MILITARY DIORAMAS by Paul Asaban

Photo Album 24 - Somewhere in Saudi (A-10)

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Photo Album 1 - The Road to Minsk
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Photo Album 19 - PT109
Photo Album 20 - "Corner Kick" Curtiss P-40
Photo Album 21 - Building "Corner Kick"
Photo Album 22 - Black Widow
Photo Album 23 - Assorted models
Photo Album 24 - Somewhere in Saudi (A-10)
Photo Album 25 - Top Gun Air Show
Photo Album 26 - Top Gun Airshow 2
Photo Album 27 - The Mother of all Battles
Photo Album 28 - The First Night - F-111
Photo Album 29 - My kids are in on the action - Christian's Dioramas
Photo Album 30 - My kids are in on the action - Nicole's Dinosaurs
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Photo Album 34 - Restoration Project II
Photo Album 35 - Restoration Project III
Photo Album 36 - Restoration Project IV
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PART II
MODERN ERA DIORAMAS
Somewhere in Saudi (Desert Storm)
A-10 Thunderbolt II

Somewhere in Saudi - A10 Top View.jpg

Above: A Fairchild A-10A of the USAF gets ready "Somewhere in Saudi" for a sortie in the first Gulf War. The kit is a Monogram kit. The revetment walls are cardboard box sides with the first layer stripped to show the ribbing, simulating corrugated metal. The lights are dollhouse lights, and the light housings are 500 lb. bomb halves from an old B-17 kit. The lights on the trailer in the foreground are from an HO light tower, and the trailer is from an Italieri ground equipment kit. The Maverick missiles are scratch built. A 12 volt transformer is installed under the diorama to run the lights. This has always been one of my favorite models, as well as one of my favorite aircraft. Conventional wisdom is that the A-10 is ugly, but I disagree strongly! This plane is absolutely awesome.

Somewhere in Saudi - A10 Thunderbolt II Head On.jpg

Above: A head on view of the wonderful A-10 at night

Somewhere in Saudi - A10 Closeup.jpg

Above: A close up of the aircraft nose. The plane was actually designed for (and designed around)  the 21 foot Vulcan GAU 30mm rotary cannon seen protruding from the nose, instead of the reverse - a gun being designed for an aircraft. The 30mm gun fires a depleted uranium shot - the projectile is so hard that it penetrates inches of armor plate like butter. Designed to overcome the quantitative advantage the Soviets had over NATO in tanks, the A-10 never fought the protagonist it was designed to fight, but did prove that our tax dollars were never better spent with its performance in the Gulf conflicts to date. Low and slow, the A-10 may not have the panache of an F-16, but nothing cleans the way for our armor columns better than an A-10.  Barely visible on the nose is the appropriate name the pilot has given his aircraft, "The Thief of Baghdad". Armored like a tank, the survivabilty of the A-10 over the modern battlefield is already legendary.

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