The Little World

Is it gaps in the joints? Impossibly big sprue feed gates? Dodgy decals?

Nope – the worst thing about a model aircraft kit is the landing gear. Unless you’re building a flying boat ( and they have their own problems ) you will encounter your worst moment with the legs.

Your problem will be balanced between scale size of components and actual fastening the things. If it’s a case of single legs, they have to attach to something that orientates the leg 3 axes – and firmly, too. Few kits feature solid sockets that the leg will lock into. In many cases all that is provided is a dot on the plastic where it rests – how you get it to stay there is your problem.

Hey, on your workbench, it’s outta the factory and outta their responsibility…

The multi-strut legs can also be awkward as they need to be built up precisely in order to match port and starboard and here again, flimsy can be the way the designers go.

I do my best with whatever the maker has provided, but I’m not proud or fussy. If the spindly landing gear leg needs help I will embed it in a wooden block in the wing or flood the areas inside a wheel well with quick-setting epoxy cement or PVA. Better a blocked up wing than a fuselage on blocks.