Hobby Boss 1/72 Fairchild N/AW A-10A Warthog

HOBBY BOSS 1:72 FAIRCHILD N/AW A-10A WARTHOG
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: John Lacey (rec.models.scale)

Aircraft History

A privately funded development of the A-10A “Warthog”, the N/AW variant would, as its title suggest be capable of operating at night or in adverse weather. For the role, a second seat was added and FLIR & other systems were podded beneath the wings (more on this later). A production variant would have moved these systems into fairings ahead of the main landing gear but after one aircraft AF73-1664 was trialled by the USAF, the type failed to gain a production order.

Kit Parts

This is my first Hobby Boss kit and, after seeing it reviewed a couple of times online, I decided to take the plunge going after a particular type that hadn’t been kitted before (other than a vacc conversion). Although not stated as an ‘Easy-Kit’, it certainly shares many of the concepts of the WW2 range that Hobby Boss produce with large airframe parts coming as single pieces rather than traditional multi-part assemblies. I must say, my initial impressions were quite good as each individual sprue tree was bagged separately, along with a separately bagged clear sprue and a bagged decal sheet. Hat’s off to Hobby Boss for their packaging efforts for starters! Fine recessed detail, comparable with any major manufacturer makes a further positive feeling grow about the quality of this company. Cockpit detail is restricted to single-piece “bang seats”, along with a open ended “tub”, instrument panels and control column for the pilot. The blank panels & side consoles are supplied with decals. With the exception of doors, each undercarriage component is a single piece with separate wheels whilst the type’s unique engines are supplied with front fans recessed into the forward cowlings of the nacelles and long tubes for the rear of the exhaust area. Wheel wells are “blanked off” with the nose area having some rudimentary detail, but “gear down” is the only option, although it shouldn’t be too difficult to model the type “in flight”. A full set of stores pylons are supplied. Clear parts consist of a single canopy and a HUD pane, the canopy having large locating pins to secure it to the fuselage. Very lightly frosted frames should present the modeller with little difficulty when painting.

Options

Here’s where Hobby Boss falls rather heavily to earth. I don’t know if they are taking a leaf out of Hasegawa’s book in producing a separate weapons kit at some later stage, but NO stores of any description are supplied. This is, I believe, a similar case with their other modern jets of “Easy Kit” design (eg: F-15A & E, F/A-18C & D, etc) rather than the fairly nice sprues available with their A-7 kits. That a modern strike aircraft should be boxed without any stores is galling enough, but to add a liberal dose of salt, the aforementioned podded N/AW systems aren’t supplied either. This is a similar failing in their F-15E Strike Eagle, the types LANTIRN pods being absent. Whilst it’s super to have a twin-tub A-10 finally in kit form for we of the “Braille Scale” community, I really have to wonder about the logic of Hobby Boss’ decision to not include weapons. A natural comparison is with the A-7 family, but even their helos such as the AH-64 & Mi-24 come with representative stores, the Mi-24, in fact, being somewhat overburdened with choices.

Instructions

Instructions consist of a double-sided sheet with warning steps & parts map on one side and four construction steps on the other. Detail painting, decaling and ballast issue are noted throughout the construction process. A separate glossy colour sheet provides painting & decaling for the completed model with Mr Hobby paints & named colours used.

Colour Options

Given that 1664 was the only airframe produced, it’s not surprising that only one scheme in overall Gunship Grey is provided.

Decals

Decals are limited to stencilling, national cocardes, serial numbers, some camera registration markings for the vertical tail surfaces, the aforementioned instrument panel & sidewall decals and a small nose art to apply to both sides of the nose. The decals themselves appear very glossy and a shade thick and I think setting solutions will be required here.

Impressions

Given the attention to detail from a packaging point of view, a fairly comprehensive decal sheet (especially considering the type’s uniqueness) and the simple ‘Wow’ factor of the subject matter, I’m quite pleased with the kit. It’s lack of stores, however, is something that I cannot condone. I was aware of this fault due to previews of the kit online, but this hasn’t dimmed my feeling of disappointment with Hobby Boss for this issue.

Conclusion

It’s “Easy Kit” status will certainly allow younger modellers to quickly knock up a presentable model and hopefully encourage more into our hobby. This same ease of construction will allow more seasoned modellers to really put their skills into hypothetical paint schemes we of the Whif persuasion love (I’ve profiled a number of alternate schemes for the type over on my Gallery at What If Modelers. For those with a hankering for the hypothetical, I heartily recommend joining the forum. (http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=myimages;u=472). Aside from the niggle of no stores, I can recommend this to pretty much anyone, given the simplicity of construction and the supplied scheme. As a more general feeling on Hobby Boss, however, I couldn’t justify the rest of their modern US range of Easy Kits, beyond the construction ease.

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