New to model making.

[Nocturnus]

Well, not new, I tried back when I was 10 and trying it again. Still have the same issues as when I was a kid dealing with some of the small parts for planes landing gear. Would one of the plastic putty (like from Testors) be good for filling the the wheel well areas since I'd like to set the models up as if they were flying and no need for the landing gear. Would this work or is there a better way to go about filling this in?

Thanks.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Usually you have the option of putting the gear down, or putting the landing gear doors on it in a wheels up configuration.

No need for putty in that sense really.

 

[Nocturnus]

I'll have to look at the instructions again tonight. Found the instructions online, doesn't seem to give an option for doors closed..

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

What kit is it?

 

[Grendels]

If you decide to go with putty, go to an auto parts store and look for Bondo spot putty. Really good stuff and not very expensive.

 

[Dusky]

What do you plan to use the putty for? Completely filling the landing gear bay? Or filling the gaps around the bay doors?

Most modelling putties are only meant to fill small gaps and will fall apart if used for larger applications. The exception are epoxy putties, but these aren't cheap and filling an entire gear bay with it isn't practical. If you want to completely fill the bays self-hardening clay would probably be your best bet, but this will add a lot of weight to the kit.

In my opinion, the best way would to run scrap stryene across the inside of the bay and then sand to fit the doors and cement the gear bay doors to it. Then you can putty the gaps if needed.

 

[Nocturnus]

It's an SR-71 (Don't remember if it's Academy or Revell ATM). I did get the rear landing gear doors glued in (needs a little filling). But the front is a 2 part door (either side of the wheel well). It looks like I'll need to trim the 2 door pieces to make it fit. 1 door is too small to fit the area and both doors are too big. But I'll need to do some filling to make the doors flush since the wheel well area is a little deep.