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Airfix 1/72 P-51D Mustang U/C Legs...Are they all wonky?


fightersweep

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Hi All;

 

Just a quickie! About to start on the initial boxing of the Airfix 1/72 Mustang (lovely little kit), but have noticed it has the curse of the wonky undercarriage leg. Seems to be a common problem, as looking on eBay at kits that show sprue shots, a lot of them seem to have the same problem. Is there a issue of this kit where the fault was rectified? I'll have a go at straightening the one I have, but if it all goes wrong, I'd like to buy a back up kit that actually has straight U/C legs.

 

Thanks in advance!

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Thanks! I'll certainly buy more, but I would have thought Airfix would have sorted the problem out by now. I'm certainly impressed with the kit and will have a bash at sorting the leg out...hot water, candle maybe?

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Be careful with hot water, try with a piece of sprue first. The thinner landing gear will need much less time than the thicker sprue. I am working on the Airfix Do17z and the front half of the fuselage was warped, the left side was twisted slightly, the right  side was much more deformed. I dipped the front of the fuselage in a cup of water just poured from an electric kettle. In less than 30 seconds, the left side was soft and straightened easily, the highly stressed right side shrank and warped badly and lost almost .1 mm of length along the bottom edge much less along the top. On the left side the wing and hatches are a slightly tighter fit than before but they still fit.

 So what have I learned?

 1. Thick parts are much more forgiving than long thin parts.

 2. Many short cycles of dip and straighten are much safer than one long dip.

 3. Badly warped parts may have stresses in the plastic that will relax with heat in unexpected directions.

 4. Trying to straighten a part cold before using hot water may stress the plastic causing  problems.

 5. Long thin parts shrink.

 6. If you smell hot plastic remove from the water immediately!

 

 I still think hot water is safer than a candle, just be aware that things happen very quickly.

 

Garry c

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Garry;

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll try all methods on some scrap pieces first just to be safe. I haven't removed the u/c leg part from the sprue yet, but it does look a bit bent! Funny really, as the other u/c leg is only about half an inch away on the sprue and looks absolutely fine. 

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 Thanks, I recently built this kit here;

Mine also had the one bent gear and a blob of plastic for part 19, the antenna. Look forward to breaking the control stick! :wall:

The fit of this kit is excellent, a real joy to build.

 

Garry c

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I just checked my P-51 Mustang and found it had the same u/c leg problem. Well, at least I now have a solution at hand. My Do 17Z-2, OTOH, fuselage halves look fine(but, they are still in the bag, so....). Either way, I have to thank you Garry for the tips.

Joe

Edit: Garry, I just re-checked my Airfix P-51(the red-tailed boxing of the Tuskegee Airmen); my part 19 antenna looks like: an antenna. There is a blob of flash attached to it; but, the mast is otherwise fine. But, Yikes! the control column is a very delicate part. A lot of planning on my part will be called for in its removal. Thanks again.

Edited by JPuente54
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I've said this for a while about the Airfix Mustang and I've built a few. Save for the dropped flaps option, I think the Tamiya kit is a lot nicer and is a much better quality product (and cheap if you know where to look). The Airfix kit also suffers from horrid drop tanks, bin those and use other ones. If Airfix fixed the annoying issues with the kit, it would be as good as the Tamiya kit but with the bonus of the dropped flaps as an option.

 

thanks

Mike

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4 hours ago, Mikemx said:

I've said this for a while about the Airfix Mustang and I've built a few. Save for the dropped flaps option, I think the Tamiya kit is a lot nicer and is a much better quality product (and cheap if you know where to look). The Airfix kit also suffers from horrid drop tanks, bin those and use other ones. If Airfix fixed the annoying issues with the kit, it would be as good as the Tamiya kit but with the bonus of the dropped flaps as an option.

 

thanks

Mike

The Airfix also has correct wheelwells (the Tamiya is wrong in both 1/48 and 1/72, but their 1/32 kit is correct).

The Tamiya's certainly a nicer kit, but the Airfix is more accurate overall.

Edited by Adam Maas
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15 hours ago, Adam Maas said:

The Airfix also has correct wheelwells (the Tamiya is wrong in both 1/48 and 1/72, but their 1/32 kit is correct).

The Tamiya's certainly a nicer kit, but the Airfix is more accurate overall.

I knew there was something I forgot. Maybe Airfix should get Tamiya to mould their Mustang kit!

 

thanks

Mike

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On 4/22/2018 at 2:56 AM, Garry c said:

 Thanks, I recently built this kit here;

Mine also had the one bent gear and a blob of plastic for part 19, the antenna. Look forward to breaking the control stick! :wall:

The fit of this kit is excellent, a real joy to build.

 

Garry c

Probably better to buy a set of sprue cutters, wire cutters or similar shaped nail cutters (not the dinky little foldie up jobs) Or use a hobby saw...lit candles anywhere near plastic is a recipe for disaster. You can get such cutters from chemists, ebay, a well stocked hobby shop, hardware shop, even a vet or pet supply place. I have a Trumpeter pair, a set from the cosmetics rack at the chemist and a hefty but small pair of wire cutters that came in a set of pliers etc from the hardware section of a dept store.  Also one of the now popular "crafts" stores that are so trendy...well here in Brisbane anyway.   HTH.

Edited by longweight
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My take on the wonky undercarriage legs;

 

A starter kit I built some time back had wonky legs in a bad way, whilst a more recent acquisition of a F-51D kit is fine.

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18 hours ago, longweight said:

Probably better to buy a set of sprue cutters, wire cutters or similar shaped nail cutters (not the dinky little foldie up jobs) Or use a hobby saw...lit candles anywhere near plastic is a recipe for disaster. You can get such cutters from chemists, ebay, a well stocked hobby shop, hardware shop, even a vet or pet supply place. I have a Trumpeter pair, a set from the cosmetics rack at the chemist and a hefty but small pair of wire cutters that came in a set of pliers etc from the hardware section of a dept store.  Also one of the now popular "crafts" stores that are so trendy...well here in Brisbane anyway.   HTH.

 

My sprue cutters. The unit on the right is a micro-drill bit with a wee piece of a broken CMK saw blade in it. The all-shiney one is a toenail cutter from the drugstore. The red handled one I bought in an electronics store many years ago. The most used one is the black handled are an Xuron product. They all have their uses.

 

41049490424_e11033f618_b.jpg

 

 

 

Chris

Edited by dogsbody
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  • 4 months later...

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