Small Scale Military Headquarters

Delete:
Found answer
JOC

What answer did you find? I have warped mains on one of my BBI F18s - Is there a fix?

On the issue of landing gear,the problem was addrssed with boiling water. The plastic on the landing gear appears to be a Vinyl...pretty much like star wars figures and whatnot. I took a small pot of boiling water, filled to the brim (Use Caution and oven mits because you'll end up with scalding water, 3rd degree burns and whatnot) Fill an 8 to 10 ounce glass of water and keep it in the freezer while waiting for the boil.

Next Phase, when the water is at full boil, Dip the landing gear into the water and wait until it becomes loose and rubbery. Set the desired position (basically I over compensated until the landgear wheel was looking 45 degrees downward cant.

Last Phase: IMMEDIATELY retrieve the glass of water from the freezer and dip the landing gear into it. This will "shock" the plastic into retaining memory. Keep submerged for a couple of minutes. After both landing gear were set, I retracted them, closed the doors and kept the plane at rest for a couple days, refraining from any use. I tested the weight a couple days later and the Plane has NOT drooped since!!'

This is one of the most effective methods for bending most plastics (except the hard styrene, PVC, etc). While I've not had to do this to my F-18 landing gear yet, I have used the boiling water method on my BBI F-16 missiles, which always get droopy fins, and on the turret bustle on my FOV M1 Abrams tank as well as numerous action figures.

JOC wrote:On the issue of landing gear,the problem was addrssed with boiling water. The plastic on the landing gear appears to be a Vinyl...pretty much like star wars figures and whatnot. I took a small pot of boiling water, filled to the brim (Use Caution and oven mits because you'll end up with scalding water, 3rd degree burns and whatnot) Fill an 8 to 10 ounce glass of water and keep it in the freezer while waiting for the boil.

Next Phase, when the water is at full boil, Dip the landing gear into the water and wait until it becomes loose and rubbery. Set the desired position (basically I over compensated until the landgear wheel was looking 45 degrees downward cant.

Last Phase: IMMEDIATELY retrieve the glass of water from the freezer and dip the landing gear into it. This will "shock" the plastic into retaining memory. Keep submerged for a couple of minutes. After both landing gear were set, I retracted them, closed the doors and kept the plane at rest for a couple days, refraining from any use. I tested the weight a couple days later and the Plane has NOT drooped since!!'

Just found this post...Thanks, JOC, I'm going to try this...I'll post results!

You know, it's really nice when a solution to a problem actually works!
I "boiled" my F18's main gear & they responded just as "JOC" said they would - Maybe 30 seconds (or less) in the hot water then a quick dip in the ice water & "voila", straight gear!
I'm letting them sit a few days while I go out of town, but will reassemble Thursday night when I return.
Thanks a million - I would not have figured this out on my own, and now I feel like I have just added another "new" aircraft to my 1/18th collection!