Guys,

I've always wanted a Mibo A-10! Every time I saw one I'd say 'next time' to myself. When Al's 'Snowy' version appeared I nearly buckled but I'd just bought a TomaHawk Hawk. So, 'next time' never came.....until a few weeks back I got the chance to pick one up including ALL options at a great price! This also coincided, to the day, with a friend wanting to sell his BBI F15 cockpit and pilot so I snapped that up too.

I was not planning on doing a build thread as time is short but with so much A-10 knowledge out there and no instructions it seemed daft not to. Also, those who know me won't be surprised to know it won't be a fast build!! Having said that, my wife and I are expecting child number 2 in April so I've sort of set myself a goal of finishing it by then - a goal I'll likely miss wildly LOL.

Anyway, I will post some pics later tonight. I've made good progress (for me) so far and I have to say the quality of the kit is amazing. Also, with all the ordnance and scale items it is staggering the number of molded items that make up this model!!

Cheers
Mark

Sold by May or JuneMMMmmm...£50 on June

I'm betting on May 2012. And I want one too!

Looking forward to this mark! My second is three months old and still managing to fit in 2 full time jobs and the family, ok the model building is more like part time but you get the idea...

Good luck with it all

Cheers, Alex

3 months old...that doesn't affect things too much, I found the third one the biggest handycap, or was it the extra eight years before she came along!

OK, a few pics of where I am. Not necessarily in order or a build thread as, like I said, not going to worry documenting it in too much detail.

I started with the wing as that was where most of the work seemed to be. First up the inboard slats...

Pylons mounted. I cut an opening in the tops (bottom in these pictures) to recover any bolts dropped when attaching them. The rear of the outboard pylon needs opening for the aileron linkage. Flare/Chaff dispensers added to wingtip moldings too.

It seemed a lot of people were gluing the three centre pylons to the fuselage but I chose to bolt them on with blind nuts.

Hopefully, it'll be strong enough as the centre pylon has to carry this big 'ol bugger!!

And whilst I was playing with the ordnance I started putting together some of the other payload items! Still need to add some fins to the sidewinders.

The keyhole slot and bolt head attachment method works a treat!

Added a few of the myriad scale details. Lots more to add!!

Rudders mounted and hinged

Next up I worked on the flaps. These looked like they were going to be really fiddly but the sheer precision of the kit made it a 2hr job for all four start to finish! The neat servo mounts are from Marc Scully at GBRJet - perfect fit.

Looking good Mark!

Thanks.

Next up were the engine pods. There were 4 tubes and some brass threaded inserts. It wasn't clear what I was supposed to do with these so I used the same method to attach the nacelles as I do the stabs on my 40% aerobatic models. This meant the tubes were glued in the fuselage, the nacelles placed in position, holes drilled through the nacelles and through into the tubes. These holes were tapped and a captive nut was then aeropoxied inside the tube to offering a solid threaded portion to bolt up into.

One issue I did find was that the tubes were such a perfect fit in the sockets that epoxy of any nature was too thick and simply got pushed to the bottom of the socket with none of it able to get around the tube. In the end I scurfed up the tubes roughly, coated the sockets with medium cyano, popped the tube in whilst twisting it and sprayed a bit of kicker. They're going nowhere!!

Rgds,
Mark

Hi Mark,

Build looks great! You will love it!

I was always jealous of the Gen 4 over my Gen 3 because I think it is easier to paint the nacelles before they are attached.

In any case, good luck!

Dave

Great stuff Mark. Good luck with the build.

Hey Mark, lookin good on the Hawg Build.
You may want to check out an unusual scale finish on Joe Cs MIBO Hawg ride that did its premier at Best of the West Event last weekend. www.youtube.com/watch

Hi Roger,

Yeah, Joe's Hawg is off the hook. I've spoken to him a couple of times and it seems there's nothing he didn't put on that bad boy

As for the scheme, that was one I'd found a while back that made it into my 'if I get an A-10' folder [8D]

I ordered the gear from Mibo last week. Seems as if Behotec are making it for them now so I expect great things :-)

Cheers
Mark

Hi Mark

Excellent work, I must be a very entertaining, complex assembly and very professional.

Saludos
Norbert

Thanks Norbert.

OK, whilst I await the gear I thought I'd crack on and cut out the gear/door openings. It was when I worked on the glassfibre wing pods that it really hammered home what an absolute biatch kevlar is to work with. The fiberglass allows for such a clean crisp cut that it's a little disappointing to see the crappy, furry edged bodge that you get on the fuselage - especially when I had plans for all sort of little scale vents/holes/grills etc. I don't actually know why Mibo have layed up the entire fuselage from kevlar? However, I would bet money on this being the strongest model airframe out there!! (if not, then the most likely to be able to take a bullet )

I know Wayne Layne used some funky little saw like blades but if there are composite gurus out there that know any tricks please do let me know!

Also, in my enthusiasm (and late night tiredness) I took the opening right back to the edges instead of leaving a 4-5mm lip for the doors [:@] Not sure whether to mess about building up a lip from polyply etc or whether to get Mibo to send another pod when I have my brain plugged in.......after that I remembered the lip on the nose gear opening

I also cut the material away to clear the elevator linkages.

Hi Mark,looking good.You may want to cut the lip all the way back on the nose gear opening,as I couldn't get my gear doors to fit properly until I did.I then used poly ply to re make the lip,this is after spending ages messing around convincing myself that that was as good as they were going to be.When I cut the lip back and used poly ply they fitted really well.
Regarding cutting the fuse ,try using a scalpel,scoring numerous times,then sand it lightly size,when you have it the right size wick some thin cyano into the edge,let it dry and resand with180grit. You may need to re wick and go to 240 grit ,a pain in the arse ,but the only way I could get a clean edge.Hope this helpsand good luck if you try to make the canopy open!! It took me ages to get that right! regards Jon.

Mark, try a number 11 blade hot knife, this will give a cleaner edge. Then as Jon suggested use thin cyano and sand with 240 grit. Use a hard backing with the sandpaper paper (ie. afix it to a stick) and sand at an angle as if beveling inwards into the fuse.
Mike

I used a hot knife too and the kevlar is so easy to cut !!!! after that some very thin cyano and sand paper make an exellent work.
But I'm agree with you, kevlar is difficult to work. I hope it have physical interrest!

Behotec gear arrived today. Looks a lot less fancy than the 'old' Mibo gear but will likely be 100% reliable. Legs/scissors still look awesome!

Direct steering servo setup too which I always prefer!

There's a bit of extra 'metal work' that comes with them to secure them to the wings. I'll work out what goes where tomorrow.....