20 years ago, during Desert Storm, I was a young captain with 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Before we deployed a made a model of an F-16 on tank treads and told the ALO that was what we wanted for Close Air Support.
We had a Desert Storm group build recently, and this was what I came up with.
It’s a Revell 1:48 A-10 with the lower part from an Academy Leopard A5. The rotors are from a Revell UH-1. In order to keep everything 1:48 scale, I put in resin crew from CMK, including the two soldiers on overwatch (one clinging for his life).
The names on the side have meaning. CPT Buchanan flew OV-1’s and A-10’s, and was a pilot I had known for many years. SPC Miller was KIA during the war, and a member of my unit. He’s wearing the yellow CAV scarf and pointing out the next target for the Air Force.
On the back is the crew rest module, with a barely seen pilot propped up on a leather couch. He’s reading magazines from that era which I shrunk down. The curtains are from ribbon, and the table is wood.
With a chaingun, dual 120mm cannon’s and underload payload, this is what CAS means!
I couldn’t quite get the custom decals to settle down. The 4/2nd ACR emblem on the nose behaved itself, suprisingly. But I couldn’t use the decals that came with the kit as that unit never deployed. Instead, I made up a custom set for the 23rd TFW which did deploy.
My Testors settings solutions couldn’t keep out some silvering. Do you guys know if this is something fixable later, or is it pretty much a done deal now?
For the silvering, try using a brand new #11 blade and making a small slit in the decal, just over the silvered area. Then dab on more of the setting solution. 90% of the time, that’ll take care of the problem - unless the silvering is really bad.
So I can’t just put the solution over the whole thing and expect it to melt. Rats. The crew rest area may require some work as it’s mostly silver. On that one, I may just try to pull it off and try again. The paint scheme behind it is only OD, so know big problems. I’ll try your method on the EL on the rudders and see how it goes. Thanks!
