1:72 A-10C Thunderbolt II LooK

The Warthog's instrument panel in a small scale

In the first decade of this century the A-10 ground-attack aircraft went through a modification after which it received the A-10C designation. Alongside the analog dials, two color displays appeared in the cockpit, the controls moved to a stick and throttle with buttons for the important functions, and the aircraft learned to work with guided munitions and a targeting pod. A machine designed in the 1970s for close support thus became an aircraft capable of precision strikes, without losing the seven-barrel cannon in the nose or the armored bathtub around the pilot.

In 1:72 scale the instrument panel fits on an area smaller than a fingernail, so there is no sense in painting it with a brush. This set supplies it finished: the panel with its printed displays and dials is simply seated in place of the original plastic part, and with it come steel seat belts for the ejection seat, likewise printed in advance. The detail is printed in fine resolution, so it holds up even seen close up or in a macro photograph of the finished model.

Fitting takes a few minutes and does not involve bending complicated shapes. The original panel is carefully cut away or sanded flat, the new one is tacked down with a spot of glue and the belts are thrown over the shell of the seat. It pays to try the seating dry, because once the cockpit is glued up the position of the panel cannot be adjusted.

There is a side benefit in time. Varnishing, waiting for it to dry and going over tiny areas all fall away, so the cockpit is closed up sooner and the build is not held up by a single part. And in a 1:72 scale miniature it tends to be precisely the cockpit that is the last thing standing between the builder and a finished model.