Making the transition from panzers to planes has not been as simple as I thought it would be.

I bought half a dozen models of the cheaper brands 1/72 scale ww1 and ww2 models hobbyboss,airfix,revel etc. The last time I bought a model plane the Beatles were a new pop group. Fifty years on I am having quite a few problems. All models are " wheels down" as I am a bit too old to be hanging them from the bedroom ceiling.

1. How do you glue the undercarriages so they are straight ? I did it by eye but everything seems to have one wing lower than the other and looks a bit wonky.

Spending hours trying to mask canopies has been real fun! I even bought an Eduard profipack just for the masks , unfortunately there are way to many tiny parts and even smaller photo edged parts ( my glasses these days are stronger than most optivisors).So I just closed the box.

2. Having struggled so much with masking the outside,do you mask paint the inside of the canopy in the same way ?
3. What is the best way make a hole in a decaled part of a wing to apply the ez line rigging of a ww1 plane ?
4. what size Tamiya masking tape do you use to mask the coloured stripes on the back of a German ww2 fuselage ?
5. Both the me 262 and the salamander I built fall backwards instead of balancing on the front wheel are you supposed to add weights to these kind of kits?

thank you very much , probably more questions to follow as it has been a frustrating last few weeks .

Many modellers make simple jigs out of cardboard or Lego to hold the landing gear legs in position until the glue cures. The trick is to not let the model's weight rest on them until it's firm enough to support it. This is especially important when the fit to the mounting points is a bit sloppy.



Some people do, especially when the canopy is going to be open. An easier thing to do is paint the interior colour on the outside first, let it dry and then paint the exterior colour. This works well in smaller scales and when everything is closed up; you can't see that it's on the outside instead of the inside. By the way, there are aftermarket mask sets available from Eduard and other manufacturers.



Make the hole first, apply the decal and let it dry, then carefully poke through the decal with a sharp needle or knife tip



You may need to trim the tape to the proper width, or build it up from several pieces if it's wider than your tape. You almost never find a stripe which is exactly the width of whatever masking tape you may have.



Yes, nose weight is the bane of tricycle gear models. Fishing weights, tire balance weights, lead shot and liquid gravity are very popular. Fix them in place with epoxy, superglue, white glue or epoxy putty. Some modellers use plastecine, but I find that the oil in the plastecine eventually eats the plastic and your model gets ruined.

Finishing the canopy is possibly the most challenging part of aircraft modeling. An alternative to masking the glass in canopies is to apply strips of decal film painted the right color and cut to the right width to the bars. That process can be just as mind bending and frustrating as masking, but you get really straight lines. Of course you have to buy some decal film in order to do that.

Some kits instructions call out the need for a nose weight, and some don't. go figure.

It may be possible to retroactively ballast your tail sitters. You will need to drill a hole under the nose and insert some epoxy and some bits of lead, then putty up the opening and paint over it. Been done millions of times, oh yes!

Lead is a nice material to work with. you can whittle it with an ordinary knife, and form it into shapes with pliers and by tapping with a small hammer. when I am building a nose wheel airplane, the first thing I do is figure out where the lead is going, and form a piece to go in there. The farther forward it goes, the less of it you need.
If you need some lead I can send you a hunk for the price of postage. I have a small scrap left from my days a sail boat measurer.

Just wash your hands when you are done, and no food or drink allowed in the work room.

Martin,
Welcome in your transformation from Armor to Wings. I made that same trip more then 7 years ago.

Jess and Jonathan gave you some solid advice.

As for masking canopies, these days with just about every kit I buy, I also get a Eduard canopy masking set for it. The almost always fit perfectly, and turn a killer of a job into a fun part of the build.

If you're not a fan of PE then just use the kit plastic parts instead. Most Eduard kits give you the choice.

As far as getting the landing gear struts aligned properly, it varies by aircraft. I almost always come up with some sort of temp jig. The trick is to keep the aircraft level so that both struts hang down or up at the same angle. And yes I said up. At times it's just the easiest orientation for me to use. I also let the struts dry a full 24 hours before I move the model.

Joel