What is the best way to determine if a kit will be a tail setter? I am building a Revelle B-25J and I think it will be. Looking for recommendations on what to use as nose weight and where might be the best place to install. I would assume the nose or the front wheel well but has anyone placed weghts behind each engine cowl?
Any suggestions are apreciated. Thanks.
Not sure if it will work on the B-25 but I placed fishing weights behind the engines of my B-29, as well as everywhere else in front of the main gear.
I like to mix #6 shotgun pellets with 2 part 5 minute epoxy. I put it anywhere it can’t be seen forward of the main landing gear. I have put it in closed engine cowls. Make a little box out of cardboard or plastic. Set the fuselage on a cylinder at the main landing gear. If it is a tail sitter, tape the box to the front, and start putting your weights in it until the nose comes down.
try the moldable lead weights which are found in the railroad section of your local hobby shop. You can pinch off what you need and place it where you want it and it reacts great with CA glues. I have at least 2 packages of this stuff and it will last me a while or you can glue some 9mm bullets (not inserted in the shell casing) into the cavities behind the nose gear wells or into the nose if it is a solid nose aircraft.
I put them as far foward as possible, nose ,engines, etc. I place them were they will not be seen when the model is done. I use lead fishing wieghts of varies sizes.(don’t think they make them from lead anymore, have had them for years)
You need to put them as far forward as possible for maximum leverage. I use old lead fishing weights that I’ve had for quite a while. You want to have the AC balance on it’s nose wheel, but don’t overdo it or the landing gear may deform over time.
Regards, Rick
I use a lead tire-weight and I usually try to put it as far forward as you can. Use more than you think you need. I have a couple of tail-sitters because I didn’t put in enough weight.
Even the cheesiest hobby shops and craft store have sections for Pinewood Derby cars for, well, in my childhood it was Cub Scouts. I discovered they make weights under the brands name PineCar Speed Accessories. They come in different sizes, weightsand shapes just right for model airplanes. My favorites are those that are half-moon shaped, so that three or four can be fitted into a relatively small section of nose or engine nacelles. But they also come in various size squares with peel-and-stick tape on the back, which holds them in place in odd positions while the CA or expoxy sets.
All the posts do a good job of weights, but let’s talk about method:
I remember seeing either a post or a tutorial for getting the correct balance; unfortunately I don’t remember the source (if anybody else has the link, please post it). This method is probably overkill for most planes (like fighters) because the weights can be hidden easily, but will probably work well for you because you’re going to be hiding weights in different locations to keep the cabin empty.
The gist of it was that you get a piece of wood to serve as a pivot. Triangular cross section is best, though a small diameter dowel may also work. Place the pivot underneath the plane where the landing gears are going to go. Tape or otherwise secure the other bits that you’re eventually going to attach (i.e. guns, antennas) If it sits nose up, it’s going to be a tail-sitter. Start taping weights in the approximate place you’re going to put them until the nose tips forward; this is the amount of weight you’ll need. Glue the weights in place, then double check before you seal up the fuselage.
As long as it doesn’t affect the price much, I’m happy with what AcMin has done with it’s B-25 series, giving us just enough weight, and fitted to hidden areas of the model, to keep it on its nose. And Eduard, with its 1/48 Mirage series, also gives a nose weight that slips into the radome like a hand in a glove (not OJ’s hand). And the Tamiya Uhu and Me-262 kits have weights that are incorporated into the actual structure of the model and must be painted (the 262 weight does, but I don’t recall if the Uhu weight incorporates the nose gear bay or what).
It’s an idea whose time has come, because any cheesy white metal or, like AcMin’s weights, brass, is cheap, and the designers who have built their kit at least a hundred times before boxing it for the public certainly should know how much weight to use and where it should be put. We all have to guess, and if you’re like me, you use overkill with the weight, which puts unnecessary stress on the landing gear if it is plastic, which it usually is.
And CK, that’s a great tip, and I’m going to try it. Just goes to show what a little common sense can accomplish. I should try it occasionally.[D)]
I use fishing split-shot for nose weights. Cheap, easily available, and easily reshaped
with pliers or a hammer. White glue, CA, or 5 minute expoy will hold it in place
The farther forward you place the weight, the less you will need. Be careful of flimsy nose gears, though and use only the amount of weight you need to keep the nose-gear down. You can also place your weight in the engine nacelles as that’s where the weight is on the real thing. Of course, that will take a bit more weight but the main gear
tends to be a lot stronger than the nose gear. Anyplace you can stick it forward of the
center of gravity will work.
A quick way of checking for a tail sitter is to tape the major components together and pick up the model with one finger on each wing tip.
