The Little World

In every chain they say the weak link will break first. So with every scale model.

It changes with each type that you build. Do a few and you’ll know what to expect. You can fortify yourself against the troubles if you get in first.

a. Aircraft are weakest in three areas; landing gear, antennae, and weapons. All three will break if overstressed. There is help in the after-market section of the shop. Metal landing gear legs are one way to resist the weight you need to keep a nose down, but they still mate with plastic sockets in the wings or nose and the cement bond can be remarkably weak.

Make new mounting plates from thickish plastic sheet and accept the fact that the things may not be scale sized. Reinforce with epoxy or cyanoacrylate or PVA as you can.

b. Ships are going to have things that break; masts, jibs, radars, gun barrels. Even if they are brass etch they can de-bond under stress. As well, odd deck treatments can peel up well after you have painted details on them.

Fabricate as much as you can from brass by soldering it. reinforce with cyanoacrylate. Put the wretched thing under a clear plastic case.

c. Cars and wheeled vehicles are weakest at the suspensions and steering links. Resist the temptations that the designers present to make them actually steer. This depends upon impossibly fine pins and nubbins and is an invitation to part failure. Select an angle for the wheels and cement them to it.

d. Tanks resist a lot of trouble but can lose tracks or antennae. As they bear a good deal of weathering you can hide a lot of cement.