Dave Fleming Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I've used two methods with variable success - one is to glue lengths of sprue round the inside of the well, then when the wings are joined, pack milliput into the gap to make the well. The other is to glue a piece of plastic cars over the well, then drill out the opening - this has ther advantage of letting you do differenmt levels of depth by onlu drilling out the 'round' portion, leaving the 'leg' area with a shallow well. What do others do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I've used two methods with variable success - one is to glue lengths of sprue round the inside of the well, then when the wings are joined, pack milliput into the gap to make the well. The other is to glue a piece of plastic cars over the well, then drill out the opening - this has ther advantage of letting you do differenmt levels of depth by onlu drilling out the 'round' portion, leaving the 'leg' area with a shallow well.What do others do? In the scale 1:72, gracefully I leave the leg area as is, as there's not so much to see. And, concerning the wheel well, I simply put the wing together, then I cut the strip of styrene, and glue it around the wheel well. When the glue is cured, I take plade or razor saw, and cut what's protruding from the well. Fast, simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 although I tend to box in the section for the wheel leg by gluing plasticard over the roof, especiall if the kit wing plastic is thick enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) I've always used the former method Dave Would be interested to see other methods. One possible idea is to some how make a template using air drying clay or other medium snadwiched twixt the wing halves, and drill/cut out the well. Then face with plastic card. or cast in resin just some vague thoughts that need refining/filing under "B" Edited March 25, 2011 by walrus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I tried both your methods, and have to say I ever had a good result using milluput or other fillers. I prefer to glue a strip of plasticard. What I also tried was to use sticky tape to make a template for a plasticard strip to fit between the wing halves. Never had much success, but I feel it was maily due to me losing my patience, as I believe the idea is valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Would there be a market for resin ones? The AZ kits come with a well section and it could fall into rubber very easily... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Step 1. - plasticard glued to form the Walls, a bit 'higher' than needed. Step 2. - foil roof to the well Step 3. - trim excess plasticard with sharp knife Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Would there be a market for resin ones? The AZ kits come with a well section and it could fall into rubber very easily... There might, and I have been toying with the idea of scratchbuilding wheel wells for the Airfix IX and make some resin copies, although for personal use only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul62 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Similar to previous posts - glue sheet of thick plasticard over well area,cut out using minidrill then thin plasticard glued over the top.You do end up with a slightly shallower well but you can vary the sandwich bit according to the depth and you don't get the problem of mating the card to the (usually) curved upper wing.Did it on Airfix Spits mkix and xix and just cut the card around the undercarriage strut mounting position.I much preferred this method to adding a strip around the well which usually results in me getting glue everywhere....:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Thompson Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Obtain styrene tubing (e.g., Plastruct, Evergreen) of same inside diameter as or (preferrably) slightly smaller diameter than wheel well. Cut off a slice approximately same length as depth of wheel well. Cut the slice vertically so that it can be spread slightly to match its inside diameter with the ID of the kit well. Position the slot to match the leg part of the well. Once the glue is dry, either sand to mate with the inside face of the upper wing or sand off enough to provide clearance for a thin sheet styrene "roof". John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck1945 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Would there be a market for resin ones? The AZ kits come with a well section and it could fall into rubber very easily... I liked the AZ treatment, also liked Airfix Spit I wheel wells. When I have to box them in, like others, I just cut a strip of 0.010 sheet, glue using a round Xacto handle to force the sheet strip into the curve, let dry and trim the excess off. I tried packing Milliput in the wheel bays of the Airfix Spit IX, and gave up, falling back on the plastic strip method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyro-manic Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I'm doing a bit of this at the moment - when using plasticard strip, if you glue it in and then trim off the protruding excess, do you not end up with a smaller well as a result? OK, you can use very thin plastic, but there would still be that extra thickness all the way round the edge, making the bay too small. Obviously in larger scales this is not as much of an issue, but in 1:72 it could be quite noticeable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Except they're underneath and thus not quite so noticable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deon Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 To avoid reducing the well dimensions I chamfer the inside edges of the well and the top edges of the plastic strip, that way they fit flush (ish!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miggers Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Would there be a market for resin ones? The AZ kits come with a well section and it could fall into rubber very easily... Not 'arf Lee!!. My trick is to fit a small "wall" of plasticard around the edge of the hole in the lower wing panel. Fix it a few mil back into the wing area. Put the stiffening strips onto the roof(the upper wing panels). Once you have the upper and lower panels fixed together and dry,use plasticene on the inside of the wells to create the walls. The small wall of plasticard gives something to retain the plasticene whilst it's "moulded". You can fiddle and faff about with the plasticene until you're happy and then coat it with good old gloss varnish to seal it before you paint it in the appropriate. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Its been a long, long time since I tackled this - but on the early Airfix Spitfire I or Vb a simple method was to get a strip of 10thou plastic card, just slightly deeper than the wheel well itself, wrap this around a rounded knife handle (X- axto - I think?) dip in hot water to retail the roundness and fit in wheel well - trim to shape and run liquid cement into the roof of the wing and around the rim. Let dry and trim. Fairly straight-forward and relatively cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 You could try the same method that I used to produce the exhaust on the 1/32 Echelon Lightning's port side. Cut a strip of ordinary printer paper, and fit it into place, then use the thinnest super glue that you can find, and drop it onto the paper. It will glue the paper to the well, and, at the same time, stiffen the paper as it dries, turning it into a form of plastic, so that you trim it to shape. Edgar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Its been a long, long time since I tackled this - but on the early Airfix Spitfire I or Vb a simple method was to get a strip of 10thou plastic card, just slightly deeper than the wheel well itself, wrap this around a rounded knife handle (X- axto - I think?) dip in hot water to retail the roundness and fit in wheel well - trim to shape and run liquid cement into the roof of the wing and around the rim. Let dry and trim. Fairly straight-forward and relatively cheap. I'm with Bill. But I use 5 thou plastic card and superglue (the runny stuff). 5 thou minimises the reduction in wheel well diameter, superglue removes the tendency of 5 thou plastic to melt when you flood the joint with liquid poly. I also make sure I've filed away any draw angle on the kit wheel well (ie diameter of inside edge of wheel aperture being slightly smaller than outside to facilitate removal from mould): this helps ensure the walls are vertical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) I wonder if this will work ? It is based on a method I use for model figurines when the joints have gaps. Take the Airfix 1/72 Spitfire MkIX wing lower half. Run a sausage of Milliput around the edge of the wheel well opening and then pop a square of Clingfilm onto the top. Place the upper half into place and squeeze the sausage of Milliput until the wing is correctly together. You could then trim away the residue in the well, but do leave some remaining. Wait until it all cures and then remove the wing upper and peel away the Clingfilm. Then use sandpaper wrapped around an X-Acto handle to finish to shape. Then glue the upper to the lower wing sections. If anyone fancies giving it a try, please let me know if it works ! Good luck Pat Edited March 28, 2011 by Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Severus Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) I've used two methods with variable success - one is to glue lengths of sprue round the inside of the well, then when the wings are joined, pack milliput into the gap to make the well. The other is to glue a piece of plastic cars over the well, then drill out the opening - this has ther advantage of letting you do differenmt levels of depth by onlu drilling out the 'round' portion, leaving the 'leg' area with a shallow well.What do others do? Raw result - will be puttied and sanded. And, yes, I omitted stiffeners. Edited March 31, 2011 by Severus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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