The underside was time consuming - the A-10 has 10 wing stations. All stations had their gaps filled with Tamiya Epoxy Quick Type. This was really a time saver as the clean up is much easier as long as the epoxy is still wet. Much better than sanding after drying IMO.
I primed this aircraft black (my first time black-basing). I used AK Black Primer and Microfiller. I experimented way too much with pressures and airbrush distances. I always start off telling myself "don't try to cover it all in one go", and next thing you know I am on full-throttle at 40 psi. Patience is not my strong suit, but model building is a good way of building it up. Due to my impatience, the paint was applied much to heavily and at too far high a pressure. I am pretty sure the paint even dried before hitting the surface, as the finish has a sandpaper texture.
Notes for the future: take your time! There is nothing wrong with taking a full hour; you are not yet a pro.
Tamiya Epoxy Quick Type was used on the pylons. I am very satisfied with the result and will definitely be using it more in the future. As will all fillers, a little goes a long way!
I covered up the re-scribed panel lines on the engine housing as it was far too deep. I found the curved surface a challenge as far as maintaining consistent pressure on the scribe tool
The larger covered rectangle is an experiment. There are multiple rescribed lines underneath applied at various hand pressures. I will see how the Mr. Surfacer 500 deals with this. I suspect not well, as is quite liquid even when not thinned
This assembly was a large learning opportunity for proper application of putty and seam removal. Various types of putty and fillers were experimented with: Tamiya Epoxy, Tamiya white, Revell and Mr. Surfacer 500.
My overall favorite is the Tamiya epoxy. It is easy to handle when your fingers are wet, and it gets into seams very well. I pressed it down with a small metal spatula or even my fingers. Removal of excess is also easy as you can lightly scrape it away. I used it heavily on the wing root seams, as well as the pylon seams.
The focus of assembly was removing as many seams as possible, and this was my first genuine model where I attempted it in full. The following seams were effectively removed (fully smooth, no trace):
-main dorsal seam, even around antenna cluster
-nose seam
-engine nacelle seams
-Empennage seam on underside where it attached to the fuselage
The sanding instruments used were Tamiya 400/600/1000 grit wet/dry, Tamiya sanding sponges 1000/2000/3000 wet/dry, and various sanding sticks and buffing sticks. So. Much. Sanding. In fact I sanded the spine so much the seam actually came back!
Overall the sanding removed a lot of panel lines. This was an opportunity to try rescribing for the first time. I used 3 layers of electrical tape on top of each other to make quite a hefty guide. I used my Tamiya scribing tool, and applied far too much pressure for the initial lines on the wings and spine. Eventually I found that a *very* light pressure, followed by a an additional very light pass was effective. I was a bit frustrated that I spent so much time removing seams only to be left with far too deep panel lines. I therefore used the opportunity to try out Mr. Surfacer 500 to see how it performs as a filler/putty.
As an experiment, I applied soft, medium and heavy panel lines with the scriber, and filled them with various putties to see how much coverage they can achieve.
The results will be shared in the next update. For now, I am posting pictures of the black based model, as I will be trying mottling seriously for the first time with this aircraft. I plan to use Mr. Hobby aircraft grey thinned 70/30 at 15-20 psi for the mottling scheme.
