# Revell: A-10 Warthog question!!



## 99saleen87 (Apr 21, 2015)

Hi all!! First post and new to the forum. I look forward to immensely learn from you guys. First of all, I never thought this model hobby was gonna be so fun and addicting!! Well I just recently started working on my first project. The A-10 Warthog from Revell, and I came across an instruction that says. "Add some weight to the front for proper balance"?? Has anybody done this before? If so what would be a good weight adder for that particular area? Thank you guys in advanced, and any advices on my new hobby/adventure are very well appreciated. Cheers.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

The reason for this is that the A-10 has a nose wheel (tricycle landing gear), but the plastic model itself will be tail-heavy when it's built. Your nose-wheeler will flop onto it's tail.

All you have to do to make it sit on its nose wheel is add enough weight inside the nose to counterbalance the weight of the tail, and make the half of the model ahead of the main wheels heavier than the half aft of the main wheels. Obviously, you do this before you glue the fuselage halves together. 

Most people use a lead fishing sinker, or a couple of lead fishing sinkers. Filling the internal space with lead shot or BBs also works. Heck, I even bought a box of 9mm bullets (reloading components NOT loaded onto cartridges) for just this purpose. Basically, anything heavy that fits will do the trick!

Unfortunately unless the instructions tell you the right weight, there's no way to guess. I just generally load up the nose with as much lead as will fit.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The farther forward the less weight you need. The closer to the center of balance the more you need. With the A10 you can just stick lead shot, fishing weights, etc. into the nose as there is a lot of room. Planes with a glass nose like the B-25J are more problematic. Ive hidden weights inside the halves of tires! 

You see some kits come with a clear plastic peg to prop the tail up... in case you forget or don't put weight in the nose.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Heck, I've put weights in the noses of drop tanks; engine nacelles... I have a resin XP-67 that was so tail heavy it need 13 .45 slugs and a few assorted other chunks of lead (including in the prop spinners!) to stand up!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

that liquid gravity stuff that Mega sells seems like it will be useful, especially for smaller models like 1/72 scale


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## 99saleen87 (Apr 21, 2015)

Thank you guys for all the replies. I guess I'll try to find some weight once I'm done with it, to kind of balance it out. Thanx again amigos!!!


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## Sgthawker (Apr 20, 2012)

You don't want to wait until you are done. You want to put the weight inside the nose before you glue it together. Also you may want to see what weights can fit inside the halves of the nose, you may find some fishing weights too large to fit. So you try to fit the halves of the fuselage together, with out glue, to see if what you have fits.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Yes - the weight goes _inside_.


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## PipePlayr (Oct 30, 2008)

Go to the fishing section in Walmart. Get an assortment of fishing weights from the smallest to the largest. 

At your workbench, lay the weights in the nose of your kit and then tape the fuselage halves together. Since the A-10 has those big engines aft of the main gear, you'll probably need a good bit of weight up front. When you get the wings assembled, tape the wings and the engines onto the fuselage and balance the kit at the point where the main gear fits into the wing. If you need more weight to get the kit to sit nose down, now is the time to add it....._before_ you cement the fuselage halves together.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Vic


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

A lot of these guys may adamantly disagree, but some time back this question came up on, I think, ARC (Aircraft Resource Center) the idea of using lead caused problems down the road. The lead weights expanded (don't recall reason why) and caused the fuselage to split wide open!! I saw numerous examples and you wouldn't believe how bad! BB's may be the better choice.

Just food for thought.

Carl-


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

On a related issue, there's one model out where the actual plane tended to be a tail-sitter, so the real-world mechanics used to place an oil drum under the tail to support it. When the model kit came out, it included a scale oil drum for just that purpose.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I've never heard of the expanding lead thing. I've heard of lead _corroding _(I think).
I'll have to look over some of my older models and see if there's anything going on there.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Lead is generally pretty stable, that's why it used to be used for water/drain pipes before people realized it was harmful...

It can react so if someone used really corrosive caulk to hold the weight in place without leaving any room for expansion I guess the creation of salts on the surface of the weight would be a problem. 

Maybe it was steel, rust would certainly expand a lot...


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## sheridan1952 (Apr 12, 2015)

Just a caution, I built Nichimo's 1/20 Cessna 172 Skyhawk many years ago. I put enough weight in the front to make it sit properly. It wasn't long before the main gear axles snapped under the weight.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I call BS on the expanding lead story. The other day, I think on Hyperscale, someone was talking about how models were blowing up due to expanding lead. Totally BS. I have some kits my dad made 45 years ago or more with lead weights inside... nothing has expanded or blown up yet. Lead can rot... but it doesn't noticeably increase in size or volume. Mostly the rot is a white dust on the surface.


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## MartyS (Mar 11, 2014)

Yeah, it's got to be people using something other than pure lead. Like shotgun pellets that could be a variety of alloys if you don't check before using them.


