Tamiya F-14 61114 Wheels Up?

Here's a beauty and the guy makes a couple comments about the gear doors

https://imodeler.com/2021/07/tamiya-f-14b-1-48-the-jolly-rogers/

That really is an impressive build. I guess that answers whether or not it can be done... hopefully  it is within my skill ability to do it without eradicating all of the detail modeled on in the area.

Thanks for the post.

I am part of the tiny minority of gear up model makers and I struggle mightily with the gear doors. I have been searching the forums for advice but have not found much. Some say to build styrene support ledges inside the gear bays, but for me the problem seems to be the doors are molded too large for the opening and overlap at the center, the edges, or both. They require a lot of filing and sanding to even fit. Then it's a struggle to glue them in the correct alignment. Because I suck at filing and sanding, they tend to require a good amount of filler to hide the gaps and minimize the uneven transitions to the surrounding fuselage or wing. Finally a good amount of rescribing to restore the details that have been lost with all the surgery required to get a decent fit. This is the part of model making I enjoy least. I wish I had some useful hints to pass along.

My current build is a Hasegawa 1/48 P-38J. I'm currently in the final putty filling and sanding stage, hopefully will be ready for krylon primer in a couple weeks, then alclad regular aluminum.

On deck I have the Monogram 1/48 F4J Mig Ace. It's an older kit, probably with raised panel lines. I built one back in the 90's, and if I remember correctly the gear doors were designed to be up or down. So hopefully that's one less thing I'll have to worry about.

Sounds like something that the 3-D parts printers could tackle,correctly sized closed gear doors.

I build my models gear up also and I have noticed the majority have gear doors molded too large if you wish to build them closed.  I am learning that it is best to build the bays clsed before the fuselages are closed if you need access to the back of the doors and you will be in for some sanding to make things flush.

Hi Tojo and Mustang, thanks for the tips.  Too late for my P-38 but I will keep those in mind for future builds.  I finally got my P-38 doors somewhat level, puttied, and sanded.  I used wet sanding with 7000 grit for the final finish.  I have some panel line resribing to do.  I don't think I will attempt that on the really big puttied areas, I'm afraid the scribe will dig out some chunks.  After the Alclad is dry I will try to draw any missing panel lines with a very sharp pencil.

Next I will apply gray primer and see how it looks.  I am expecting a lot of waves and scratches.  Just have to keep practicing.

Screenshot_20231011_214319_Gallery by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/199143046@N08/]