Aircraft wheels: Up or Down?

You could always the aircraft that have fixed landing gear… or float planes :wink: Then you just need to concern yourself with how to make those props spin or look like they’re spinning… :thinking:

2 Likes

That’s a beauty! Great base - did you do a WIP on this?

1 Like

Someone here did a really nice airliner landing - flaps down, gear down and modified the trucks so they hang at an angle before touchdown. It was lighted as well. Brilliant model in a rare scene.

1 Like

Thanks man. I’ll post some work in progress in the aircraft section.

I intended to build a smallish collection of 1950s jets and pose them all in flight. I purchased 4”X4” pieces of .5” clear acrylic sheet and some .25” clear acrylic rod to mount them. As it happened, I built the first 3 kits and didn’t really like the way two of them turned out. I decided to buy and build those two again and count it as experience gained, but the project is (almost) back to square one. I was however able to give the stands a trial run and they looked great. Being clear, and with the rod being only .25” diameter they were completely unobtrusive and didn’t detract from the model in any way, and will allow the future models to share shelf space with everything else instead of hanging from the ceiling.

1 Like

I have a mix - I like to see them in all their stages so to speak. But outside of my X-15, all my in flight kits are airliners. Just easier to do (depending on kit)

4 Likes

I have always built my planes in static with wheels down . But recently I’ve come across some other builds that I think looked impressive and I am thinking of trying to do similar




6 Likes

Yep, that was me :rofl: I pushed the envelope on that 1:144 Revell 747-8F “CargoLux” version. Nano and Pico LED’s, 3D printed leading and trailing edge flaps, modified trucks set to their respective angles.

https://forum.finescale.com/t/cargolux-747-8f-over-the-threshold/256086

4 Likes

WOW! That is incredible how you “capture” the moment.

That is the coolest diorama I’ve ever seen it, hands-down

1 Like

The Airbus is simply a massive machine.

For me, it depends on the aircraft. For jets, I prefer to display them in flight. No real reason, I just think they look cooler in flight. The same with float planes, since float plane kits may not provide a docking dolly. For prop planes, it’s either/or and what I am wanting to depict with the aircraft. Mostly though, prop planes are displayed resting on their landing gear.

This Kingfisher is similar to the Kingfishers in the movie “They Were Expendable.”

This Luft 46 TA-183 just looks better in flight.

I was going to do a vignette with this Mexican Thunderbolt.

4 Likes

I normally build my planes wheels up. Just have to finesse the gear doors to fit. Worth the try and its a helpful skill to develop.

2 Likes

That’s the one! Great build.

1 Like

Yes these builds are impressive but I can’t take credit for them , they are from Facebook groups Daren and Gluepaintandplastic .

2 Likes