Good advice is priceless. With that said, I have another question. How can I mount a plane to a base so it looks like it is in flight?
Thanks again,
D.
Try with the landing gear up…[swg]
Sorry, I couldnt resist! I am actually interested in this as well!
Justin
Testors Workshop has a nice video showing the pole-into-sleeve approach.
Or consider Neodymium (Nd) magnets. Glue a Nd disc magnet to fuselage floor near the CG. A pole with mating disc or cylinder magnet holds the plane in place as these magnets are unbelievably strong for their size. The woohoo is no need to drill a hole into plane. Nd magnets are cheap and available in sizes and shapes suitable for 1/144 to 1/32 and then some. You can find Nd magnets at craft shops, pull from a broken toy, etc., or google “Nd magnets” for online sources. These are those silver-colored (nickel-plated) magnets rather than the older dark brown ones.
IIRC Revell has or had a line of planes called Magic Flight (?) which used magnets to levitate models.
If doing a jet, a bent acrylic rod up the tail at a slight upward angle is a popular non-invasive mounting technique.
I’ve gleaned a lot of information from fellow modellers, so let me pass some ideas on. These ideas are by no means mine.
I did my first in flight display recently and it is relatively cheap and easy. I started with a $0.99 base that you can find at your favorite hobby or craft shop. Paint it whatever color you desire. I used semi-gloss black Tamiya acrylic on this one.
What I really wanted was some clear acrylic rod to feed into the tailpipe, but just couldn’t find any. As a second resort I used a piece of wire, bent it in a “U” shape and attached it to the base by drilling a hole slightly smaller (so it would grip).
Since the wire itself was unsightly in my opinion, I borrowed another idea by using stuffing from a stuffed animal (sorry, kids) to create a smoke type look. Cotton balls pulled apart will also give this look.
So as a summary I spent $0.99 + tax to create this base. I had the wore laying around and the stuffed animal was in storage awaiting the garbage can ten years from now when I ask myself why I am storing a stuffed animal.
ONe other element that I personally like is to twist or tyrn the aircraft into a pose that it not either directly perpendicular or parallel to the ground. This gives it a more “in motion” look.
I hope this helps.
Charles
You can also mount them from one wing attached to a wall plaque. The key is minimizing the effect and visual of the mounting system.
Most of my builds are “in-flight”, and here are a few of my lessons-learned.
I like to fill the fuselage of the aircraft with balsa and then saturate the balsa with thin CA. This hardens the balsa and makes a very nice substrate that you can drill into for supporting the shaft. If you are careful about balancing it with just the right drill angle, you can make the model sit on the shaft perfectly without bonding it permanently. I’ve had mixed results when attempting this, but I’m getting better.
If you’ve got a heavy model, make sure you use a strong enough rod to adequately support it. I always aim to have a thin support rod, so I usually go with a strong hardened steel. You can use brass on smaller models (it is much easier to shape), but if you try it on a bigger model (1/48 jet, for instance) you might get lots of ‘bounciness’ when the plane is mounted. One more important note about the rod: always try to shape it perfectly before you bond it to the plane. You don’t want to be exerting bend forces on your finished model while trying to shape the rod!
I always like to finish my in-flight build with a wood base, stained and “varnished” (actually I use lots of clear acrylic from a cheap spray can). You can pick different light/dark stains to bring out certain colors on the model.
That magnet idea sounds cool, but I can imagine that if someone bumped your model the wrong way it could fall right off the stand! Still, it’s got me thinking. Thanks for mentioning it.
There is a member here that designed, built and markets a cool glass display case with a polished steel mirror as it’s back. Mounted on a wood plaque, the other four sides are plexi.
The deal is…build only one-half of your model…half a fuse, one wing and one stabe…gear up or down…there are instructions about how to mount it…very simple sounding.
The mirrored surface, as your half-model lay on it is reflected and appears to be a whole plane…angle the model nose-up, nose-down or horizontal…it appears to be floating in the box! The effect is amazing!
This, of course leaves you with an extra half an aircraft…either parts for the spares box or build the other half flying in the opposite direction as a gift!
There would be a problem if the wing has lettering on it…looking backwards in the reflection, that is and insignia must be symmetrical (stars, roundels etc) so they don’t appear ‘flipped’.
This member introduced his idea here on the forums. I don’t recall where his post are, maybe others do. I’ll look around for it when I can and get back to you if interested!
Very nice, IL2. I learned a few things from your post, especially the re-enforcements of the fuselage to make it easier to drill into for the rod. THanks for sharing your expereince.
a lot of guys won’t agree here but i miss those stands that most models came with yrs ago
the clear plastic one about 3-4 inches tall
they allow one to store Almost twice as many models on a given shelf, one wheels down on the shelf, then one on a stand etc… side by side down the line
I thought I would bump this thread one more time, since just tonight I finally saw the result of a new method that I tried for mounting planes.
The photo below is a before-and-after shot of a brass tube that I installed into the model before I closed up the fuselage. This arrangement has a slight snug-fit with the support rod, which will hopefully make the attachement to the base secure enough to hold the model in place, yet remain non-permanent. If it later becomes too loose to hold the model in the preferred orientation, I intend to apply a little bit of scotch tape around the rod to correct the tension.
Anybody thought of buying ‘‘trendy’’ lamp stands and doing away with the electrics and mounting the plane on it [:-^] there are hundreds of different styles to choose from !
Heres one i did…
IL2windhawk,
I saw your post with the before ans after pics. How did you drill and what did you do to add support to the area where you drilled?
Thanks,
D.
I drilled repeatedly with a cordless electrtic drill, increasing the drill bit size each time until the brass sleeve fit. The area inside the fuselage was filled with balsa per my first comment in this thread. The brass tube was installed with CA glue, then cut along the radiator scoop profile with a razor saw. Lastly, a coarse sanding stick was used to blend the lip into profile with the radiator. Hope this answers your question.
Wow - that looks realy nice.
There’s a guy over on ARC (http://www.arcair.com/) who’s working (or has out) a kit where you take half a model and mount it to a front-silvered mirror and put the whole shebang into a clear case. The model looks like it’s suspended in space from any angle. It kind of limits what markings you can put on the wings because they’ll be reflected from the kit’s wing for the back one. Any markings need to be symetrical and present on both wings.
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=159830&hl=
Another guy on ARC, Ken Middleton, mounts models with acrylic rods, they look pretty good too.
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=110688&hl=Acrylic
Check a few posts above[}:)]