Satya's blog - Weighting the nose

Mar 06 2005 15:25 Weighting the nose
Weighting the nose In most models of modern aircraft, the nose must be weighted with bits of scrap metal. Otherwise, the model tends to tip over backward because the tail is heavier than the nose. This isn't a problem in real aircraft, though I bet they sit pretty light on the nose gear.

I usually forget this step in most of my models. The B25 (assembled and re-assembled many times) always had this problem, and I eventually stuffed the nose with magnets. I think I had to take the F14's nose apart and do over.
In this case, I inserted several left-over nails in the nose cone. I was going to put 2 large screws in front of the cockpit, but I figured those were still good for something. I remembered I had kept some bicycle brake spacers for precisely such a purpose, so I threw several of those in there. I poured a lot of Testors cement over the lot. After asssembling the nose halves, I added more spacers (I've gone through several brake pads in the first year of owning this bike) in the space in front of the forward control panel.

Last updated: Jan 22 2006 09:23

Tag: f18hornet model