I never thought I'd post over here, but after an airshow yesterday, I have the hankering to mix things up a bit and build a plane.

I am especially interested in which kit would you consider to be the best A-10 and the best F-18, probably in 1/48 scale? Also, which AM decal manufacturers have nice layouts for these pieces?

As far as I am aware the best A10 in 1:48 is the Revellogram kit. I believe that the Tamiya kit is actually of one of the prototypes and the Ertl kit has a few problems. Twobobs do some nice decals for A10's

HTH
Pete

Jeff I can only answer for the A-10, The Monogram kit the better choice. The fuselage has rasied panel lines and recessed vents, louvers and scoops. The landing gear is somewhat correct but simply. The ejection seat is poorly depicted and the cockpit tub is empty. With all that set aside and some TLC she can turn into a real buttie. Black Box has a fabulous resin cockpit which there is some work to do to it as well, but it's worth it. I wish I had some photos or even the kit still, it was donated to the Buffalo Navel and Service Men Park...sorry. There are plenty of on-line build articles on the A-10 that may help you even further. Oh yeah, there are plenty of 1/48th decals out there to choose from.

For the Hornet, you can always go with Hasegawa, but it is very expensive. However, the Monogram model is very nice, and is available as a A or a C.

Decals? There are tons of them for the Hornet, from various manufacturers, such as Two Bobs, Leading Edge, etc.

For a good A10 site try here

Warthog Territory


Pete

Another F/A-18 to consider is Hasegawa's brand new F/A-18F Super Hornet (in this case the two-seater). I am waiting to receive mine (should within the next few days). Because I don't have it, I can't first-hand tell you how good it is, but from the reviews I have read, it would appear to be the best -18F out there, and should still be after Revell releases its F/A-18F in the near future. Revell, for the moment, has the best F/A-18E (single seater), but I believe that Hasegawa might be releasing an -18E version soon too.

Jeff

Don't forget that the Hasegawa kit is three times the cost of the Monogram one, and is also much fiddlier to build (I've readn comments about it...)

Tamiya updated their A-10 kit somewhat. It's not that bad of a kit. The fit is better than the Revell/Monogram kit. The BB resin cockpit can be made to fit the Tamiya kit. The real problem with the kit is the fit of the engine nacelles. Nothing a little putty, sanding and scribing can't cure.