Desert Storm in 1991 was the saving grace for the A-10A. In an atmosphere of downsizing and unit disbandings throughout the service, it was felt that with the threat of the Soviet Union now over, there was no need for a tank-busting aircraft. Fortunately for the A-10, Iraq invaded Kuwait in late 1990 and the build up to war began. This time, the Coalition did things right and built up an overwhelming force that included the A-10 and it certainly proved that it was a viable weapons platform. So much so that the aircraft is still in production and is now undergoing upgrades to A-10C configuration with new avionics and cockpit to handle the new age weapons.

This sheet covers six named and nose art festooned aircraft of the 354th TFW out of Myrtle Beach. All these planes are in the European I camouflage scheme, which must have looked a tad odd in the desert. There are also markings to do any aircraft of the 110th FG from Battle Creek, Michigan, also in the Euro I scheme. The instructions say that these can also be used in the new greys that was just coming into the A-10 fleet but I believe that the unit markings also changed when the greys became more prevalent.

Regardless, if you have any 1/48 A-10 kit and want something interesting to do with it, then this is the sheet for you

June 2007

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