LotusArenco Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Battery is only a small CR2032 single cell, about the size of a 5p piece. Stuffed into the base which I butchered a recess into. Changing the battery is just a case of unsticking the electrical tape I used to wire it in with. Mart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 3 minutes ago, LotusArenco said: Battery is only a small CR2032 single cell, about the size of a 5p piece. Stuffed into the base which I butchered a recess into. Changing the battery is just a case of unsticking the electrical tape I used to wire it in with. Mart so the wiring goes down the inside of the pipe? Ingenious Sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 16 minutes ago, LotusArenco said: Are those "bullet holes" in the starboard wing - if so - How You Do Dat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecov Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 1 hour ago, MalX said: but, it's much harder to paint with the undercarriage up or to lie the model down after painting I cut slots in the fuselage to take Airfix stands, irrespective of make of kit. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LotusArenco Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 9 minutes ago, BIG X said: How You Do Dat! Just drilled through with a pin vice and the smallest bit I could find, at an angle suggesting being fired on from behind. I tried to replicate this picture. By drilling through the wing to copy the damage, I would suggest Von Werra suffered a severe loss of coolant fluids! Mart 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Ouch!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) I think you can sort the alignment of the motor shaft to propellor shaft by having a flexible link between them, bit of shrink wrap or flexible tubing but you still need it the alignment close. I'm thinking for the shaft - if it is made of brass tube you can use the brass for one connection to the motor and pass the other (insulated wire) down inside the tube.. For the rocket motor I'm thinking of a small (2mm) super bright LED in the tail pipe of the rocket, supported by stiff wire from the rail, carefully hidden with Cotton smoke trail.... Maybe... Edited December 31, 2016 by Grey Beema 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossiant Oliver Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 If you want some gears up models, he the airfix dogfight doubles kits. They have stands you can place the model on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonar Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) I do wheels up occasionally, wheels down normally. For wheels up I remove the propeller blades altogether and fill the spinner. I make interference fit stands from acrylic rods fitting a tube built into the fuselage of the model. I use a clear acrylic base because my models usually sit on glass shelves. I like seeing the underside of a model 'in flight', not so easy when posed on 'the ground'. Sometimes you have to get a bit clever with the attachment method! This one was either 'in flight' or a significant scratch building project would have been required ! The stand is basically the same. Some will always argue for building the undercarriage, certainly the competition minded types, as its alignment, detail etc. are very much part of the model. I just build for myself, so this is hardly an issue for me Cheers Steve Edited January 1, 2017 by Stonar 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalX Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 19 hours ago, BIG X said: Are those "bullet holes" in the starboard wing - if so - How You Do Dat! that looks great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 2 hours ago, Stonar said: I do wheels up occasionally, wheels down normally. For wheels up I remove the propeller blades altogether and fill the spinner. I make interference fit stands from acrylic rods fitting a tube built into the fuselage of the model. I use a clear acrylic base because my models usually sit on glass shelves. I like seeing the underside of a model 'in flight', not so easy when posed on 'the ground'. Sometimes you have to get a bit clever with the attachment method! This one was either 'in flight' or a significant scratch building project would have been required ! The stand is basically the same. Some will always argue for building the undercarriage, certainly the competition minded types, as its alignment, detail etc. are very much part of the model. I just build for myself, so this is hardly an issue for me Cheers Steve Removing the blades & filling the prop - so it "looks" like its spinning - you sir are a genius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantome Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Wheels up for those special dioramas or display builds that look good on a desk (with a stand). Wheels down for everything else (i.e. 99% of builds). They just look so much better when on the ground and there's so much detail you miss otherwise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael51 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 If the kit is a problematic build, I will go wheels up. If I am doing a proper job on a kit it will be wheels down. I have a failed Vulcan sitting atop a bookshelf looking very impressive on its Airfix stand, although closer inspection would reveal what a mess I made of it. This Vulcan occasionally bombs the airfield at Port Stanley (in the parlour). A 'failed' Airfix Lancaster is underway at present and it will continue the Bomber Offensive against my German shorthaired pointer and my whippet when completed. Of course, no animals will be harmed during these raids Michael 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 On 01/01/2017 at 1:48 AM, BIG X said: Since I came back to this wonderful hobby a few months ago, everything I've built has been "undercart down" (a couple of Spits & a couple of Hurricanes etc). I'm now wondering - why not "wheels up" (surely a spitfire was simply born to fly). Which way do you prefer??? Wheels down, every time. Three reasons... 