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Straightening bent white metal landing gear


Thunda

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Hey Folks,

 

wondered if anyone had any experience in the above? Bought a set of SAC's Ju88 landing geat struts from fleabay, and they arrived bent to high heaven- not just the main leg, which has a slight bend, but more seriously, the wheel spindles - severely.

 

Im worried they will snap if I bend them back the other way, so should I be using heat? Is there any magic method? The bend is right at the point which takes the highest load- where the wheel spindle meets the gear leg...

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thunda

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Unfortunately, the only advice is to dump them immediately and definitely... and be thankful they were bent before you used them, rather after you spent a lot of time on your labor of love, as they would have bent anyway :(

 

Hubert

Edited by MostlyRacers
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What Hubert says is unfortunately true, which stinks since you already bought them. Hopefully they were not costly. Free would be too high a price for those things. 

 

You could certainly try heating them and bending them back, or just slowly do it without heat, but no guarantees, and heating them may make them weaker than before, or just melt them altogether. The SAC products really are awful stuff, I'm afraid. The weight of the model is often enough to bend them.

 

Bronze is the only way to go for metal legs, and I don't know if anyone makes legs for that plane. Good luck!

 

Tim

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G-Factor make a brass set, but apparently the more recent ones are quite rough in texture, I bought a couple of the early sets, but this was to use with Ju 188 conversions which will be heavy, for a Ju 88 D-2 I have planned I'm just going to use the kit undercarriage.

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G-Factor make a brass set, but apparently the more recent ones are quite rough in texture, I bought a couple of the early sets, but this was to use with Ju 188 conversions which will be heavy, for a Ju 88 D-2 I have planned I'm just going to use the kit undercarriage.

 

Fine jewelers files followed with fine grit sand paper will clean those right up.

Edited by ScottsGT
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Agree with all said. I need one more bronze/brass set for my Ju-188 conversion. No joy so far. Any hints toward finding a set will be appreciated.

 

The kit LG are pretty good for a model that is not loaded with resin. IIRC I assembled them with brass tubing inside.

 

Rick

 

Edit: Bill_S and Kagenusha, thanks for the shopping tips. I forgot about Victory Models. I ordered one set today.

 

Rick

Edited by Rick Griewski
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1) Immerse them in boiling water for a while (30 minutes?) Put on winter gloves. See if you can bend them, slowly, back to their correct shape. 

Lots  of luck!!!

2) Learn how to solder. Buy a selection of brass (copper?) tubes of varioius diameters. Reconstruct the landing gear from scratch this time using metal like brass or copper.    Better yet, learn to silver solder.  :help:

Either may work, or may not. 

Life is a challenge. Go for it.

You may want to buy a micro soldering torch to do this work.

Experiment.

You might like this and gain a new skill.

Or, you might add me to your list of new hatreds.

Either way   

Lots of luck

    :punk:                                                                         

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As others have said, personally after experimenting with many many SAC sets, the best fix for them is insertion into the circular file. They will eventually bend under weight, regardless of being bent prior to install.
Don't even waste your precious time/energy on them.

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I had stocked up on SAC gears for the Revell Phantoms.  I think I had anywhere from 3 to 6 sets.  I never opened them. After reading how soft they were, curiosity got to me.  Opened one up and discovered they bent like solder. Complete garbage.  Seriously, you can bend those things without heat.  No need to worry about ruining them, SAC already did that for you. 

All of my new stash went straight into the round file.

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I just don't know why SAC persist in producing 1/32 sets of gear, maybe 1/48 would be fine and sturdy enough, but 32nd and larger NO WAY JOSE, but ofcourse it's a matter of economics for them, "no matter what, we'll keep on producing these floppy gear sets........and make money......yeah right!!!

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Guest Peterpools

Only bought one set, never opened or used after reading all the advice and experience on the gang on LSP. While metal is soft and has very little strength. G-Fcator is the way to go

Peter

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