MATCHBOX 1:72 A-10A THUNDERBOLT II
Reviewer: Myself (braithy@bigpond.com)
The A-10A is renowned for it's ruggedness and heavy armament capabilities that pack a tremendous punch. It's main role is to be a close support airplane and has earned the affectionate apt nicknames of "Tank-Buster" and "Warthog". It provides really close support to ground forces using its impressive array of weaponry to take out hostile ground forces such as tanks, barracks and infantry. It also possesses STOL capability that enables it to take off from unprepared airstrips and is able to absorb a heap of punishment that can be thrown at it. The pilot is protected by Titanium Armour and all aircraft systems are duplicated or triplicated to make it harder for them to go off-line. Perhaps it's real bite is that of its Vulcan Avenger 30-mm six-barrell gun capable of firing more than four thousand rounds per minute, that can be found jutting just off-centre of the nose. A very nasty adversary to say the least.
Being a Matchbox kit you can't expect much other than a very easy build that could be riddled with fit problems. This kit won't disappoint you in those terms, although it does dispense with any fit problems as construction is very easy. Opening the box reveals just under 60 thick plastic parts that suffer a bit with ejector pin marks and contain raised and etched details. The instructions come in a fairly thin strip fold-out that includes very easy to understand steps, colour number & name call outs for Humbrol and a chart showing the individual painting steps for the smaller parts (pilot, seat, engines, wheel well, undercarriage, cockpit, dashboard and wheels). Surprisingly there is no diagram provided to show how to paint the exterior of the aircraft, although this may be provided on another sheet because I picked my A-10 up second hand (it may have been missing from the box). Reference detail or the box cover (above) will have to do.
Cockpit detail is non-existant, you simply get a pilot figure and seat to attach to a base and a rear sloping armour plated-wall (that sits behind the seat). There's no instrument panels - save for a small dashboard visible when the fuselage halves are joined together - control stick or anything. The engines are split vertically into two halves that join together and trap an exhaust and fan that you place inside on alignment rails. These are then attached to a pylon that is subsequently adjoined to the fuselage halve. You slap the fuselage halves together and then attach a small cone for the nose which includes a nice miniature replication of the Vulcan Cannon and an aft tail section where you have to glue on the rear stabilisers and tail fins. The cockpit canopy is thick but can be seen through and comes in one-piece. The only problem to be encountered is getting the engines to sit properly adjacent to the fuselage, and I never really did get this correct.
Wings are constructed using four pieces each, under and upper stubs connected to upper and lower slightly upward slanting outer wing panels. Numerous missiles, bombs and drop tanks are provided in the kit with four stores pylons under each wing and three fuselage pylons to attach them to. Undercarriage comes almost pre-assembled with only the requirement of attaching the wheels to them to complete the join.
The box contains decals for one version, mine had yellowed with age so they were shoved into a plastic freezer bag then slapped on the window to face direct sunlight for a few days. This got rid of just about all of the yellowing and I used them to finish off the kit. In the absence of a sheet depicting aircraft variant and colour scheme I used the box art and reproduced the light grey variant which was used in the contest against the A-9 to fly off for the close support aircraft role. Like I said above, this kit was grabbed cheaply second hand, so its possible that a couple of pieces as well as any colour call-out sheet was missing.
Overall this is a very easy kit to build and makes for an excellent beginner kit. It is not completely accurate as a replication of the Thunderbolt II but does capture the basic shape quite well. Not recommended for complete accuracy or a professional look, but makes for an easy and refreshing build just the same to suit all skills, especially beginners.
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