1. They spend most of their time on the ground 2. I prefer WW1 aircraft, wheels up is not an option 3. Realism I just can't convince myself that the "natural habitat" of an aircraft includes a brass or plastic rod shoved up its cloaca, nor a length of hairy string tied to a nail in the sky Of course, YMMV Shane 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greggles.w Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 .. good question this one. I've an interest in air racers & it seems odd, when some have had so much attention paid to streamlined aerodynamics, to clutter them up with undercarriage lowered. Similar with floatplane racers eternally stuck to beaching trolleys! As to the propellor dilemma, another good idea I've seen elsewhere, which I'd consider myself, is to model in-flight with propellor blades removed & spinner smoothed over.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 Sadly... This decision may have been for me now with the choice being out of my hands I've just purchased 2 ICM models - 1/48 - JU-88 A4 & DO-17 Z2 & they don't come with any crew - woe is me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Wheels down for me, I like to represent my aircrafts on the ground, often with an open cockpit to show the detail (if there's some). The only exceptions are a small number of "desktop models" I've built from old kits that I don't consider worth improving that much. These are mainly old "box scale" aircrafts that wouldn't really have a place in the rest of the collection because of the odd scale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old thumper Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Definitely wheels down for me. Although some aircraft (or example the Wellington) look much different with an all round view such as when in flight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardcastle Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I prefer wheels down as the majority of "stands" are unwieldy and with small children in the house fine wire or glass rods are liable to damage. Also I do mostly dioramas, so need other items around the planes. Tim H 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Beema Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 (edited) I guess a lot of it is down to how the aeroplane is displayed. If you go through the various galleries, those aircraft displayed with 'context' do stand out. Now I'm going to show you one of my in-flights. Don't laugh it was thrown together in a day and a half but hopefully it shows context... Edited January 7, 2017 by Grey Beema 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 I wonder if this "invisible" glass could be cut to a thin strip to form a strut that doesn't show up??? http://www.wessexpictures.com/artglass.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I had always been a wheels up man until relatively recently. But now I tend to build with wheels down. Not sure exactly what it was that changed my mind but I do build quite a lot of duplicates of the same basic aircraft so one day I decided that owning five 'airworthy' Hawker Hunters was enough and from now on any new ones would be for static display. I also really like RAF heraldry so a line up of neatly parked Meteors all bearing different squadron bars looks rather nice and would look a bit silly if none of them had an undercarriage. There is one BIG exception to this. Spitfires! I just can't bring myself to spoil those lines by having dangly bits so all my Spits and any of its contemporaries simply must be in flight. It's not always easy because it seems Airfix are the only manufacturer who actually give you the choice of up or down so there's often some surgery involved. I have quite a large 'pilot pool' of unemployed chaps from scrapped models so I'm ok there. This also means I can give them a spin around the man cave from time to time. Tee hee. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LotusArenco Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 On 1/6/2017 at 11:53 AM, BIG X said: they don't come with any crew That’s a shame. Doesn’t look like there’s much option, unless some kind hearted souls can part with their unused ‘wheels down’ figures. Anyhoo. Major ‘Doh!, missing the bleeding obvious’ moment. For spinning props (during photography) just blow on them, like when you making models as a kid. Couple more ‘wheels up’ from the archives. Mart 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomBigStu Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Up 100% untill the day I build something with fixed gear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 25 minutes ago, LotusArenco said: I love the base on your Hunter - very imaginative idea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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