Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just put together a 1/18 Hellcat. It's a very nice model, except for the fact that the flaps and ailerons will not stay where they belong.

The flaps fall down, and the ailerons also hang down and will not stay where I put them. Anybody got a cure for that ? It's very annoying !! I don't really want to glue them in place, but will if I have to.

Perhaps there is a way to gum them up a bit with something to hold them in place and still be able to move them as desired.

They have pills for floppy flaps.

I looked at a plane of mine that had the problem. I added a few drops of CA glue around the hinge and kept moving while it dried so it would not lock it in place. It made the control surface stiff and seamed to work! Careful though!

flyboy_fx wrote:I looked at a plane of mine that had the problem. I added a few drops of CA glue around the hinge and kept moving while it dried so it would not lock it in place. It made the control surface stiff and seamed to work! Careful though!

I've done that, and also especially for the floppy elevators on P-47s (where the pin on the elevator is easy to get to when the stab is removed), let a drop of regular styrene cement dry on the pin to the point where the glue is very tacky, then reassembled the part. The styrene cement doesn't melt the plastic used on XD models, but just dries to the point that it basically increases the diameter of the pin.

Speaking of which, what IS the plastic that these models are made of -- ABS?

I never did much care for the control surfaces on the BBI Hellcat... Too loose compared to the nicely-locking ones on the Corsair, P-51, Zero, etc.

I agree with Flyboy's suggestion with the CA glue and have done this myself. A drop of CA glue on the hinge to make it a tad wider and cause friction in the slot where it inserts into the wing will hold it in place, but allow it to be extended.

Using the gel-type CA glue is best so it doesn't run.

Extend the flap so that the hinge is exposed, put a bead of the glue on it, perhaps using a toothpick so you don't jam the whole end of the glue spout in there and can apply a small, controled amount.

Either let the glue dry on the exposed hinge piece, or, as Flyboy suggested, move the piece back and forth until the glue dries (about 1 min) to ensure the part doesn't stick...