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Appropriate glue for snap off landing gears


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Hello all,

 

With my current project of the Monogram F84, the front gear is very weak and got snapped off during construction. I have used CA but CA is very weak and brittle. As such with slightest bump, the gear snaps off again. Can you suggest any quick setting glue that has better shear strength properties than CA? I am thinking of 5 minute epoxy. Worst comes to worse will leave off until after the wash and decals but I would like the plane on its 3 wheels if I can help it. Dai 

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8 hours ago, chukw said:

Your best bet is to drill both pieces and insert a bras/metal pin. The CA will hold then, but a butt joint is always going to be weak. Best of luck!

 

This is the only way to fix the problem. No glue by itself will ever work. Not sure where it is broken, but depending on location, possibly replace the plastic piece with a brass rod or the like.

Bob

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On 9/18/2020 at 9:33 PM, markiii said:

I had a NLG break on a Tamiya F-16 during an earthquake, I reglued it with Tamiya extra thin. Been fine ever since.....

knocks on wood.

 

PS: it's the one in my profile pic

Glues like Tamiya Extra Thin melt the plastic and in essence weld the two pieces together. I makes for a strong bond and I have used markiii's suggestion before too. That said, to be really sure it won't break again, use the metal pin method.

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On 9/20/2020 at 8:53 AM, Mstor said:

Glues like Tamiya Extra Thin melt the plastic and in essence weld the two pieces together. I makes for a strong bond and I have used markiii's suggestion before too. That said, to be really sure it won't break again, use the metal pin method.

That is what I had to resort too. I drilled the holes and insert a cut off clothe sewing pin. That gear got bumped many times and still stay put! Thank you for all the feedbacks! Dai 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The main rear landing gear of one of my older 1/48 F/A-18 Superhornet's broke right after building. 

My solution was to use a cut up paperclip to use as a flexible but somewhat rigid core.  I marked the center part of center of the gear strut, like you would if your were going to drill it out. 

 

Because the gear struts were somewhat hollow, if you drilled it the gear would break apart.  I had to do something a bit different.

 

I took a pair of longnose pliers and heated up an end of a paperclip till it was hot enough to melt plastic.  In one motion I plunged the red hot metal paperclip into the center of the gear and immediately removed it.  This gave me my initial hole.  I did the same to the other piece of the strut.  I now used an identical piece of paperclip and cut it to length.  The rod was inserted into one part of the gear strut and glued using super thick CA(it fits very tight).  After it set, it was test fit into the opposing part--some trimming was needed.  The joint was then closed with more thick CA glue.

 

Even though CA gets brittle over time the fit of the plastic & metal was super tight.

 

That bird has been sitting on my shelf since 2004. 

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