dropped flaps and askew control surfaces

I know some kits have AM flaps availible. I've never used them so I don't know how well they look or fit.

-J

I've seen some of those aftermarket flaps. They look good, but I want to find a way to remove the kit flaps without tearing up the wing or ruining the panel.

Admittedly this doesn't really answer your question, but if you are going for realism, check the photos. Some planes were always parked with the flaps down, i.e. the F4U Corsair, while others were never parked with the flaps down. Most variants of the F4U even had a step cut in the right inboard flap to facilitate entering the cockpit. Later model planes, espially those with leading edge slats, Fowler flaps, etc. nearly always had everything cleaned up when they were parked.

The "trick" is to remove as narrow a line of plastic as you can, if you just want to reposition the kit part. You'll need to thin the trailing edges of the wing, stabilizer, or tail.

Then you need to replicate the part of the control surface that is now showing. Depending on the scale & which control you are moving, you can use strip or sheet styrene or even stretched sprue.

I dropped the flaps on the A-36 in my signature pic. I used the backside of a #11 blade, thinned the trailing edges with files & sandpaper, and used sheet styrene for the new exposed surface.

Hope this helps.

If you have a razor saw, you can use that also.

I think the scriber is the safest way to remove flaps, but Razor saws & #11 X-Acto blades also work.

another way is if you're goin ta use AM flaps, just cut out the flap the easiest way possible for u, then just sand or file off the remaining edges of the flap left on the wing. prepare the wing as suggested by the instructions, and then attach them like the instructions say.

hope it helps---
Matt

I saw a tip on another forum that sewing thread works, so I tried it with impressive results!

Tim Landers

ive always sanded the back to thin the area thin took the back of an exacto knife and scribed out the part.

I`ve found the best method of removing flaps and control surfaces is to use a razor saw and an Olfa scribe tool. Worked great for me on my Tamiya 262. Lots of thinning was required, but just remember to measure and test fit more than once, but only cut once.