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

I agree with the fishing weights. I have two of them, the Revell and the Tamyia 1/48th scale. It just takes a little 1/4 oz sinker in the wheel well. 
I want to share a side story. I was crew chief and as I marshaled my Warthog into position at the EOR it had a complete nose gear failure and dropped nose first onto the GAU8A Gatling Gun! Everyone got a good laugh as my tail number was 714 which was slang for Qualudes back in the day.
I have pictures and tons of memories as we were the first fully operational A10A Squadron 356TFW Green Demons. Frontline troops cheered as our Jets roared out low and lean over the battlefield and struck genuine terror into the enemy! It fills me with pride I was able to serve with the A10A and just wanted to share that.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

This is what I based my comment on:

http://www.ratomodeling.com/articles/lead_ca/lead_ca.html

Carl-


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

aurora fan said:


> I agree with the fishing weights. I have two of them, the Revell and the Tamyia 1/48th scale. It just takes a little 1/4 oz sinker in the wheel well.
> I want to share a side story. I was crew chief and as I marshaled my Warthog into position at the EOR it had a complete nose gear failure and dropped nose first onto the GAU8A Gatling Gun! Everyone got a good laugh as my tail number was 714 which was slang for Qualudes back in the day.
> I have pictures and tons of memories as we were the first fully operational A10A Squadron 356TFW Green Demons. Frontline troops cheered as our Jets roared out low and lean over the battlefield and struck genuine terror into the enemy! It fills me with pride I was able to serve with the A10A and just wanted to share that.


Awesome! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for serving.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

hal9001 said:


> This is what I based my comment on:
> 
> http://www.ratomodeling.com/articles/lead_ca/lead_ca.html
> 
> Carl-



Hm. He seems to be saying it only happens with CA glue, and never with white glue. Still, I've never had it happen. I wonder if it's some strange combination of his brand of glue and a specific type of lead? Yeah, that's reaching. Beats me.

I do use CA glue, but the bullets I use for weight are full metal jackets so I don't have to handle lead. Little or no contact between the glue and the lead, which is only exposed at the bottom of the slug.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

John P said:


> Hm. He seems to be saying it only happens with CA glue, and never with white glue. Still, I've never had it happen. I wonder if it's some strange combination of his brand of glue and a specific type of lead? Yeah, that's reaching. Beats me.
> 
> I do use CA glue, but the bullets I use for weight are full metal jackets so I don't have to handle lead. Little or no contact between the glue and the lead, which is only exposed at the bottom of the slug.


I don't know why jacketed bullets would cause a problem. That with white glue probably wouldn't. But, then again, what do I know.....?

_*Aurora fan, thanks for your service, dedication and sacrifice to our great Nation!!*_ *We owe you a lot.*

Carl-


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## 99saleen87 (Apr 21, 2015)

Wow. Thank you guys for all the amazing and knowledgable replies. I was kind of busy this weekend so didn't have time to reply. Anyways. Thanx to you guys my knowledge of this hobbie is gonna expand immensely in a moments notice pretty soon. Im gonna try those fishing weights and see how it goes. Once again, thank you guys for taking the time to answer to my thread. I'm curious to see my final product and share it with you guys.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

As an ammo reloader, handling jacketed or plated bullets to avoid contact with lead is probably a waste of time since the things are not made in a lead-free, sterile, environment. There will be lead on the machinery, packing materials etc. Not that it is a huge issue. We do have soap and running water in the USA you know. Safely handling a couple fishing weights or bullets is no more hazardous than using the paints and glues needed to build the model.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Well, technically, it takes exactly the same amount of time to handle jacketed as plain lead, so no time is actually wasted.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

John P said:


> Heck, I've put weights in the noses of drop tanks; engine nacelles... I have a resin XP-67 that was so tail heavy it need 13 .45 slugs and a few assorted other chunks of lead (including in the prop spinners!) to stand up!


Thats cool.

Looks like a ordinance load photo.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Impressive looking picture with the bullets on display - almost looks like ordinance for the plane!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

And of course, _now _I notice I misspelled "pair". :freak:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

BTW, the resin landing gear on that plane have started to bow under that weight!


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

I'm not surprised its bowing!!!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Id have just glued it to a base


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Or model it "in flight".


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

John P said:


> And of course, _now _I notice I misspelled "pair". :freak:


"A pain of .36 balls" sounds like something you should see a doctor about! :tongue:


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## Sgthawker (Apr 20, 2012)

Looks pretty cool there, robiwon!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

scotpens said:


> "A pain of .36 balls" sounds like something you should see a doctor about! :tongue:


I think I still have some cream left over from the last time...


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I think my current project, a 1/72 Left '46 jet, may end up failing to stand on its nose. There wasn't much room inside for weight - the balance point is _right _behind the cockpit, and the cockpit is right in the nose. I fit a tiny bit of shot ahead of the cockpit, and a .223 bullet behind the cockpit _barely _ahead of the CG. Another .223 slug went into the from of the jet engine on the wing, again JUST ahead of the CG. It teeters right now. I'm hoping another round in the bomb on the belly will do the trick, but that get glued on after painting. Fingers crossed.


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