White Metal Landing Gear, Really?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
21

I purchased a set for the Hasegawa B26…so I could get the white metal cockpit floor and bulkhead. I tossed the struts!

22

I have a set of white metal landing gear for my 1/24 Mosquito just because of the shear size and weight of the thing. I cant see it being a problem on anything smaller

Phil

23

The only time I have used metal landing gear was on a 1/48 B-1B I did many years ago. The weak point that I find on many kits are the axles and not the gear.

24

Ditto for the B1-B build I did 2 years ago. Aftermarket parts required more cleaning and sanding than the kit parts. I simply reinforced the main gear with brass rod, and to be honest I’m not really sure that even that was required.

Don

25

Whew!! Someone pulled this thread from the “Way Back When…” bin.

I built the Academy 1/32nd F-18 Hornet about 10 years ago, and wished that I had used metal landing gear with it. The kit came with metal inserts for the plastic landing gear, but those inserts were very thin/small diameter, and when I installed a full weapons load-out, after about a week the landing gear slowly began to bend outward (only the main struts - the nose gear held up ok). I tried to fix it, but nothing could save it. I believe that if I had used gear struts made entirely of metal, this would not have happened.

I would only recommend metal landing gear for larger kits, though. Most 1/48th and smaller wouldn’t need it. Some 1/32nd kits probably wouldn’t need it, either. Just depends upon how much weight is being supported.

26

It depends on how much weight has to be added for it to sit on its nose gear. Actually, the weight on the nose gear itself should not be that great- the weight of the model might be, however. The nose only needs a bit of positive weight. If you have to add a lot of weight, it my end up stressing the mains more than the nose.

I have built kits that had very heavy tails, and a short nose. These take ounces of weight, and the gear can get pretty wobbly. In fact, I have built a few kits that needed a lot of weight, but had a big, detailed cockpit forward and a big nose gear box, and it becomes hard to pack in enough lead or other heavy metal to keep the nose gear down! Mostly these are single engined planes- most multi-engined ones have longer noses giving more leverage from the nose weight.

27

White metal gear like SAC, no. Too soft and just a copy of the kit part. I do use G-Factor gear legs whenever possible. Very strong and much more detailed than the kit parts.

Jay