I have a 1/48 Fairchild A-10 kit, bagged, with no box, decals or instructions, and I’d like to know who made it. I was hoping there’d be a “Copyright so-and-so” engraved inside a wing or fuselage, but no such luck.
There are four trees molded in dark green, and one in clear. The only identifying marks on the sprues are the words “MADE IN FRANCE” on one of the green trees, and “F6928” on the clear tree. All panel lines are raised, the canopy is molded in one piece, there’s no pilot figure, and the airbrake flaps are molded into the wing.
After hours of research, I’m now quite certain it was made (or reboxed) by Revell or Monogram (possibly before Revell bought it). I’ve ruled out Revell kits 5521, 4687, and 4503, plus Monogram 5505. Based on photos I’ve seen, my kit appears to use the exact same mold as Revell’s #4516 Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II…but my kit is molded in dark green, not gray.
And that’s where my research ends: for the life of me, I can’t find the model number for the dark green version of the #4516 mold.
Any clues? Post here and/or email to wcs at viclink dot com. Many thanks in advance!
I have an old Revell 1/48 A-10 kit buried somewhere in the stash, though I don’t know exactly where, because I can’t recall seeing it for quite a while. I believe it dates from the early 80’s.
I do recall that it was moulded in dark green, had a one piece canopy with a very distinct groove between the windscreen and the canopy clamshell. I think I separated the canopy and windscreen with a razor saw and the groove was of sufficient width that the saw blade fit in there quite nicely and did no damage to the actual framing.
If I recall correctly, it also came with AGM-65’s (Mavericks) to hang under the wings. That’s all I can remember about it though.
Did you check every inch of the trees themselves. I have seen some kits with the kit number engraved on the trees as well as some that at least have the company name there. It may still be that Revell. I have gotten a few Revell kits that were supposed to be molded in one color but were in another. I think they might have had to change the molding color for some reason and didn’t want to have to print new boxes with a different kit number.
X-Hobbycraft-review states it’s a poor copy of Tamiya kit
?-KiTech- can’t find any info, other than, it’s horrible.
I have only had the top three in my hands. The AMT kits lines were kinda random, some were in the right places, others were in areas they didn’t belong.
The Revell/Monogram 1/72 “Warthog” kit (#85-5430) I have on-hand is molded in OD, has a pilot, visor down, mask on, left hand molded to reaching for the throttle area, right hand on right thigh. Two piece canopy with clear tailstand on sprue numbered 5405-2000.
Horizontal stabilizer has the copyright “MMI-1977” molded into underside of the left elevator. So I’d imagine that all the various releases/guises of the 1/72 Monogram A-10 kit would have this little bit of info there…
There are four trees molded in dark green, and one in clear. The only identifying marks on the sprues are the words “MADE IN FRANCE” on one of the green trees, and “F6928” on the clear tree. All panel lines are raised, the canopy is molded in one piece, there’s no pilot figure, and the airbrake flaps are molded into the wing.
How many kits are/were made in France?? Shouldn`t that narrow it down?
You’re right about the AMT, and I’ve ruled out the following kits as well:
Academy 1652 – NO (1/72 scale)
AMT/Ertl 8884 – NO (gray parts)
AMT A-10 Action Scene – NO (separate flaps)
Hasegawa 00717 – NO (1/72 scale)
Hasegawa SP277 – NO (separate flaps)
Hobby Boss 80267-- NO (1/72 scale)
Hobby Boss 80323 – NO (gray parts)
Hobby Boss 80324 – NO (gray parts, recessed panel lines)
Hobbycraft 1412 – NO (parts are green, but has pilot and recessed panel lines)
Hobbycraft 1427 – NO (parts are green, but has pilot and recessed panel lines)
Italeri 2659 JAWS – NO (gray parts, 2-pc canopy, separate flaps)
Italeri 2655 – NO (gray parts, separate flaps)
Kitech/Zhengdefu 08M-L316 – NO (2-pc canopy)
Monogram 5430 – NO (1/72 scale)
Monogram 5505 – NO (parts are green, but flaps are separate)
Revell 4503 J.A.W.S. – NO (gray parts, 2-pc canopy)
Revell 4516 Fairchild A-10A Thunderbolt II – CLOSE: right mold, wrong color
Revell 4687 – NO (gray parts, pilot, separate flaps)
Revell 5521 – NO (gray parts, pilot, 2-pc canopy, separate flaps)
Revell 5852 – NO (1/72 scale)
Tamiya 62108 – NO (recessed panel lines, pilot)
Yes, every inch, several times. No identifying marks other than “MADE IN FRANCE” and “F6928.” Vintage Revellogram models usually seem to have a glaring copyright notice somewhere inside the fuselage or wing halves, but this kit is quite mum on its origins.
To troublemaker66: Yes, you’d think “MADE IN FRANCE” would make my search easier, but the number of web pages with that phrase in some irrelevant location is nothing short of staggering.
The model in the photo seems to be molded in olive green rather than just a general dark army-man green, but that could just be the lighting. The photo is clear enough to show the little breakaway pip (I forget the technical term) hanging off the left edge of the one-piece canopy, plus other specific details that match the trees I have, so this is the kit (or at least the instructions) I’m looking for.
Revell Lodella is Mexico. Revell did not, does not and to my knowledge, never has tooled kits in France. Germany, yes. But not France.
ESCI was Italian I believe and that is where I would put my money if the kit doesn’t have a U.S. Copyright/Trademark.
Simple things to notice:
The Revell kit (NOT Monogram!) has excessive wing sweep on the outer panels.
The Revell kit has excessive dihedral on the outer panels.
The Revell kit has ALQ-100 opposite an ALE-39 EXCM canoe with Six AGM-65 Maverick ‘shapes’ and Six Mk.20 Rockeye cluster bombs, complete with the ground covers for the fuze spinners.
The Revell kit doesn’t have the Pave Penny sensor though some releases did have the pylon.
The ESCI has 12 Mk.82 Snakeye (retarder fin tails) on two, rather poor, MERs.
The ESCI has an undernose gun door panel which can be displayed open to show the bottom of a bas relief GAU-8 and ammunition drum.
There are other discriminating detail features if you need them but these are unique to those two kits, differentiating each from the other as well as all other A-10 models.
yeah, that sounds like it, my guess is you’ve got an early edition Revell kit. Some of the details were changed on editions released after the plane’s combat debut in the gulf, including the weapons loadout. It’s not unheard of for companies to change the plastic mid run either, especially with early releases.
No identifying marks other than “MADE IN FRANCE” and “F6928.” Vintage Revellogram models usually seem to have a glaring copyright notice somewhere inside the fuselage or wing halves, but this kit is quite mum on its origins.