POST JSI F-14 SPOT REPAIR IDEAS HERE

Post by **aferguson** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:00 pm

those planes are all different scales......nothing makes sense.....too much chaos......aaahhhh.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:19 pm

Well after only 2 hours on its gear the tomcat couldn't take it. one of the main gear snapped right below the wheel from the sheer weight. I had everything connected correctly and never rolled it at all! I was very careful laying down on it's gear and even had a second person watching all the connections to make sure nothing came loose. When I flipped it over all the connections were still made. Fortunately the main strut that cracked has a metal rod inside so it didn't collapse completely but enough to be resting on the fuel tank. I am trying to fix with Plastruct Plastic weld but I'm sure it won't hold the weight if it didn't before without the crack.
So, it needs to be displayed on a support or hanging.

vulgarvulture · Post by **vulgarvulture** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:32 pm

those planes are all different scales......nothing makes sense.....too much chaos......aaahhhh.

LOL. Too funny.

pcoughran, I love the display, aferg's comment just struck a chord.

glcanon · Post by **glcanon** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:35 pm

Okay, what entrepreneur here is going to create a castings of the landing gear... in metal?

I think you'd have some customers lining up.

Yet another J.S.I. FAIL

Sabrefan · Post by **Sabrefan** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:48 pm

Did JSI make the F-14 main gear to skinny, and not to scale? Look at how thick the main gear is on an F-14. Seems to me if it was to scale it would be a nice thick piece of plastic. This is keeping me from getting one, I sure don't want to mess with weak landing gear on a heavy model.

glcanon · Post by **glcanon** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:50 pm

aferguson wrote:those planes are all different scales......nothing makes sense.....too much chaos......aaahhhh.

"You gotta keep 'em separated."
-The Offspring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJQFf0qj9Nk

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 8:45 pm

Greetings:

I have had mine setting on its gear without support since I got it together and have not had any problems with the gear. One of the little connections even came loose and it still stayed on the gear and did not collaspe or break.

I did take notice that the gear can not be staggered outward at all. If all the tabs are connected, they should sit actually nearly straight down. Also, make sure the tires are lined up and not turned outward at all.

I think in some cases the gear is staggering too much outward and the result is it is putting too much pressure on the inner part of the tire and wheel. Then it snaps.

I have had no problems with mine.

Corey

KKH · Post by **KKH** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 7:37 am

No problems here either . I agree with coreyeagle. Mine has been sitting over a week on its gear and no problems. Just make sure the gear is not splayed outward.

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 9:01 am

KKH wrote:No problems here either . I agree with coreyeagle. Mine has been sitting over a week on its gear and no problems. Just make sure the gear is not splayed outward.

I don't think the gear was splayed outward. Are you saying I wasn't careful enough by being totally anal about all the connections being correct and getting a second person to help me lower it down gently onto its gear ensuring nothing came undone?
You're acting like I did something wrong by just putting it on its gear connected the way it was designed to be connected. I was more than diligent about setting this on its gear after reading all the posts about gear not being connected correctly.
I guess Merit now needs to update their proper gear install to include make sure you don't let the wheel be anything other than complete vertical?
I don't believe I'm at fault here!

If I hadn't repainted it already I'd be taking it back for a refund!

KKH · Post by **KKH** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:55 pm

I never said you were at fault. I also did not say you did anything wrong! WTF? I was merely agreeing with the previous poster. Seems like quite a few planes have small problems including the wheels/gear. Mine didn't, other than the paint. I wasn't singling any body out and I dont think the other poster was either...

mcaulk · Post by **mcaulk** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:33 pm

Used the sponge method for the dread spot removal. To lazy to break out the airbrush. Works pretty well but requires a touch. Ran thinned Tamiya Smoke along panel lines then dry brushed lightened Flat Gull Gray (50% white) to highlight some panels or joints. Came out pretty good. Now on to the rest of the bird.

P.S. Has anybody successfully removed the canopy? Want to do some mods on the ejection seats and combing.

Mike

deankleines · Post by **deankleines** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:08 pm

Mike: Great job on your bird!!! I had my airbrush ready, but was so facinated by the sponge method and was really pleased with the results.

I too would like to remove the canopy and seats to do some super detailing.

Wonder if we can have a new topic for super detailing this beautiful bird?

Regards,

Dean

DocTodd · Post by **DocTodd** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:57 pm

I think the main point is be careful, because the plane is heavy and the gear are a bit delicate.
T

mcaulk · Post by **mcaulk** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 4:32 pm

Todd,

I think a Super Detailing topic might be needed. I was thinking that at a minimum I would replace the ejection hand curtain rings. The stock ones are way to thick and poorly painted. In addition it would help to add some additional detail to the seats themselves like belts, hoses and wires. A man could go hog wild and the cockpit itself is a good start.

