Just attached the landing gears and wheels to my P-38 and it pops a big fat wheelie! I added nose weight according to Academy's instructions, apparently this was not enough. There are no external tanks or ordinace attached at the moment, perhaps that would help. I set a 3/8 oz. fishing weight on the nose and that seems to be all the weight it would need to level her out.....

any suggestions???

Thanks!

It may be too late now for this model, but what I do for tricycle geared a/c is fill every available space forward of the main wheels with window caulking putty. In your case, the engine nacelles could hold a bunch of weight as could the nose itself and the space in front of the pilot's seat. teh stuff is very malleable and can be pressed into the tightest spaces. Even the nose wheel can carry weight if it's in two parts.

You could try fishing weights to the inside of the engine nacelles.

For future ideas, I use a fishing weight from Wal-Mart called "bullet weights" they work great to.

~Chip

Wow! what a great idea! I'll definitely have to try calk next time I build a tricycle geared A/C w/o a kit supplied nose weight.

Thanks for the tip.

Hi

I did the following diagrams a while ago, hope they are of some help.




Cheers
Peter
:-)

Got it fixed. I added 3/8 oz "bullet" shaped fishing weights inside the external fuel tanks. Attached the tanks....and she sits pretty now. Now to finish out the final touches....

Wow redman71, she's georgous! Can't wait to see more pictures! And don't forget to take close-ups! :-)8

Jean-Luc

Hey Redman71, Fantastic looking bird! Love the weathering and chipping. Lets see more pics, please

I see the problem, next time paint a heavier woman on the nose, that should help.

My favorite nose weight is birdshot.
An old... and I do mean old way of adding additional weight, after you are pretty much finished and get the surpise is to drill a small hole in the nose, and add the extra birdshot, one at a time, with a dip in ca, in the old days was 5 min, epoxy. Since the hole drilled was small, only a little larger than one shot, it was a rather easy fix.

Nice looking P-38 there Redman71

I can provide several models for that painting from my office! :-) :-)

:-) :-) You mean if they all stood on one side, the building would list? :-) :-)

Just had the same problem - with the nose weight that is - I glued the fuselage halves together, and of course jumped back on Armorama - setting here thinking "did I leave anything out ?" - then it hit me I forgot to put the nose weights in - luckily the glue hadn't set completely yet and I got the fuselage split without damaging anything - wow what an adrenialin (sp) rush.

By the way "those ladies" are known as "Rubenesk" :-)

Thanks guys, here are a couple more shots, I still need to finish the canopy, antenna, gear bay doors etc, but the bulk of the work is done....

Redman,don't know if this will help but I've done in the past when I've either forgot to add the weight or have not gotten enough in before I closed it up.I went to a sporting goods store and bout a bag of shot,it's what reloaders use in shotgun shells, I can't remember what size the shot is. Get the smallest available.I drilled a small hole just big enogh to accept the shot
then I make a paper funnel and pour in enough shot to do the job.Then I take a piece of sprue and glue it into the hole and after sanding you can't tell it was ever there.U have even used this after airbrushing a bare metal scheme.You just touch up the area and viola!,you're done.Sure hopes this helps.
Romeo12

Red,
Like Dave & Bob said.....The secret to your
woes is birdshot. Bob Its # 4 birdshot FYI
Red next time try shot in the nose and prop spinners.

BTW the P-38 is gordgeous. she's a real beaut. Love the weather and panel line highlights.

Thanks guys was able to get her to sit right by adding 3/8oz fishing weights inside the external fuel tanks. No more wheelie......