Nose weights (note to mfgs)

Its a royal pain. As a matter of practice I add more weight than they say you need. I used to leave the nose cone off and the canopy and piled dimes into the canopy until it stayed forward to calculate how much weight was needed. I use the low melting point metals that are made for model trains and melt them and pour the metal into the randome, cool it off and glue it on.  This method works best because you can get enough the most weight into the nose where it is furthest from the fulcrum of the model where it does the most good. 

Absolutely. This should be a must for all such kits. I have had a couple of mishaps when attempting to guess at the weight needed to keep a trike on its gear, as my normal method is to use BBs. This does not allow for trial and error, and involves installing the BBs into place with CA. Which in my case a couple of times ran out from interior to exterior, causing a big mess and requiring lots of work to remove from exterior surfaces and replacing lost details like panel lines. This is pretty much a soapbox issue for me.

I agree 100%. I just finished a Hasegawa F-86 and the instructions indicated the amount of weight required to prevent a tail-sitter. Last year I made a Revell B-24 and the instructions did not indicate how much weight is required, so I had to guess. The biggest problem is that there is not enough space inside the nose of the airplane to add enough weight. I am now working on Revell's B-29, and once again, there is no mention of nose weight. So I will have to guess. Fortunetly, I can add weights in the space behind the cockpit.

Completely agree.  Oh, and make sure they leave enough space to put the weight into that area.

John

Agreed!  I tend to forget to add weight to the nose, I just get in a groove of building.  So far I've been pretty lucky and have been able to correct the problem before I land up painting.  I've had one kit that included the nose weight with it.  It was an Eduard kit of 2 P-39's.  It made life so much easier!

Wirraway

Don- totally agree that this should be included in the kit. I was trying to work out how they would package it so that it wouldnt do damage to the other kit parts ? JohnnyK- you are going to pull your hair out trying to find space for the nose weight needed to keep that B29 on the deck- I know I did...

 

Agree completely. Have only built 1 plane with weight included.

Jim  

Casting nose weights isn't to difficult. You do have to be careful.

Ditto all of the above. I'll add to the conversation and suggest that the manufacturers include cast metal landing gear struts, especially for aircraft that have delicate gear legs.

In some of these cases I distribute the weight. For example in a P-38 I would add weight to the propeller spinners and or in the engines, if so equipted, as well as in the nose. The 1/48th B-29 mentioned has four engines that can be drilled out (cylinders) and filled with lead weight (e.g. soldier). I have had more that one tricycle gear model that has had the gear bend, bow, or collapse under the weight of the model. The aftermarket gear is a great idea, but given the price of the kits these days the metal gear should be included in the kit.

seasick

...I use the low melting point metals that are made for model trains and melt them and pour the metal into the randome, cool it off and glue it on...

Do you mean, you pour the melted metal into the plastic part?  Even at a low melting point for a metal, I would think that that would melt the plastic.

I cast toy soldiers with white metal alloys--about 80% tin, and the remainder lead and antimony or bismuth.  Even that gets to around 450 degrees to melt.

Working at the bench this afternoon, I was looking through some parts boxes and found some old slot car wheels and tire combinations. Some of the wheels are 3/8" OD x 3/4" long. The tires were worn down and hunks missing from wear. I took the tires off, filled the wheels with BB's, and topped it off with some Elmers Glue. Ended up with a couple of very nice 1/2oz weights that should fit in lots of places where needed for balance. 

Hope this helps someone.

Jim  

Agreed. I almost always forget the nose weight if it isn't included in the instructions (before my most recent build, I could say always - maybe I've learned?).

Maybe I should do a post about the creative ways I've found of adding weights to an already-finished aircraft.

It's so much easier when the manufacturers remind you and include them. Three cheers to Tamiya and Hobby Boss for their He-162 and Me-262, respectively, for including them!

-BD-

Since we've turned a little towards methods of weighting a model, I've uses white glue and BBs, and 2-part epoxy putty and BBs.

I also made the mistake, having packed one aircraft's nose with putty and BBs, of adding a couple more BBs and then securing them with CA glue.  I didn't think of it, but the glue apparently dissolved the putty enough for it to flow to places where I didn't want it, till it and the glue both cured.  I had to drill out the hole for the propeller shaft, but it helped register the lesson.

The problem with bbs is packing density. If I remember my geometry right, the packing density (the fraction of the total volume) occupied by spheres is on around 75%, so you are getting less lead in a given volume than if you used solid lead.  With some aircraft with heavy tails, I have found the internal volume left in the nose of the aircraft requires almost solid steel if you use steel BBs- lead might work.

I built a beautiful Minicraft Cessna 172. It had a very detailed engine.  The instructions said you had to chose- if you wanted to have the plane sit on its nosewheel without a tail brace, you had to forego the engine. If you wanted the engine in the nose, you had to have the tail brace.  I was able to cram in enough nose weight to get it to balance on main gear, but if anyone bumped the table it would fall back on its tail!  The ideal kit would have had the engine cast in metal!

I use lead birdshot and CA for my nose weights. #8 shot is not much larger than course sand and will fill most any desired space nicely. Sometimes you have to think outside the box due to kit engineering for location of your weight. Fix it in place with gel CA so that does not run every where as the thin stuff can, and you're in business. 

After reviewing 20 replies in FSM Forum I came to your reccomendation which seems to be very plausible. I will try this if I can find #8 bird shot somewhere. Amazone.com??? Building an Airfix 1:72 B-25C/D and instructions reccommend 25gms of weight in the nose. Proplem is that the buckshot I have is large with dead space resulting in inadequate weight in the small space. I have an email sent to aitfix asking for their reccommendations. Big problem for small scale (1:72) Tricycle builds. Will post accrdingly.

I use 1/2" hex nuts threaded onto a 1" long bolt.

You can also add weight to the engine nacelles

I made molds to cast weights for a lot of the models I have. Thinking of starting a small business doing this and making painting masks for airliners. 

guys....your answer lies in the Cubscouts Pinewood derby section of your local crafting stores!  Tungsten putty!  A weighted putty that is similar to a cross between Blu-tac poster putty and silly putty.  It is moldable, and comes in 2 oz packs....

I bought a 500 count box of reloadable 9mm 115 gr.

bullets a long time ago to use as weight.

Bird shot works really well! I don't have any at the moment but I do have lead buck shot. You can get this at a good gun store. I flatten mine out with a hammer and cut into bits with wire cutters.

I add weight to the outside of the nose with tape and tape the plane together--just the main pieces. You can make a couple of balace pylons to place under each wing just forward of the main gears. Then I add lead bits to the tape on the outside of the nose till it sits correctly. Then I add a little more weight for good luck!

Weight and balance are important to planes. The DC-2 had to fly with 2000lbs of sandbags in the tail for it to balace right. When I flew gliders, I had to sit on a 25lb chunk of lead to get the ship to balance correctly!