for the model was in most cases terrible and extremely finicky. The cockpit, for example, has to be balanced perfectly on a single piece with no supports in order to attach it to a portion of the bottom of the fuselage. It is really difficult to get it right. In addition, that whole assembly has to be weighted heavily, but you have to be careful where you place the weights (not included in the kit) or the cockpit won’t fit inside the fuselage halves at all. And seriously, be sure you use a lot of weight. I used four, ¼ in lead bullet fishing weights and it’s barely enough to keep the nose on the ground! There are two paint/decal options, one for Kim Campbell, and another for the 81st FS in Germany. I had expected the decals to be garbage since it’s an Academy kit, but not so! The decals were great. They are thin, yet easy to work with. If you use a good decal setter/softener, they won’t silver or look raised, and they have no problem sinking into crevices and molding around raised detail. I was super surprised by the excellent quality of decals. Overall, this is a fun kit. I would recommend it to intermediate modelers and up. Because of the issues with fit and finishing, it makes a tough model for beginners.

This is a great model from Academy, and as always, it never ceases to impress. The model has great fitting, like all the other Academy models I have done, with only slight mis-fitting of the engine onto the fuselage, but it eventually fit. The weapons lack significant detail, but adding your own is pretty easy, especially with the missiles, which have distinct molded linework, if you so wish to add extra details. Paint goes on very nicely, enamel or acrylic. Detail in the cockpit is very nice, and it is unfortunate that it does not come with a pilot figure, and the machine gun in the nose seems a bit short. The decal placement on the instructions is a bit misleading, as some of the decals appear smaller on the instructions, but in general, they go where they need to go and are easy to put on, and move. The tail section is heavier, which makes the plane's nose point up, as the weight of the tail and engines pulls the tail down, but makes for a cool takeoff look. It doesn't come with the option of landing gear up, or cockpit open, but it came through nicely. Does take some time, especially with landing gear and weapon installations. In general, it is a very awesome looking A-10, with the weapons system and option of the classic A-10 look with the shark mouth. It is a very nice model in general in all fields, and may possibly be the best model I've ever done in 1:72 scale. Definitely worth the price, and paints aren't hard to find.

Some of the other reviewers have pointed out things to watch out for on this kit, including the nose weight, tricky fuselage fit, and need for bunches of weight in the nose. Like another reviewer, I chose wheels-up configuration, and that was a big chore, but I was very happy with the outcome. I'll post in my pictures how I approached the nose weight and the gear doors. But my biggest beef and time-adder was, by far, the punch-out holes on every single bomb and maverick missile. I spent many hours filling and sanding these. I was extremely pleased with the exterior detail on this kit, but I wish Academy would do a little more on the cockpit and include a pilot. I also wish they had included weapons decals as they do in many of their other kits. I had to dredge up third party (Scale-Master and Hasegawa) weapons decals. I also chose to go off-spec and do the experimental peanut color scheme with (again) after-market Warthog SuperScale 72-645 decals. This kit turned out to be one of my favorite results, but Academy did not make it easy, which is probably why it is bargain-priced.

Absolutely loved doing this kit. The pieces were very durable for their size and the fit was excellent. Was able to get everything (wings, fuselage, tail section) glued together without having to use any putty to fill in anywhere. Would like to have a few more missiles to add to variety but there is plenty that comes with the kit. That is just a personal preference. I highly recommend this kit to anyone who is into the smaller scale kits or who is just wanting to branch out and try one. You will not be disappointed. Only key issue: Make sure you put sufficient weight in the nose area (under and behind the seat) before gluing everything together. If you don't add weight the plane will not stand on the three wheels properly. It will want to tilt to the rear. I used fishing weights and just superglued them in place so they would not move around.

For such a small scale academy has produced a very nice kit. The fit overall is excellent as is the final results. Some warnings. Check your alignment when putting the cockpit on the nose wheel well because if its not right you will have major issues. I also agree that the decals are a bit finicky so take your time and bring some patience. All of the bombs and mavericks have sink marks so be prepared to fill them as do some of the landing gear doors. This kit is very similar to the Hasegawa kit and looks good when completed. Have fun.

The model itself looks great and is an interesting build in several parts. The engine exhausts need a solid amount of glue to keep them stable otherwise the nearest bump dislodges them. I model 99% of my aircraft in flight.... if you are doing the same then avoid this build like the plague: the amount of effort to get fit, trim and extend the undercarriage doors is not worth the finished product and you're better off with a different brand. Having said that, the amount of underwing stores is impressive

I enjoyed building this kit. It went together easily for the most part. The only real problem I had was butting the Mavericks on their racks and mount them to the pylon. So much that I almost cannibalized another kits for some extra laser guided bombs. Decals went on well. The directions did not mention putting weight in the nose. I generally do with all models that have tricycle landing gear. Even with that, it is very close to still being tail heavy.

A very detailed model with great options for underwing ordinance. The kit has one option, to have the ladder to the cockpit extended or to install the access panel closed. I would have liked to see an option to build the kit with the landing gear retracted, but that wasn't available. I was happy to see decals for the cockpit instrumentation.

This was a nice A-10. The instructions were easy to follow. There was little flash on the parts an they all fit together nicely with only needing putty a couple times. The cockpit is lacking detail but its nice enough. I would recommend this kit.

I’m not too fond of the 1:72 scale due to detail and too many small parts, a few of which I ended up losing. Overall not a bad model for its size.

GOOD KIT GOOD PRICE 2 OPTIONS ON DECALS.ALSO HAS OTHER OPTIONS AS TO HOW CAN BE DISPLAYED