Chengdu J-7A
Комментарии
Ethan Kidwell АвторI'm sorry for the rotated photos. I keep trying to rotate and reupload them but it keeps making them sideways like this. Oh well its not much to look at anyway 😛 As a beginner what I am struggling with the most is the sturdiness of the landing gear and keeping it straight. It's so delicate that I was afraid to sit it down without making some kind of base. Are there any tips to strengthening the gear or maintaining their position?
Alec KHi Ethan, and welcome to Scalemates. Nice work on MiG 👍
Regarding the landing gear: one thing I make sure is for the joint surfaces to remain unpainted so they can be properly glued together. Any paint can always be scraped off with a hobby knife in case they do get painted. Not sure what hobby glue you use, but most thin cements "glue" by melting the styrene, and this action is inhibited by a paint layer.
Another way to strengthen the landing gear installation is to install a metal rod between the landing gear and the wing. The rod can be a piece of a paper clip, a nail, piano wire, or brass rod from a hobby or hardware store. It has to be, of course, of smaller diameter than the landing gear leg so it fits (I usually go with 1/2 of the leg dia). A matching diameter hole is then drilled into the leg and the upper wing (taking care not drill through it) to accept the rod. The rod is glued with superglue.
Hope this helps and happy modeling 👍
Ethan Kidwell АвторAlec, that's a great idea with the brass rod I'm definitely going to try that with my next project. I appreciate you taking your time to help, thank you!
Album info
I started modeling around October as a quarantine hobby. Since then I have made the trench diorama I posted earlier, and a few airplanes to practice. This one I am satisfied enough with the result as a newbie to show off! It is nowhere near perfect but I'm learning from mistakes I make and think I'm on the right path.
The kit was the Trumpeter J7A Fighter 02859. The paint guide called for a metal paint job like the Soviet Migs, but this seemed to be inaccurate because all photos I could find of Chengdu's were the same pale gray as other PLAAF planes. So I used Tamiya XF80 Royal Light Gray, which I think turned out pretty spot-on. Especially as a beginner I'm not going to get too caught up in 100% accurate paint jobs until I am comfortable with my ability.