Ray
On my B29 [which is now in pieces due to the fishing line breaking on one side], I used weights fidden behind the engine cowls, in the forward nose gear compartment behind bulk heads, in the hollw portions of the intstrument panels, and in both forward gun turrets. It sat rather nicely on the gear but you did’nt dare to lift it very far from the fuselage. The amount of weight I used placed too much stress on seam areas if it was lifted too far out along the wings.
I use small washers.
The can be stacked together, taped and glued in.
the nice thing is they are thin, dont take up much space, and have a hole in the middle, which came in handy when my p-40 needed the cannon to run right where I needed the wieght.
I withdrew this when it drew a snide remark but since it seems to have made a impression on someone, here it is again:
Tricycle landing gear aircraft - too little nose weight and you’ve got a tail sitter; too much and the main gear is at risk. Resin models in particular may need more nose weight than you’re used to. Here’s how to guess right the first time if the kit doesn’t lend itself to adding weight in the nose after most of the assembly is complete:
Get or make a “knife edge”. I use the triangular corner block from a Clementine fruit box.
Lightly tape the fuselage together and tape all the heavy/big pieces, particularly those aft of the main gear, on top. There’s no need to attach them - they just need to be located where they would be longitudinally (fore and aft) when the aircraft is assembled. Note that I’ve just taped all the tail surfaces together and laid them on the aft fuselage.
Put a small, light box on the nose where weight can be located inside the nose, centered on the area. Ideally the box will be about the same volume as the area where the weight will be placed.
Put the fuselage on the knife edge where the main landing gear attaches. Put something under the aft fuselage (in this case, a Crunchy Skippy Peanut Butter top) so the fuselage sits at the angle it will when on the landing gear.
Add weight into the box until the fuselage tips forward. Take the weight out of the box and put it in the fuselage, as far forward as it will go. Use clay, epoxy resin, CA, or something else waterproof to make sure it stays in place.
Some cautions:
Don’t try to cut this too fine. Better a little too much nose weight than a tiny bit too little, although there are ways to add weight after the model is assembled. (I do take a little pride when the model will sit on its gear and also stay on its tail when placed there, indicating that there’s just enough nose weight.)
Be sure that there is enough volume in the fuselage at the box location for the resulting weight. If there isn’t, put only as much weight in the box as will fit in the fuselage and use another box at the next most forward space to determine how much weight to put there. My F7F Tigercat, for example, needed weight in the engine nacelles even though the nose was packed with BBs.
You don’t have to put everything in place for the weight determination, but be sure that as much or more stuff is left off the front of the fuselage than on the back. Remember that the distance from the main landing gear location is just as important as the amount of weight. Be conservative.
Aircraft that sit nose up (the F7U Cutlass comes to mind) can be tricky. If you perfectly balance the model when it’s level, it will be a tail sitter when on the gear because its center of gravity will be aft of the main gear when the fuselage is tilted up. That’s why it’s appropriate to position the fuselage on the knife edge at the angle it will be when sitting on the gear.
Whatever you use for nose weight, it should be very small pieces. The smaller the better. Small pieces such as #6 shotgun pellets or regular BBs will let you add just the right amount of weight and they will mold themselves to whatever shaped area that you put them in.
Obtaining shotgun pellets might be a little tricky. They come in bags that weigh several pounds and modelers only need a few ounces. Go to your local rod and gun club and find someone who reloads their own shells. They will usually sell or give you a small amount. You can go to a sporting goods store and buy a tube of BBs for about a dollar. One tube will be enough weight for several models. They are quite a bit bigger than #6 shot, but usually work well. I secure mine in place with 5 minute epoxy. Be careful if you use the thick CA glues. When they “go off”, the chemical reaction produces quite a bit of heat and can severely deform your model. [alien]
I don’t know if it is local, state or federal law, but items made of lead can be hard to find here in recent years. I had no trouble finding fishing weights in places like Target or K-Mart in Texas, but that was years ago. In NYC, I have to rely on relatively expensive weights since simple things like BBs (made of copper, but apparently considered deadly) and fishing weights are hard to find here.
Hi.
I take the easy way out. Get custom nose weights from Terry Dean. I got weights from him for my 1/48 B-29 and they are slick. He makes weights for a good number of aircraft and the price is right. Six bucks, postage included for the B-29 weights. I don’t have his card handy, just do a Goofle search for Terry Dean. Should work.
Derwin
i havent tried this yet but i plan to custom cast my own weights. for my hasegawa 1/48 tomcat, im going to pack the nose with some silly putty, then remove the putty from the nose and press the putty into a plaster of paris mold. then i will melt electrical solder of the right weight in the plaster of paris mold. thats the plan anyway. does that sound like it will work ?