F/A-18 on workbench

The Hasegawa F/A-18F in 1/48th scale was my first try on in-flight-mode. Other than modifying landing gears, one of the biggest challenge was to hold the aircraft 'in air' firmly. The answer for the first try was a copper tube with 8mm of outer diameter. It did hold the aircraft tight, but was also too obvious in a photo. Acrylic rods does not have the equal strength with metal rods or tubes, so the diameters contribute to strength! 

 

 

As for the second try: The Kinetic Model EF-18AM, I tried stainless steel tubes, and it work out good with great strengh. I did not have to drill large holes to hold the airframe and instead used the APU exhaust as the hole for inserting metal tubes. Inside the aft fuselage, I added plastic tube for supporting  

 

 

 

 

 

Very old build dated back to 2013 

old build dated back to 2014