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F - 100D wheels


Starfighter

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Hi guys,

Just after a bit of advice regarding my Trumpeter 1/32  F - 100D Super Sabre wheels. I've read that the kit wheels are too big and that the main wheel legs are too long ? I have a set of aftermarket wheels of the correct diameter, and I read somewhere that the main wheel legs need shortening by 3 mm, and my question is : will shortening the legs affect the geometry of the wheel doors and struts ? any help at all would be much appreciated . :cheers:

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6 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Hi guys,

Just after a bit of advice regarding my Trumpeter 1/32  F - 100D Super Sabre wheels. I've read that the kit wheels are too big and that the main wheel legs are too long ? I have a set of aftermarket wheels of the correct diameter, and I read somewhere that the main wheel legs need shortening by 3 mm, and my question is : will shortening the legs affect the geometry of the wheel doors and struts ? any help at all would be much appreciated . :cheers:

This is a big WAG on my part, but shortening the main struts without shortening the nose strut will cause the aircraft to sit more of a tail down which in turn will slightly off set the center of gravity. Now not being familiar with the Trumpeter F-100 kit series, I would bring up some other questions. If the kit build straight out of the box, is the finished produce sitting correctly as the static aircraft itself.  As in this first picture.

100_9719

Taken a number of years ago at the Wings Over The Rockies Museum, Denver Colorado. And this picture from the archive of the 523rd TFS 27th TFW Cannon AFB New Mexico.

523d_Tactical_Fighter_Squadron_-_North_American_F-100D-85-NH_Super_Sabre_-_56-3460

Slightly different attitude angles from a display aircraft top and a fueled aircraft below.

Another question would be if the Scale Aircraft Conversions struts are the correct length or G-factor struts are correct. That is if G-Factor does 1/32nd scale. You may also want to track down the article of the build or anybodies build that has made the corrections. I have seen a lot of aftermarket parts for a number of Trumpeter kits.

 

This may or may not help you in anyway. Just my thoughts and yes I have cut struts down or have added material to make the correct length of some kits.

 

All The Best,

Ron VanDerwarker

 

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Assuming the Trumpeter 1/32 kit has the same issues as their 1/48 down-size, the wheels are significantly too large in diameter, and the wing is too thin, which exacerbates the excess total length of struts and wheels. FWIW, when I built the 1/48 kit, IIRC, I replaced the wheels with items from AMS, but I didn't shorten the struts.

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Thanks for the info, guys. I think I'm going yo have to measure the kit legs and compare the with the scale drawings I have, and take it from there.   :cheers:

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I’m hesitant to reply because I didn’t build the 1/32nd kit, I built the 1/48th C model. I relied heavily on Ben Brown’s Trumpeter F-100 tweaks list on Zone-Five.net. https://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?t=14940  He focuses on the 48th kits, but from what I’ve read, the 32nd kit has similar problems. 

I replaced the over-sized wheels and tires with a set from the Monogram/Revell kit. I also cut a bit off of the main gear legs to get a more proper nose high sit of the aircraft. I was very happy with the result.

Of course it’s your call on what to change. For me the Trumpeter kit was a no-go until I got a replacement for the intake. The squashed “D” shaped nose was too wrong. I bought the AMS Resin replacement for mine. I don’t know what’s available for the 1/32nd kit, or if it’s required. 

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10 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Thanks for the info, guys. I think I'm going yo have to measure the kit legs and compare the with the scale drawings I have, and take it from there.   

A good plan

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I built the 1/32 D kit and tried to correct most of its problems. That's what led to my um, strong... opinions about all of Trumpeter's F-100s.

 

Steer clear of the replacement wheels from Renaissance. They were just copies of the too large kit parts. I'm not familiar with the ones Seawinder mentioned. The Renaissance ones were the only replacements available when I built mine, so I had to turn them down to the correct diameter. 

 

The main and nose gear struts are the correct length; the too-thin wing has the effect of making the model sit too nose-level. The only way to fix the model's attitude, other than rebuilding the wings, is to cut the tops of the struts about 3 mm for the 1/32 kit. It does slightly effect the geometry of the doors and actuators, but on mine I just hid the entire mess behind the drop tanks. I don't recall if the kit needed nose weight. Didn't they provide a weight for the avionics bay? Regardless, shortening the main gear struts won't change the center of gravity enough to cause problems. 

 

With enough alcohol, headache medicine, and elbow grease, it can be built into a decent looking model, as my friend Lee did here (I'm the disgusted friend he mentions): LINK

 

Ben

Edited by Ben Brown
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9 hours ago, Seawinder said:

Don't forget the wheels. Apparently at least three companies make them: Armory Models, Master Details and AMS

Thanks, Seawinder . . . I do have the AMS set, so should be good to go :cheers:

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2 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

I built the 1/32 D kit and tried to correct most of its problems. That's what led to my um, strong... opinions about all of Trumpeter's F-100s.

