Kit plastic and weighting

[Andy1707819599]

Can anyone advise me if the caliper of plastic parts has decreased over the years? I sometimes wonder if the plastic feels thinner on newer models. Also, what is recommended as best way of weighting models to stop them tipping back when displayed on tricycle undercarriage? I've tried fishing weights but these don't always fit. What glue is successful for securing weights to inside of model?

[null_null981707818191]

I'm guessing that are as many solutions to weighting model aircraft to stop them being tail-sitters as there are modellers thereof. My own preference is to mix a product called Liquid Gravity with PVA adhesive and then cram it into appropriate spaces in the nose or front of the engine nacelles (if they are in front of the main undercarriage, which they usually are). I don't know how toxic Liquid Gravity is - it must be less so than cutting, trimming or squeezing lead weights and sheets!

Some more modern kits actually tell you how much weight is needed - I've got some very accurate digital scales that weigh fractions of a gram, so it's just a matter of measuring the LG into a plastic mixing cup, then adding the PVA and stirring. It worked on my recently completed P-38:

[Ratch]

Not for the Frightning, but bought at the same time

[John Symmons]

Hi Andy.

One way I recently used on an old Frog (Ex Hasagawa) kit of the Nakajima G8N1 Rita was to tape the main fuselage, wings engines main undercarriage legs etc together, carefully balance a styrene foam cup on the nose section and start adding weights to the cup until the model stopped sitting on its tail then weigh the amount of weight needed. In this case the model needed a lot of weight. I think it was somewhere around four ouches (+/-100 grams). I used some old lead solder and some 5mm ball bearings (available from cycle repair shops) and fixed it all inplace with an acrylic tile cement. I had to have weight in the nose, after adding a what-if interior, the engine cowlings and the front bomb-bay. It worked but only just the model now weighs almost 200 grams and i reckon over half of that is nose weight. I've added some photos of the weights, I know it looks a mess but once it's covered up the model came out OK and is no longer a tail sitter.

Weights in the cowling,

the nose and behind the cockpit,

and again in the nose, the round blobs are the 5mm ball-bearings.

Below all buttoned up and sitting as she should.

Remember we do this for fun John the Pom

[Andy1707819599]

Thanks for suggestions, the liquid gravity is one that I will try.