gear up or gear down

For me nothing can compare with the old kits that had movable features; Monogram,Airfix,Revell,etc...So you can choose any moment of Aircraft service,they were toylike but.....I still have some of them in flight condition, of course!

i think some of the models w/ poor cockpit details scream to be hung from the ceiling, where this flaw is not so noticeable. when my buddy and i get together at his house for a weekend (we now live 300+ miles apart), we like to 'build-bash' a kit each. the most inexpensive 1/48th WWII fighters we can find are a favorite subject. with one night for assembly and painting to begin immediately following (or the next morning if we run late), many of the 'finer points' go by the wayside.
some of the kits (1/48 Testors P-47, anyone?) actually HAVE no finer points!

hanging the kits along the shop wall at eye level makes it impossible to see into the cockpit. but we don't paint them over!! SHHEESH! i never heard of such a thing! :-) leave out a control panel that wont fit, sure, but never such a step as trying to HIDE it. :-)

but we soon learned that some kits were not designed w/ the gear up modeler in mind. so we do what any master craftsman in a hurry would do:
swear at it a bit and then use more filler!

now before any of you have a heart attack at our slipshod ways, i remind you that we only commit these atrocities on bargain bin kits, and we can only seem to get together a handful of times a year. when we are working alone, our work is a bit less frantic. in fact, i have been milking a 1/32 JU-87B for MONTHS !!
:-)

- just keep gluing pieces together until there is only one piece.
then paint it.

Did anyone of you ever build the Revell Magic Flight Models? Ok, they are in 1/144, but I think the technique with the interfering magnets could also be done on 1/48 planes. As soon as I have found useful magnets in Europe I will try to get an A-4 flying in front of some “diorama” clouds. So I can try to hide the (don’t fly away-) lines within the clouds. Perhaps someone has an improvement to this idea? Or even a better one?
Perhaps this is the way we could get closer to the realistic gear up planes!

If your intent is to show the plane in flight them the gears are up and so are the wing flaps. I've used fishing line to secure to the ceiling. My boys love it. If the plane is "parked" then along with the landing gear the flaps should be in the down position as they were controled by hydraulic pressure.

I like to display my aircraft taking off or landing where the landing gear are going up/down. In this style you are not stuck with a lot of wheels and struts in your spares box. I definately have received a lot of comments on this unique way of displaying my aircraft.

If I built more jets, I'd probably have more gear up models. Assuming, that is, I had taller ceilings.

Haven't seen a "spinning prop" display I've liked, though. So my P-36s, ME-109s, Yaks, etc. will stay on the ground.

I build a lot of models gear up-- I make mobiles of 1/72 scale aircraft to hang from the ceilign at work. I build both WW1 and WW2 mostly- the WW1 kits don't have the gear up vs. down problem, but finding decent pilot figures can be a problem.
I hang my models using fishing line or invisible thread, depending on the weight....

I'm building my second gear up plane. I'm displaying my planes (WWII warbirds) in my office from a wierd suspension system of wire and fishing line. The most challenging thing is rigging them tipped at an angle so that from my view on the ground I dont see only bellies.

Gear-up is the best look. check out www.modelexpo-online.com
under plastic kits, then model stands or DHI 140 and see some nice display
stands available.Have fun and all the best
Davey5

I like to build my models with the gears down but some times when i´m lack of space i put them with the gears up.... it depends, some models look better with the gears up and some others look better with the gears down

My Best Regards
Hector

There is just something about a model with the gear up. That's when they look the best. I've got a B-47E that's gonna look awesome bombing my computer desk (if I ever finish it....).

I have long said that when I have a kids, they'll probably be the only little boy or girl in the world with a mobile representing Billy Barker's last dogfight hanging above the crib. But then, those D.VIIs and Snipes were always gear-down...

Hi All,
When I want to build a " flying " aircraft,I look on EBAY for old and cheap Airfix kits. The older kits come with a clear plastic stand, you only have to make a small hole in the underside,and your'e airborne. This tip is only for modellers in 1/72 scale,but, you can do fighters and bombers.
Also if you want battle damage, trail some cottonwool behind the kit , spray the end nearest the kit red and some grey along the length and you have a smoke trail [ also leave white and it looks like a vapour trail behind a jet ].

I do both. I do in flight using acryilic plastic Sheet. The last model I built gear up was the Tamaya dambuster lancaster. Even a model that big was easily supported by a piece of acryllic a 1/4 inch thick and about 1 inch wide That one was stuck 18 inches in the air. spinning props were cut from 1/8 plastic. It's true there is some realism lost but it still is a very attarctive model and come on we have enough imagination to not see the stand.

