Noseweight in a P38

[null_null981707818191]

Being a glutton for punishment, I've just embarked on another very old mould project - a Frog P38 Lightning in 1/72 scale (which sort of counts as an Airfix model in terms of heritage as it was originally made by Rovex of Margate,,,). Anyway, it obviously pre-dates instructions on adding noseweight. So has anyone got any advice or idea on how much I should add? Or shall I just fill up all the spaces I can find in front of the CoG. If anyone has built this model, and can remember how many grammes they stuffed in, I'd be very grateful!

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[Sailorman]

I built it when I was about 15 .......some 50 years ago  ☹️  Still have it.  Unfortunately I dont remember how much lead I put in the nose.  It does stand on it's wheels though.  You mustn't put too little ... but then again anything extra is just unwanted weight on the undercarriage.  I usually dry assemble using masking tape and then bend a couple of paperclips in a triangular shape with one end very roughtly the height of the undercarriage leg sticking up.  I put one under each wing in the undercarriage locating hole so that the model balances on the point where the undercarriage will be fixed.  I then add weight to the nose, balance it and add or reduce weight.    It's trial and error basically.

I've always loved this colour scheme.  Have fun!

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[null_null981707818191]

Thanks for the very clear explanation Patrick. I'll try the paperclip trick - makes far more sense the way you've suggested than others I've read. My paint scheme is going to be for an aircraft that flew in Tunisia.