Inflight

[SDPhantom619]

I need a break from masking wheels and wheel wells. What are some 1/48 scale kits in which the landing gear doors fit with little or no problem in the in flight configuration? I mostly built 1/48 scale jets. Does any one have any previous experience with inflight models??

[graves_09]

I built a 1/48 hasegawa F/A-18F with gear up. The doors fit very well.

[bikerider]

Stay away from Kinetic if that is what you want to do. I am near finished two if their kits. An f16am and a cf5, both in-flight. And both needed lots of putty around and over the gear doors. The planes are looking ok in the end, but it hasn't been simple.

Also just finished a hasegawa f-15. Doors fit very well on that one.

Good luck.

[toadwbg]

I built a 1/48 hasegawa F/A-18F with gear up. The doors fit very well.

Glad to hear that, the Revell ones were not so great....

[mlicari]

Most (all?) of the older Monogram 1/48 scale jets were engineered to be built with their gear down. Building them in-flight is going to require some surgery in many cases, and it's therefore unlikely the gear doors will fit well closed.

Mike

[SDPhantom619]

Sounds like hasegawa is the way to go. I'm thinking an f-16 should be easy enough.

[Fly-n-hi]

The 1/48 Tamiya F-16 doors fit just about perfectly.

[balls47]

I agree with Mike's comments concerning the Monogram kits. I build most of my models as in-flights, because quite a few of them go to military folks. They like 'em in the air, especially pilots. I'm doing a Monogram 1/48 scale F-84F for a retired member of the USAF. It is one of the nicest fitting kits I have ever built, except for the landing gear doors. They would look great on a static build, but they were not engineered for in-flight builds. Considering where the model will end up, it's not that much of a problem.

As you posted up earlier, Hasegawa and Tamiya are best for in-flight builds. In my "for what it's worth department," Tamiya takes top honors, with Hasegawa coming in a close second. For in-flight builds,I normally use the wood base with acrylic rod method. Ken Middleton wrote an excellent article using this technique. You will find Ken's article in the Tool's 'n Tips section on ARC's homepage. It is under "display bases." Ken is the go to guy when using this method. Good Luck!!!

Edited April 24, 2013 by balls47

[Rhinolover]

I do most all of my stuff in-flight. If your a 1/48 jet guy than I will second the HAS F-18F. A bit of a challenge, but HAS 1/48 Tomcat goes wheels up pretty well too. The AFV Club 1/8 F-5 is a realy easy gear up build as well.

[Crazy Snap Captain]

I did a Hasegawa 1/48 Phantom (F-4E) in flight. Doors fit like a glove.

[Pierre Sacha]

Rhinolover - stunning!!

Pierre

[Hawk10]

When I build a model, I don't usually install the landing gear, the canopies and any turrets until after I have completed painting the bulk of the model (depending of course on how hard it is to get those items into place - w/some models there is no way you are going leave those items till last). I detail and paint the gear wells, cockpits and turret areas prior to assembly, then (very carefully) fill those areas with Kleenex. Just prior to painting the exterior, I carefully dampen the Kleenex with water from an eyedropper and when the exterior paint is fully dry, I use a set of very fine tweezers to remove the Kleenex and install what ever goes in that position. If I have a situation where I have to install the landing gear prior to painting, I just shoot the landing gear the same color as the bottom. When dry, I paint the gear the proper color with a brush and install the wheels.