One thing that does drive me a little batty is that some models require more work to put the gear up than assemble it down

I plan to go to gear-up configuration because of lack of room. My wife is very tolerant, but hanging from the ceiling is just about the only place left to display aircraft!

I've found a method of displaying in-flight aircraft that really works well for me, espcially for 1/72 WWII aircraft. I mount a rod in the wing and leave it extending out of the end of one wingtip about 2 inches. Then I drill a hole in a trophy wall plaque and insert the exposed rod. I bend and twist the rod to adjust the attitude of the aircraft. Mount a grouping of aircraft in this fashion to display tight formations.

This makes for a interesting display that doesn't take up shelf space. No tangle of fishing line wrapped around the wings and fuselage. No more catching your hat on dangling fighters either.

I alternate between gear up or down based on the subject, scale, kit features and basically my mood at the time of assembly. If the quality of molding in the gear and gear bay is good, why waste it?

Gear up - always a pilot and always a treatment to simulate prop motion or afterburners.

Gear down - never a pilot, sometimes open cockpit, dropped flaps and such where practical.

As for canopy painting, I always keep them clear and detail them as much as possible. In the larger scales especially, you have to have canopy details or the kit looks incomplete. Manufacturers and even aftermarket suppliers seem to always overlook this.

Well, no matter you put them gear up or down, it's like music, you like it or not....

The point is to everybody keep doing it for fun... isn't it all about????

Jridge,

Yes, got them earlier today, THANKS! I'll send an official thank-you email later tonight.

And thanks also, on the 109. It just sits on the stand which I made of a coat hanger. I tweaked it until the model would sit perfectly balanced and it works just fine for me!

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm doing another gear up deal, this time an La-5. Hopefully I can keep my nose out of books and rags long enuff to actually finish this thing (and some others that are "on the verge") and post some photos.

Fade to Black...

Hey Wolf: The 109 is great!

Does it just sit on the stand or did you drill holes in the underside of the wing? I couldn't tell from the pic's.

I'm planning on building a version of the Chambermaid (a 1/48 B-24J) with gear up and the bombay open with the bombs "on the way down".

PS: Did you get the jpeg's of the Chambermaid?

Jim

Nope, still not convinced. I still hate gear-down. Some may call it "parked glory", but all I can think of when i see a gear-down plane is "Jesus, that thing is costing us a fortune in taxes, and it is DOING NOTHING!!". So, I build with gear up, safe in the knowledge that my models show Airplanes doing what they do best: Flying off to some target or another, ready to deal some serious van-damage!!

I was faced with this dilemma when I was building a 1/300 Zero-X (Thunderbirds are Go!).
I couldn't decide, so I di what any 'Sane' individual would do...
Built it with FULLY OPERATING Landing gear!
The most difficult part was finding the 100+ wheels.
Fortunately, a Kibri HO scale lineside kit came to the rescue.

I can't see myself doin a gear-up model for several reasons. one is what merlin V1650 stated, seated pilots just look stupid to me. Also, I want to see my models in their parked glory. To reveal all those interior stuff that I can actually model- the wires and the gears- everything. I believe these parts add detail and realism for they are little models in themselves.
~~~MarkY

Woody,

We won't actually be shopping at those shops. True to our unorthodox canopy-painting ways, we'll be grabbin' all the spray cans off the rack and spray-painting the windows so nobody can see all the horrors that wait inside!

Fade to Black...

You're an EVIL guy, Woody!

So your going to be shopping for R/C cars and Bachman train sets with blackwolfscd for all eternityLOL

Ah Haa!!.....I knew I couldn't be the only canopy paintin' fiend out here..For a while I thought my plastic soul was doomed to an eternity of building Lindbergh kits and wandering from one R/C and trains-only hobbyshop after another
Thanks for the vindication, Blackwolf....I don't feel so dirty anymore

Fear not, my canopy painting brother. You are not alone.

For when I am driven by the voices to model a flying machine in it's natural state of being, supported by the winds, I too feel compelled to black over the sacred clear canopy.

Whether 'tis nobler to build for those who pass judgment or simply for oneself is truly of no matter to me, I do as beckoned by the voices...

Besides, I'm just lazy!

Fade to Black...

Forgive me, for I knoweth not what I do..


Don't worry, GT_500....I only paint the inside of the canopy!!