Stand for painting/working on aircraft

Many years ago, one of the members of my IPMS chapter who works construction brought in these rebar chairs to give away. He uses them for just that purpose. On mine I added some foam padding held down with cloth medical tape to keep them from scratching whatever kit that I’m painting. They work great for most 1/48 aircraft. Check your local construction hardware supply store like Home Depot or Lowe’s.

Thanks! I actually have business to conduct at the local Lowe’s tomorrow.

This is mine on a F-20 that I did a few years ago

 

These are $0.48 at Lowe’s.   Even with foam this is a very inexpensive solution.  

Perfect!

There ya go. I get my foam from shippng packages, and medical tape is pretty inexpensive too.

For  prop planes I use a metal rod through a prop hole- I adjust the diameter by wrapping a few turns of masking tape to a slightly smaller rod than the hole diameter.  For jets use a piece of dowel, again sizing it with masking tape.  I either hole rod/dowel with the left hand, or else clamp it with a big metal clamp to hold it on a turnable.

I see many modelers on videos using that method. I tried that with this current build, Revell 1/48 F18E Super Hornet, however I was worried about the depth of rod or similar material. The exhaust nozzle isn’t installed yet so there are two perfect holes for this application. Problem is there is a pivot rod installed immediately inside the fuselage for the stabilizers to move. I purchased the above rebar chairs today (seen above by Stikpusher) and it looks like a winner. BTW I’m new to modeling and have read many hours of threads in these forums. Many posted by you, So thanks for that. The Revell Hornet has been a humbling experience but the results so far are decent. I’m learning and feel I will get better with every kit and advice/techniques I acquire here. Cheers

wpwar11

I see many modelers on videos using that method. I tried that with this current build, Revell 1/48 F18E Super Hornet, however I was worried about the depth of rod or similar material. The exhaust nozzle isn’t installed yet so there are two perfect holes for this application. Problem is there is a pivot rod installed immediately inside the fuselage for the stabilizers to move. I purchased the above rebar chairs today (seen above by Stikpusher) and it looks like a winner. BTW I’m new to modeling and have read many hours of threads in these forums. Many posted by you, So thanks for that. The Revell Hornet has been a humbling experience but the results so far are decent. I’m learning and feel I will get better with every kit and advice/techniques I acquire here. Cheers

 

Is the rod inside or outside the fuselage?  You may have it forgo the moving parts.  I always glue moving parts together anyways.  I paint tailpipes seperately after rest of painting, since it will be generally a different color than fuselage or nacelles.

It’s on the inside.  This Is my first kit after an extremely long break away from the hobby.  Im learning skills and techniques that I hope to bring to future kits.  The Hornet is a practice model however I like it to turn out nice after countless hours filling, sanding, and the rest.  I’ve spent so much time reading and watching videos that it never occured to me how I was going to hold it to apply the two tone paint.  

 

Maybe you could cut a slot in a dowel to clear the rod. Then work up the dowel with tape to shim up to tight fit, cut the masking tape off the slot, and insert it.

I suspect the real planes do not have a rod there.  If not, and this would be more than a practice piece, you could cut the rod off and find another way to fasten the horizontal tail.  But for a out of box build I would just go with a slotted dowel.

 

My 'go to' all-access a/c stand for decades has been made from a common wire coat hanger. I straighten the hook and bend up that and the 'points,' then wrap thinner stiff wire -- usually straightened paper clips -- around the three 'arms,' then epoxy or wrap with tape to hold in place. A 1/8" or so 'L' bend at the tip of each wire, and it's ready to use.

The broad 'base' section makes it stable, and easy to grab and handle without needing to touch the model. The bent wire-tips (bent in opposing directions, like claws) can be positioned in landing gear sockets, gun ports, jet exhausts, ejection chute cutouts, or any similar small opening, and the hanger 'ams' can be easily bent or repositioned to adust the tension.

Here's a photo of my recent Revell P-51B build, mounted and ready for painting:

I've used the 'rod' style described by the others from time to time, but have found it hard to secure the model against those sudden always-at-the-wrong-moment slips. My 'tripod' styles seems much more stable and forgiving.

Thaks for that.  Always nice to see a fellow Marylander.  Grew up in Columbia and now live in Waldorf.  

Didn't HobbyZone have a stand that was wood?

 

EDIT: NVM, I found it

http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?cPath=21_162&osCsid=584b505ef9af6512a10d64da095ebf9e

wpwar11

Thaks for that.  Always nice to see a fellow Marylander.  Grew up in Columbia and now live in Waldorf.  

Not a Marylander by birth, myself...but since I've lived in "the land of sunshine and crabs" since the '80s, it's definitely home sweet home!

Cheers, hon!

Hi Stik;

      I have used those with the old large Revell ship Cradle Arms attached to work on ships. One for each " Chair". They work great way back then and still do now.

I don’t know if model kits are more fragile than they were when I was a teenager, or if I am more clumsy. In any event, I had barely started on my first “serious” model, a Minicraft 1/48-scale T-34 Mentor trainer, when I started breaking things — horizontal stabilizer (once), main landing gear (twice), landing door panel (once), and nose wheel (twice). I decided that I had to stop handling the model while I worked on it, so I built a cardboard cradle that would hold it securely with rubber bands while I glued, filled, filed, sanded, and painted it. 

I used pieces of corrugated cardboard attached to a base of thin, stiff cardboard that came with a supermarket pizza. I used “all-purpose” LePage 100% Glue to fasten the pieces and secure the wood screws that I used  to make anchor points for the rubber bands that would hold the model in place. Total construction time: about half an hour. Total cost: $0.00 — I already had the glue and screws.

The cradle has held up very well over dozens of hours of use. I assume that I'll have to build a larger version for some of the larger models in my stash, or a smaller one if I ever decide to do a smaller-scale model. The cradle hasn’t totally solved the problem of breakage, but it’s helped a lot, and made it much easier to work on fine details. See images below.

Bob Ingraham

Vancouver

LMG and I don't know what it stands for but they make several size build jigs. 

they are in the same country ICM models come from. There are some usa and Canadian distributors. Easily find them on eBay. assembly required and these things can be models in their own right. 

 

it's intended for building but would work well for painting also. 
Can't post pic sorry.

 

Many years ago I bought the tamya paint turn table, actually you get two turn tables and comes with clips that slid in the edges . Works great on any scale 1/72 to 1/24  had it for years..I see them in hobby stores everywhere 

5-hihh