 

Steer clear of the replacement wheels from Renaissance. They were just copies of the too large kit parts. I'm not familiar with the ones Seawinder mentioned. The Renaissance ones were the only replacements available when I built mine, so I had to turn them down to the correct diameter. 

 

The main and nose gear struts are the correct length; the too-thin wing has the effect of making the model sit too nose-level. The only way to fix the model's attitude, other than rebuilding the wings, is to cut the tops of the struts about 3 mm for the 1/32 kit. It does slightly effect the geometry of the doors and actuators, but on mine I just hid the entire mess behind the drop tanks. I don't recall if the kit needed nose weight. Didn't they provide a weight for the avionics bay? Regardless, shortening the main gear struts won't change the center of gravity enough to cause problems. 

 

With enough alcohol, headache medicine, and elbow grease, it can be built into a decent looking model, as my friend Lee did here (I'm the disgusted friend he mentions): LINK

 

Ben

Thanks for that, Ben. I do have replacement wheels and a corrected nose from Zactomodels, which I've just fitted. I also have a new pitot probe from Master Models to replace the " telegraph pole " included in the kit ! It does mean a new scratch built mounting point in the correct location, but I can easily sort that.

By the way, has anyone noticed that the centreline pylon is too deep ?  😐

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3 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

other than rebuilding the wings,

Hi Ben 

I have thought of doing this. I imagine the best way is to cut the wing into a series of spanwise strips over some ribs and then fill, sand a scribe?

Will

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@Starfighter, I never noticed the center pylon issue! We'll add that to the list. 😐  When you add the Zacto nose, rescribe the panel line that represents the break between the nose part and the fuselage 3mm forward. Trumpeter got it too far aft and the Zacto part attaches at that panel line. The too-far-aft panel line forced Trumpeter to make the pitot mount too short. The position of the kit pitot is correct, it's just far too thick, so you just need to extend the leading edge of the mount forward to almost touch the new panel line. I hope that makes sense. I didn't take any photos when I corrected that area.

 

@Scimitar F1, I spent a little time trying to figure out a good way to fix the wings, but never came up with a method that I thought I could actually finish. One method I saw someone else mention was to shim the leading edge of the wing, but then you'd introduce more problems. I was thinking that re-skinning the forward 2/3 of the wing chord inboard of the wing fences to raise the upper part might work, but that's a ton of work to do on a model with so many other dimensional issues. Once the gear is hidden behind the drop tanks, it isn't noticeable and nobody is going to be looking at the too-shallow main gear wells, anyway.

 

I actually finished mine, eventually, in spite all of the whining and complaining I did at the time! 😄 Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture.

spacer.png

 

 

Ben

 

 

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Thanks for the info on the replacement nose, Ben. I've just filled the joint, so will sort that out when it's all dried, I'll also replace the pitot probe mounting, as the kit one is a work of fiction, and the probe itself would scale out at about the size of a drainpipe ! Fortunately I have the Master models replacement, plus the AMS ejection seat.

Regarding the wings I think once you have the drop tanks on and the leading edge slats drooped the thinness won't be too noticeable ( to me, anyway ! ) I don't understand all the accuracy issues, as their 1/24 Hurricane is just about perfect.  Makes you wonder if they ever looked at a real Hun !

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1 hour ago, Starfighter said:

Thanks for the info on the replacement nose, Ben. I've just filled the joint, so will sort that out when it's all dried, I'll also replace the pitot probe mounting, as the kit one is a work of fiction, and the probe itself would scale out at about the size of a drainpipe ! Fortunately I have the Master models replacement, plus the AMS ejection seat.

Regarding the wings I think once you have the drop tanks on and the leading edge slats drooped the thinness won't be too noticeable ( to me, anyway ! ) I don't understand all the accuracy issues, as their 1/24 Hurricane is just about perfect.  Makes you wonder if they ever looked at a real Hun !

They certainly didn’t when they designed the C and F! The C cockpit and tail are wrong (but can be corrected) and the F’s cockpit and canopy are too long (nothing you can do about that). I think Trumpeter has an A Team and a team of children to do their research. The A Team researched the Hurricane and the kids researched the F-100s.

 

Ben 

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49 minutes ago, Ben Brown said:

I think Trumpeter has an A Team and a team of children to do their research. The A Team researched the Hurricane and the kids researched the F-100s.

 

Ben 

Them, or the seven blind men that tried to describe an elephant in that famous poem...I think they went to work at Mach 1 Models! :giggle:

Mike

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