I don’t know about you guys but that question really consumes me when I start a build. In fact, for quite awhile I was building fixed landing gear types just so I could “get on with it”. I’ve been known to wring my hands for weeks before deciding.
I usually side with landing gear up… flaps too… and in the “in-flight” configuration. I like airplanes in their element I suppose to a greater degree than parked. Furthermore, hanging my finished models from clear nylon fillament from the ceiling has proved to be the best method of preservation as the models that are displayed on shelves, invariably get damaged more often.
Many airplane kits do not offer the option of “in-flight”. An example is my F-106s. To make “in-flight” airplanes requires cutting! …a lot of cutting and redoing stuff. I like kits that have the option of either way, in or out, however.
Sometimes there’s no pilots or crew in the kit! That chaps my hide very badly!
Remember those astounding kits from Monogram that had actual retracting landing gear? The F2F Gulfhawk was an amazing bit of engineering for a plastic model… and the F-51 too… Those were dang neat-o.
Wouldn’t it be great if those after market outfits made minature landing gear sets that retracted? OMG… somebody please get on that.
Don’t get me wrong! I can appreciate detailing of interior parts… Heck the first thing that I work on is the pilots and the cockpit. I’ve been known to spend 3 weeks on one dang pilot!
I remember the monogram 1/48 series of naval aircraft that had all the goodies…The avenger had the bay doors that opened and the torpedo would drop out…The helldiver had the swinging cradle and the bomb drop…I believe both had retractable gear & folding wings too… In retrospect not historically accurate, but it sure was fun to build. Don’t remember how many target runs were flown against the family dog, but obviously he did, as when I returned home from school one day he ATE the offending carrier group…ahhh… memories!!
It wasn’t just the naval aircraft - I remember a lot of those 1/48 Monogram aircraft had moveable gear. The A6M5 Zero comes to mind - The mains were built with a rotating hinge that clicked into little tabs on the upper wing panel to lock into place up or down. The inner gear doors had an extended (and very inaccurate) rod molded on that was pushed up by the tire to close with the main doors. Fiddly little things, and the hinge points didn’t always line up right, which left you with one main that would fold while the aircraft was sitting on the shelf. It would be fun to have that again, and with the level of technology out there in aftermarket land, I’m sure someone could come up with an accurate-appearing mechanism to make it work
I too like having some of my planes in a gear up config. I’m doing that with the 1/32 Thud, the fit of the gear doors were not too bad but still required some sanding and filling. I may pose it with the Mig-17 which should look cool.
Actually, guys, some do have working gear. The Revell F3F-3 in 1/32 has it. You turn the propeller, and it operates gears that raise the u/c up into the hull and the wheels flush with the fuselage. I have the reissue of the kit. Haven’t built it yet, but play to.
There was a P51 once, 1:32 scale I know, but can’t remember who made it. Well it had a mechanical link to a thumbwheel right in front of the radiator that, when turned, would raise and lower the gear. A spring loaded trap was on the doors on the tail. Also remember two levers that would drop each bomb or fuel tank, can’t remember which. Anyone remember what kit this was?
…the Gruman F3F AND the P-51 mentioned in your responses are originally from MONOGRAM. I had built those back when I was 12 or so. (ie; 1975)
The P-51 was actually an F-51 (with U.S.A.F. markings)
The mechanisms worked and were not too difficult to put together.
The knob on the F-51 was kind of hokey but it worked, including the tail wheel and it’s tiny little doors. The F3F did have that clever way the propellor would engage the retract gear when the hub was pulled into a certain position. Undetectible.
For a complex landing gear the F3F was amazingly accurate in my opinion.
Actually, a minor point, but on Monogram’s F3F, the mechanism wasn’t quite undetectable. They had to compromise: the gear that transferred work from the propellor to the landing gear protuded through the port side of the fuselage, just aft of the cowling. It wasn’t too bad, but there was no good way to hide it.
It doesn’t detract from the enjoyable quality of that kit, though.
I’m a big fan of the Monogram kits, and I’m with all of you guys on kits that can be completed wheels-up or wheels-down. I guess it’s part of the general taste modelers have today, that there are probably more modelers who are building a static display model, rather than an in-flight display. Look at the dearth of figures with kits today, too. Monogram had great flight and ground crew figures, though the figures were a little on the small side in the older kits. Sure, you can get some great aftermarket figures these days, but that’s the point-you have to buy them separately.
No doubt, the prop would have been much better solution instead of the little knob. I would have figured just rotating the prop backwards would reverse the action on the gear. that is kewl. [8D]
Are these kits still around? I haven’t seen them since I started back modeling last summer.
Revell reissued the F3F. I know cause I have it, in modern boxing. Its still sealed in the bag and I think I didnt pay much. got it from the LHS. Its from the past few years.
I have an old Monogram Hurricane and Corsair that have working gear. Well - the corsair had working gear… I glued them down after one of the hinges broke. But the Hurri is still retractable. You could even do a dio with them partially retracted - like seconds after takeoff.
I know the one you’re writing about. It was a monogram or revell… They later did it as a visible mustang on a red pedestal. I built both versions.I think the visible P-51 has been re-released. I know I’ve seen it at hobby lobby recently.
Always gear down, canopy open (if possible). in 99% of the pictures I work off of, the aircraft was photographed on the ground. I display my models in display cases so shelves exposed to the dangers of the real world are not a problem. I might consider gear up hanging from the ceiling if I had a way to do a motorized prop with a never draining battery, but they still get dusty that wat and every time you dust a model you run the rsik of breaking something.
After going through all that work to build a model with its gear down, to place it on a plain shelf just doesn’t do a fine model justice. So, why not spend a little time to dress up the shelf to look like a parking ramp? A little paint…some taxi lines…a few details…some support equipment…a background…its not as hard as one might think. Give your display shelves some life too!