A few months ago, when I found out the G1 Optimus Prime figure was 1:48 I decided since the Minibot Powerglide Transforms into an A-10 Warthog (which happens to be one of my favorite Jet-powered Aircraft even IF it can't reach Supersonic Speeds like the F-15) and I happen to have a 1:48 Scale A-10 Warthog Kit awaiting paint and assembly, I'd make a Powerglide out of my Warthog. This Kit is the 1:48 Scale A-10 Thunderbolt II from Revell-Monogram. This particular iteration of the kit (Printed in Dark Green Plastic) is out of Production, but you can usually find its successor (whose instructions I am using as an assembly/Coloration Reference for parts that aren't on the outside of the Warthog) anywhere they sell Aircraft model Kits. As you can see, the Massive Jet engines of the Warthog have been painstakingly painted A bright, Glossy Red, the windscreen Frame (which I had painted Medium Green in preparation for this Kit's Original Color Scheme) has been Repainted to match the soon-to-be Bright Red Fuselage, One of the Wing tip lights has been painted, The front Landing Gear Bay has been painted and assembled, The Cockpit "Bathtub" has been assembled and Painted, The Flame Holders for the Engines have been painted, and I've started painting the Ladder (Just need to give it a few more coats of Yellow on the rungs before I paint the stem in Gunmetal) This second shot just shows my 25th Anniversary Reissue Optimus Prime laying among the parts for scale (Since both He and this Kit are 1:48 scale) I'm not going to make this thing transform, I have neither the Know-how to engineer such a thing, nor the Styrene to construct Powerglide's Robot parts. Those Red splotches that seem to be on the rear windscreen are just paint splotches on my work surface. I was un-goopifying my new paints and I must have set the piece of Sprue I was using to stir the red paint right where that windscreen ended up.
brush. hence why I said "Painstakingly". The Dark Green plastic is making this task way more difficult than it should be.
I know from experience that this kit is a great kit to put together if you haven't done something like this in a while. Good job on the paints, but like G60 said, (can't believe I'm agreeing with him), a nice primer coat, just barely sprayed on will help wonders. One final thing, I always thought Powerglide was more of a darker, kind of brick red.....
Good Idea, I had been considering giving the Exterior parts a coat of some kind of Primer after the trouble I've had painting the engines. I had an idea while I was walking to work this morning, If I can figure out how, I might be able to give my Powerglide a fake "Rubsign" (it would be the only way I'd be able to give this model an Autobrand that would show up due to its Color). Problem with that idea: The location of the rubsign on the toy is located between the engines and the engines on a Real A-10 (and thus this model) are closer together than they are on the Powerglide toy. Looking at the fuselage, I'm thinking a better place for a fake Rubsign would be a bit farther forward between the engines and the cockpit but Closer to the Cockpit. That's where his Autobrand is on his character model, anyway. I'm also thinking about how to go about adding a few references to "The Girl who Loved Powerglide". Simply painting a Pink Heart on the model's underside won't work, since the entire airframe will be Bright Glossy Red save for any Surface not meant to be Painted on the real plane. I think I could get away with painting "Capt. A. Carlton-Ritz" on the fuselage right near the Canopy, if I used a thin enough Paintbrush (It would be awful small, though). I know Powerglide was in more than just that episode and that more people than just Astoria have piloted Powerglide throughout the years, but its something Reprolabels would do, and I don't think I'd be able to reference Dinobot Island quite as Easily.
Almost a week later and I do have some progress albeit just a bit Bought some Primer Last week and now the Fuselage is almost Completely painted.... and I didn't need to half-deplete a quarter-ounce bottle of Acrylic Paint to do it... There's a few spots here and there that I missed with the Red, but this Model is quickly starting to resemble a certain airborne Minibot. Oh and a big thank you to Shinobi77 for suggesting I use Primer. I think I would have Depleted the two Quarter-ounce Jars of Red paint I got in my recent paint shipment if I'd have continued painting the way I had been.
