The title says it all.
i hjave been so intent on asembling and painting my new F-105 that I totally forgot the ballast.
(i dont attach the gear until the very very end.)
Other than snapping off the nose and ruining my paint/sanding job is there a solutionto this gaff?
it doesnt help that the THUD is so tail-heavy as it is.[B)]
cj95;
Is there any opening in the forward nose gear bay etc. that you could “inject” a ballast of thinned putty?
If there is a way to inject ballast into the nose you could use the syringe from a chair repair kit from a do-it-yourself (Lee Valley Tools etc.) These come with a water-thin epoxy and you can inject enough in to weight down the nose.
Cheers;
Gregory
That’s got to be bloody exasperating. How about putting it on a base and using super glue to hold down the front wheel. Or alternatively drilling a small hole in the base and using a piece of thread looped about the axle and down through the hole to mechanically hold it down?
Andy
You can add weight to the front end of the kit tanks.
Hmmmmm
While thre are no real overt seams, I do happen to be an RN and have access to syringes with super thin needles.
maybe if ican find some kind of thin compound that will dry solid I can poke it into a crack somewhere. (inside the wheel well comes to mind)
I havent planned on putting it on a base, but then again…if all else fails maybe its a good excuse t convert it into a diorama.[oops]
How about some thin resin? That stuff dries VERY heavy…
OR… make a small hole in the wheelwell, or somewhere else inconspicuous, get some tiny lead shot in there, and then inject white glue to keep it all in place… that might work.
Good luck [;)]
I’ve read of people drilling a hole in the underside of the nose cone and dropping BBs or small fishing sinkers in. Give them a little bit of superglue and they’ll stick to the inside of the plastic and each other.
Then you carefully fill the hole you drilled, sand it, and paint.
Good luck!
I think Andy has the easiest, trouble free solution. Everything else will probably require a re -paint. Put the model on a suitable base, and fasten the nose wheel down.
Jerry
Pack it with lead wool, you can get it at any hardware store. Yes I said “lead wool” and it works for small places. Get a pound of it so that you can use it for the future as well.
I think mikeiw and Lufberry presented the best option with the weights or BBs
Squadron putty has a bunch of (toluene?) in it, which doesn’t react too well to plastic… it’s fine in small quantities, but I’ve heard of people melting their nose cones when using putty for ballast. The best thinners for Squadron putties arelacquer thinner, toluene, or acetone, which is going to increase your problems on the melting front.
Epoxy may work, though I would be concerned with the heat that it generates during the curing process; again melting may be an issue. Also, I don’t know how much weight your trying to add, but if it’s significant, epoxy may not be dense enough.
Like I said, small weights are going to be your best option.
Hello,
All are great ideas, here a variation; drill a small hole in the cone and fill it with sand, then add “future” to keep the sand in place after it dries, of course you have to retouch the area.
Good luck.
If you have not placed the gear yet try going in through the insert for the gear. Would not be too much to punch through and is easily plugged. Should also limit your repaint. I like Cruiz’s idea. However, I would use a mix of white glue with water and the sand. When you shoot it in I would also suggest keeping the plane in a nose down attitude.
i saw somewhere a guy did the same thing and built a dio out of it. he put a figure on a ladder doing some maintenence on the tail, and that provided the support. it looked pretty cool.
I had a similar problem with my 1/48 Ju-287.Despite adding two .50 caliber muzzleloadind bullets to the nose,the model was still a tail-dragger after it was assembled.After some thought,I drilled a small hole in the tops of the RATO rockets(Rocket Assisted take-off Ordinance)and filled them with lead bird -shot.This solved the problem quite nicely and did not necessitate any damage to the finished airframe.I then epoxied them to the 2 fuselage-mounted 004 engines and I was done!
The same thing happened to my RB-57E Canberra . I did add some nose weight during construction , but not enough . Like you do cj95 I leave the landing gear off until after painting. In the May 2004 issue of FSM , Reader Tips section I read where you can add sand and squirt some Future Floor Polish through a sryringe. Instead of drilling a hole through the nose and then having to repaint , I drilled a hole down beside the cockpit seat through the floor poured in the sand and finished with a squirt of Future.
wow great replies all around.
Lots of ideas I had never thought of.
Im gonna probably see if i can go in through the gear insert points (great idea Joe) ,a although Im not quite sure which particular mixture Im gonna go for.
Depends on what squirts well through a syringe I guess[;)]
Thanks again all.