Mike

wolfman1973 · Post by **wolfman1973** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:18 pm

how do you post the pics on here

wolfman1973 · Post by **wolfman1973** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:19 pm

messed up

deankleines · Post by **deankleines** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 12:14 pm

I was able to pry the seats loose with a flat blade screwdriver inserted from the back at the base of the seat. I turned the screwdriver to pry the two tabs loose from the floor.

Be very careful if you try this!

I am now free to detail out the cockpit and seats!!!

Yea!!!!

Coreyeagle48 · Post by **Coreyeagle48** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:13 pm

pcoughran:

I hope you didn't take offense to what I said. I wasn't trying to be nasty, just state that I have had no gear related problems. That's all. I know we've talked about some of your repaints and things so I hope you didn't take offense.

I know what you mean about setting it down gently, I cringe every time I have done so. My biggest problem was that one of the landing gear is slightly looser than the other and has a tendency to splay outward when you set it down. If they rake too much or splay too much, I can see where that would totally put too much stress on the inner part of the strut and cause a failure. Another issue I have noticed is that the spring loading gear sometimes do not depress, causing the plane to sit very unsteadily. So you always have to make sure they depress when the plane sits on its gear. A little lubricant such as WD-40 on a brush may help this situation.

I almost have to agree with Badcat Rob on this, as much as I hate to say so. The gear is too complex and too fragile, someone not patient will break it and if it's not down 100 percent correct, you run the risk of breaking it too. I would have settled for the BBI styled gear or metal gear.

Corey

pcoughran · Post by **pcoughran** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:20 pm

Coreyeagle48 wrote:pcoughran:

I hope you didn't take offense to what I said. I wasn't trying to be nasty, just state that I have had no gear related problems. That's all. I know we've talked about some of your repaints and things so I hope you didn't take offense.

I know what you mean about setting it down gently, I cringe every time I have done so. My biggest problem was that one of the landing gear is slightly looser than the other and has a tendency to splay outward when you set it down. If they rake too much or splay too much, I can see where that would totally put too much stress on the inner part of the strut and cause a failure. Another issue I have noticed is that the spring loading gear sometimes do not depress, causing the plane to sit very unsteadily. So you always have to make sure they depress when the plane sits on its gear. A little lubricant such as WD-40 on a brush may help this situation.

I almost have to agree with Badcat Rob on this, as much as I hate to say so. The gear is too complex and too fragile, someone not patient will break it and if it's not down 100 percent correct, you run the risk of breaking it too. I would have settled for the BBI styled gear or metal gear.

Corey

No offense taken - just in a sore mood as I thought I did everything right and the gear still broke. Actually both gear broke. Apparently there was a fracture in what I thought was the good gear on the tiny piece that hold the main strut on. If this piece breaks the spring pushes the whole strut out. I came in to check my "bad" gear repair and noticed the other wheel was completely off and lying on the wing. Apparently the minor crack gave way to the pressure from the spring pushing up on the strut.

I was wrong about there being a rod in the strut as well - it is hollow for some reason??
I went ahead and bought some .080" carbon fiber rod and put it in the main strut on the side that broke and then glued the plastic around it - hopefully this will be stronger than it was originally.
As for the other gear that came completely off I had already glued the tiny piece - wish I hadn't after getting the rod installed in the other I would want to do it to this one as ell but cannot remove it now unless I re-break the small piece that holds it in.
I'll keep an update after the glue settles and I try to rest it on its gear again. If the one without the rod breaks then I'll insert a rod there as well. Without the rods I wouldn't trust the gear at all. If you put it on a table or piece of furniture on a floor that is above a basement, I'd be worried that any "movement" caused by running or shaking of the floor would be enough to cause the wheels to "cant" and gear to fail from the stress. If you live in CA, good luck with a little tremor - the gear won't take it.

CessnaDriver · Post by **CessnaDriver** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:17 pm

Keep telling myself how grateful I am to have this bird while blue tape masking it. Pain in the butt!

Beeavision · Post by **Beeavision** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:22 pm

Here's one method of casting metal landing gears especially for the f-14. Not too hard to achieve and not that expensive to carry out.

http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2 ... asting.htm

Beeavision · Post by **Beeavision** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 7:09 pm

Even better....

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/08/3d-pr ... tium-next/

wolfman1973 · Post by **wolfman1973** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:00 pm

Hey guys well I tried some of the techniques that were mentioned. Actually a few of them put together. Let me know how it turned out.

YT · Post by YT » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:07 pm

Looks great, what did you do?

wolfman1973 · Post by **wolfman1973** » Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:36 pm

First I used that gojoes hand wash to lightly remove the darker spots. Then used the Tamiya AS-16 Light Gray and the TS-46 Light sand paint. They were suggested on here by another member. His plane looked great so I tried it. Then I used the black weathering wash, after that I sprayed it with Tamiya flat clear coat.

Small Scale Military Headquarters

POST JSI F-14 SPOT REPAIR IDEAS HERE

gear

Spots Off Weathering on Forward Fuselage

Mike's Despotting effort

Super Detailing

Sucessfully removed the seats!!!!

Landing Gear

Re: Landing Gear