Just a brief, Pictureless update: The Fuselage has been pretty much completely assembled. The Cockpit "Bathtub" is in place, the two halves of the Fuselage are glued together, the Landing Gear Bay has been installed and I'm almost done with the Engines. Just started work on the Tail Wings got them assembled and awaiting Primer/paint. Won't able to get much done in the way of Painting until I can get some Paint Thinner. Just discovered that some of the Paints I've been using were Enamel Paints and have, predictably, Screwed up many of my paintbrushes Even those nice new Red-handled Natural Bristled ones I bought back when I got my PC back up and running At the moment, I'm Filling in seams with filler putty in order to make this look more like a Real aircraft and less like a Plastic Model.
okay bro, while I'm not that experienced actually painting tformers, I'm EXTREMELY experienced doing plastic models. When using enamels, you MUST use synthetic brushes. The solvents in enamels will rip apart any NATURAL brushes in a heart beat. Nat brushes are good for water paints, and acrylics on some occasions. Not a fan of acrylics mind you, just my experience. The thing with enamels, is they leave a nice hard, smooth finish if done right. But, will often cover up small details if brushed on too thick. Best thing to do is try to get as much paint OFF the brush BEFORE you start painting on the model. Might take longer, but will give better results. Another thing, enamel can sometimes take AGES to cure. Get one of those vita lites from a pet store, used for reptiles. The UV light helps the enamel cure nice and hard, and once done, is next to impossible to dent. Makes a nice shiny coat without needing a top coat, ala, fewture, or whatever the heck its called....
Got some bad news about this project. While I was trying to Put the tail wings on, the connecting plastic broke..... I think this is what happened the last time I tried to build this Kit... Stupid A-10 airframe and its Ridiculously thin Tail section... Thankfully, the tail wings didn't end up fusing to the fuselage when I tried to make it right, but I really want to build this damn thing instead of leaving this thing half-built... Guess I'll set this project aside until I can get an A-10 Kit for parts so I can have some tail wings that aren't broken for my 1:48 Powerglide.
Managed to repair the Stabilizers with some Sprue I had on hand (Just a few Hours before the Would-have-been donor warthog I bought on Cyber Monday arrived). Painted and partway Assembled the right wing, and got some Putty work done to fill in some of the gaps around the Engines. Also mounted the HUD panel and Front Canopy segment. The Donor Warthog DID help me Decal-Match so I'll know where to put the Decals on Powerglide (Since some of the decals from kit 5505 don't correspond to those from 5521, I needed the actual Decal Sheet for reference) Will have to post update photos some other time. Would have updated this sooner, but I got caught up in playing Assassin's Creed III and its Predecessors.
heheh I know how u feel... just stopped 4 a few days 2 finish Far Cry 3.. did all the side missions and got the game @ 100% was so addictive!! (PS.: need 2 start AC3 & 2 before that, other already finished also 100%)
Can't wait to see this when you're done...I too absolutely love the A-10 in all its ugliness. I was thinking though...at 1:48 scale, I think Prime is going to be the mini-bot when standing next to Powerglide. (yeah, yeah...I know...mass shifting...) Great work so far!!!
Necropost time! So this project isn't 100% abandoned. Just today I got Powerglide's wing gear and all the little pylons attached to the wings and fuselage. Can't believe it's been this long since I last worked on it (seriously, December 2012?) right now I have metroplex holding it up by the wings. I'm very proud of how the cockpit turned out, it's a damn shame I can't get a detail shot of it with my iPhone. For once, the iPhone didn't tilt the image.
Most of it, yes. I didn't have an airbrush set until a year after I had put this project on indefinite hold, so the only red parts that have been touched by an airbrush are the pylons. Everything else has been hand-painted. EDIT Got the wheels on the wing gear attached... Boy am I wishing I'd gone through with putting a stack of pennies in the fuselage to replicate the weight of the guts of the Gau-8 (the plane's nose-gun... which is heavy enough to counteract the weight of those two big-ass turbines on the real plane) which, interestingly enough, is bigger than a Volkswagen Beetle
New picture from a similar angle as yesterday's photo showing off Powerglide on his new perch (my shelf, formerly occupied by a 1:48 HIND I don't think I'll actually finish) You can just barely see the Kill-count and the little Powerglide that came with the Kabaya Fort Max from a few years back.
