The Little World

I’ve just re-glued some landing gear on a Grumman Guardian. It was cemented yesterday but I guess i put weight on it before it was entirely set – the joints gave way. it’s a Ukrainian kit and the fitting surfaces are Soviet-era.

To be fair, Grumman asked the gear legs to do a lot with the real thing – they were long and splayed and the plane was heavy – the model has all these characteristics.

I think it will be fine once the slow cement has set and I re-enforce it with some epoxy – but it does cause me to wonder if the designers of the kits really understand their physics, and material science. It’s a problem for a lot of eastern European kits. I applaud their desire to be scale-correct with most parts, but styrene is not aluminium nor yet steel, Expecting it to be as strong per cross section or joint is short-sighted.

I would welcome engineering that put a sturdy, tight socket in every wheel well – even at the expense of a little inaccuracy. Or a separate part that was solidly based and could be cemented into the wing – if you choose the wheels-down approach. They spend a deal of time etching PE parts for the well but the basic leg is still wobbly.