noseweights..

[ironwolf80]

[airscale]

fantastic!

 

thank you all for your help & suggestions

 

I like the idea of shotgun lead, but unfortunately it might be a bit tricky to find (and Mrs airscale might get a worried look in her eye ) - I think I will check out the fishing shop just down the road (I live on the coast luckily) and see what they have..

 

I won't have a problem securing it as the plan is to suspend it (or them) in the mould and pour in resin around them so they will be part of the finished part - I am hoping as the only horror stories seem to involve CA that there will not be any long term reaction with the resin

 

still, if I do well at Telford next weekend I could always cast it in gold

 

thanks again all & learned a lot

 

Peter

[BloorwestSiR]

There's a company called Deluxe Materials that has a product called Liquid Gravity. It's really small metal balls that you can pour and glue into just about any space. I have some for those aircraft with tight spaces for more typical nose weights.

 

Carl

[t.valdez]

I second the lead shot approach. I got a bag before it got banned and disappeared from gun shops. I use PVA white glue as it is tougher than Elmers, never reacts wth styrene and when necessary. I was able to balance a P-38 by dropping lead shot into the engine halves and then adding the rocker cover piece. It also lets you add extra weight Ito your tail sitter after the fact by drilling a small hole in a strategic place and then adding ball until it sits right (use yellow tape to close the hole until you get the weight right and to keep the shot from rolling out). If needed you can add PVA to keep the shot from rattling around. I don't imagine I need to tell you about pin gauges to make bulkheads for resin models. Oh, I like to close the hole with a leftover PE cover plate ( p.s. Like the PE bezels, might want to consider PE cover plates, round, ovoid, square, generic.....you can have this idea. I got a bunch of Me-109 from the Airwaves line before they went defunct, been using them for years, almost out).

[scvrobeson]

You can also find tungsten weights for pine car derby racers.  They're more dense than lead, and usually come in bars with delineations in them to break them into small pieces.  Most hobby stores should have them, or if the local Boy Scouts run a pine car derby.

 

 

 

 

Matt 

[PhilB]

Getting shotgun lead in the UK is tricky with all the legislation.

I managed to get hold of a big piece of roofing lead sheet years ago (No I didn't nick it off the chruch roof).

Use snips to cut it into 1/4 inch squares then make up some 5 minute epoxy (Araldite) then use an old plastic pot and mix it up together.

Drop it into the nosecone or wherever its needed and the epoxy self levels with the lead and it does the job.

It doesn't have the problems with using Ca.

It gets a little warm but not enough to cause problems.

[TaffyMan]

Hi Peter - Like PhilB I have used roof flashing lead (also from a legit source ) and also fishing weights in the past. But with the Meteor I used curtain weights cheap as chips I got mine from Dunelms. All held in place by Araldite.

 

See you at Telford - need some of your Typhoon cockpit bits. So hope you got a good supply with you?

 

Happy Days - Taff

[LSP_K2]

So, theoretically, if you pumped that through a network of pipes in your spacecraft, you'd have Star Trek, right?  

 

Nope,... clogged pipes.