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Metal landing gear-what kits do need them?


iaf-man

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i suppose tamiya corsairs will need metal gears. they are too soft

plastic is tend to become crisp after time so i thing all models need metal legs.

G Force makes them IIRC.....Harv
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Battle of the planets! Yeah i remember that

 

You mean Gatchaman  :P

 

Back to the original subject, the HK Mosquito could use some nice replacements. What would be even better is if they simplify the gear a bit doing so. There are some unnecessary  joints that lend themselves to breakage.

 

Carl

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  • 1 month later...

I've heard horror stories about the kit landing gear on the F.105, but before metal landing gear came out, people coated the kit gear with Super glue with great success. What I don't understand is why anyone would come out with WWl fighter landing gear.

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Ho-229

 

I guess you think about the Zoukei-mura Ho 229? Well, I don´t think so. I did build my test shot for the Concept Note book about 1+ year ago. Since then the finished build has been shown on some model shows here and there. The remaining time the kit is placed on a glass plate (no stabilising friction from the glass) and the landing gear and wheel axle are still straight as a ruler.

 

Same with my Revell Ju 88A-1. Placed on glass, too. No bending on the LG so far. On the other side when doing a conversion as offered by AIMS I would go for sure and get Ernie G´s metal gear. Great stuff!

 

Now, that´s just my experience. Other´s mileage may vary.

Edited by Wurzacher
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Revell F-15 definitely (even the SAC one is beter than the kit part), F-105 has been mentioned, my Revell Ju 88 gear also broke at the axle

do we also metion completely fucked up gearlegs that need a correction like the mig 19 MLG?

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Academy F/A-18 is a good candidate for metal gear (G-Factor) as is the aforementioned Thud.

 

Isn't a metal LG already included in the Academy F/A-18 kit?

 

 

Otherwise, i'd say any big/heavy kit with skinny landing gears, especially for the kind of "cantilever" landing gear, à la Gloster Meteor or Bae Hawk.

 

For the F-86, i cant say for the KH kits, but for the Kinetic kit, i think the plastic struts are quite strong, at least for the MLG. The problem is that the front landing gear is a bit off, with an angle instead of a curve. I have the SAC set, but it's soft, so i'm still hesitating between a wrong plastic strut and a bit better but quite soft metal strut.

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Hi,

 

It is not always possible to find appropriate metal replacement legs. However, in many cases, this is not even necessary!

 

The first thing to do is to estimate the weight of the kit and if stress will be put on some legs and where.

 

If this is indeed the case, check first if you cannot put a metal core within the plastic leg. This is by far the solution I prefer as sanding of seams and detailing is far easier. G-factor legs are very nice but a real PITA to sand and not necessarily the easiest to glue!

 

If this is not possible, can you replace part of the leg with a metal tube or rod? Nothing looks better like an stainless tube than a smaller stainless tube!

 

If the front lower leg is very thin and will very probably bend or break, why not replacing it with a bent and sanded section from a thick paper clip section? This is another possibility.

 

Last, as already mentioned, it is also possible to reinforce plastic parts with thin CA glue.

 

My conclusion: there is no "Jack of all trades" solution that is applicable for all kits!

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Generally, I don't think any kit really needs metal landing gear. Some of the metal gear on the market (in my experience SAC) is actually softer than the plastic supplied with the kits. 

 

My heaviest model is a 1/32 Growler, it is ridiculously heavy due to all the resin involved (all three ALQ-99s are resin, as are the AGM-88s); it is significantly heavier than my Flanker in the same scale. However, the Trumpeter plastic works just fine, in fact I cut the metal reinforcements from the elbow since that is not how the real thing looks and it all still works:

 

DSC_0053_zpsokk7mitk.jpg

 

I agree that the Revell EF-2000 front leg is a little iffy, but front gear shouldn't have a lot of weight on it anyway, mine has been parked without issue in my display cabinet for a few years now:

 

DSC_0495_zps0p6fskrk.jpg

 

The Academy Hornet main landing gear has the aircraft sit a little low at the rear imo, but that's not due to the plastic bending.

 

Cheers,

Marcel

Edited by Marcel111
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Generally, I don't think any kit really needs metal landing gear. 

 

 

I do however have to disagree with that statement.   The KHM OV-10 (of which Im coming up on building my 3rd) has some of the most cantilevered gear on any plane Ive seen to date, and the OOB MLG simply put just does NOT pass muster.

 

AAMOF, if you dont put some pretty substantial positive camber in the wheels with no weight on them the gear WILL splay out on you, and you will end up with some severe negative camber when you go to set the model down.

 

I have sent several gear sets to Ernie G @ G-Factor, including the OV-10, T-28 and OS2U (for the tail beaching gear only likely).

 

Agreed not all LSPs need metal gear but the fact is there are DEFINITELY some models out there that do

Edited by Out2gtcha
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