Academy hornet - need to add nose weight?

[ClumsyDude]

Hi all

 

For those who've built this kit - the layout of the hornet seems to make it unlikely that nose weight would be needed to stop it tail sitting. But I'd hate to seal up the nose and find I'm wrong.

 

Keen to get your thoughts, LSP!

 

Cheers

Jim

[Lee_K]

I can confirm having built the kit two years ago with the nose cone glued in the closed position, that it does NOT need any weight.

 

Edited September 11, 2016 by Lee_K

[Zero77]

WHen i'm not sure if a model need some weight in the nose, i keep the nose "open" as long as possible and try to get the model the most assembled possible. Then i dry fit the gear legs, sit it on a plain surface and i check if it's a tail sitter or not. If it's still not very obvious (ie : if it stay on its nose gear leg correctly but did not recover that position if i push down on the tail), i just add a few wait in the nose for security.

[ClumsyDude]

I can confirm having built the kit two years ago with the nose cone glued in the closed position, that it does NOT need any weight.

 

Thanks Lee. Great model by the way.

 

Jim

[ClumsyDude]

Thanks Nic and Jennings. I'll try Nic's method and see how I go.

 

Jim

[Tony T]

Just be aware that the cantilever undercarriage can sag over time, so the adage "adding nose weight won't do any harm" is not entirely true. Unless you've got G-Factor bronze legs anything that reduces overall weight is desirable.

 

Tony

[ClumsyDude]

Thanks Tony, I am trying to find a set of the G-factor gear but can't seem to find it in stock anywhere - if anyone has any recommendations I'd be really keen to get them.

 

Cheers

Jim

[BloorwestSiR]

I haven't tried it yet on my kit but supposedly if you use epoxy to glue in the metal suupports for the kit legs, they're strong enough to not sag. Apparently it's the metal support shifting over time that causes the legs to collapse.

 

Carl

[ClumsyDude]

Thanks for the tip Carl, I appreciate it. I had wondered about something like that. Might need to go there as it seems to be pretty difficult to find the G Factor set anywhere.

 

Jim

[Zero77]

What is the kind of metal used by academy to reinforce the gear legs? Is it so weak that it cannot hold the weight of the model through the years?

Edited September 12, 2016 by Zero77

[BloorwestSiR]

They use a metal rod to reinforce the gear legs. My understanding is that the plastic slowly flexes over time and then the metal rod slips out of place causing the leg to bend more. By using epoxy, it fills the void inside the leg and that way, the metal rod can't slip out of place.

 

This is the route I plan to take when I build my CF-188 as you have to invert the leg damper and it's easier to do this with plastic vs. brass.

 

Carl

[LSP_Ron]

I used G-Factor on mine and didn't flip the damper,  it's such a small detail that you really can't see well and 99% of the people in the modeling world don't even know about it

 

[Starfighter]

My Bug stands fine on the kit landing gear since 9 (!) years - the problem isn't the landing gear, the problem is the main wheels which don't support the weight!

[BloorwestSiR]

Lovely build Ron. With the wing tanks in the way, it's definitely hard, if not impossible to see the orientation of the dampers. Maybe I'll just leave them alone.

 

Carl