1/48 Fuselage/Nose Gap Reduction Operation

[Hurin]

IMPORTANT: I am no longer recommending this procedure unless you really don't care if the landing gear loses its stability. I have now done the below procedure on my VF-1S. I didn't even shave any plastic from the seat bottom. . . but now the landing gear will not stay down when rolling at all. Sadly, it reached this point even before I shaved enough away to fully remove the gap problem. So, my 1A was a success. I'd say my 1S was only moderately successful, with quite a trade-off in landing gear firmness/stability.

Disclaimer: I take no responsiblity for any damage done to your valkyrie if you attempt this fix. I am only relating my own experience here. Your experience may vary. Try this fix at your own risk!

I couldn't decide whether this should go in the "common repairs for 1/48s" pinned thread. I finally decided to make a seperate post because this isn't exactly a "common repair." I've only heard of one person doing it (SuperJaw).

Many of us have been annoyed with the gap that forms along each side of the fuselage (below the cockpit) when the landing gear is lowered on first few 1/48 valks. Both my Hikaru 1A and my Roy 1S suffer from this. The gap is barely noticable with the gear up. As you lower the gear, you feel resistance build in the gear as the gap widens. The gap is biggest when the gear is only partially down. When the gear is fully down, the gap isn't quite as large as it is during deployment. . . but it is still big, and ugly. And, I suppose it could eventually cause problems with decals/stickers apllied over that gap (the UN SPACY kite and fighter number go over the gap). I'll try to take pictures when I borrow a digital camera again. Just in case this description isn't clear.

Anyways, the tools you will need are:

1. Clean hands (don't wanna get your Valk all oily!)

2. A small-ish screwdriver.

3. A small nail file. Or any other metal instrument with a blunt edge.

Taking apart the valk nose is actually quite fun. And it's interesting to see how it's put together. Once I had the fuselage apart, I was reminded of when I built a Spitfire model when I was in high school.

I really wouldn't worry too much about getting the valk back together. Though, it is helpful to have another one nearby to compare things with to make sure you got it right. The basic rule of thumb is, go slow. Take each component out one at a time if possible. Though, things are so interconnected that you may find it just falling apart once the screws are removed.

Speaking of screws, there are only three that need be removed to do this operation. One is right in front of the head, within the front landing gear bay. The other two are located inside the bay where the "swing bar" rests in battroid mode.

Once the screws are out, try to spread apart the back where the fuselage meets the rest of the valk. You should then be able to remove the nose from where its two halves sorta sandwich the rest of the plane. The head may fall out at this point, but don't be alarmed. When you put it all back together, it will be just as snug and happy as it always has been. Just don't let it fall onto anything that might scratch and mar it.

Try to watch as the front of the nose comes apart as well. Note the orientation of the radar! I couldn't figure out which way was up when I put it back together. . . so I had to look at my other valk. Then everything made sense.

So, once you have it apart, you should get a pretty good idea of how the landing gear functions, and where all that tension is coming from. Basically, the top of the gear rubs against the piece that forms the seat and floor of the cockpit. There is a raised "globby" thing that looks more like a defect than a planned appendage to the top of the gear. At first, I thought just flattening this out would take care of the problem. However, there was still a bit of gap when I put it back together and tested things out.

By the way, you really need to put the thing all the way back together to test because only when it is fully put back together is the stress and torque on the parts quite the same (the chair/floor part doesn't sit quite the same way in the fuselage when the fuselage isn't connected to the rest of the valk).

However, be careful. I would think that taking the valk apart and putting it back together too many times might cause the screw holes to become stripped, and you might not get it as tight as it used to be. I don't think the risk of this is high (I had to disassemble/reassemble it three times and did not notice any problems), but I thought I'd mention it.

I wasn't quite happy with the amount of gap that was still visible, so I took it apart again and this time smoothed the top of the gear quite a bit more, and also went to work on the bottom of the floor/cockpit piece. I used a metal nail file for this work. It has a sorta "hook" end to it. . . and i found myself just scraping away plastic rather than "filing/sanding" it. The plastic is pretty brittle and can be scraped/carved away easily even with the blunt edge/corner of a metal nail file (heck, you could probably use a fork! It's that easy!). There is a long ridge of plactic where the top of the gear makes contact with the floor/cockpit piece. It is this ridge of plastic that causes the constant tension during deployment as the top of the gear rubs it as it deploys. It occured to me that I wasn't so much concerned with the gap that forms during deployment. Rather, I just wanted it to look good after the gear is deployed. So, it occured to me that, if I could just carve a notch out where the top of the gear rests after it is fully deployed, this would leave the tension during deployment, which would keep the gear from getting floppy and/or collapsing too easily under pressure.

I still think this "notching" of that platic ridge is possible, but I lost patience after I tried this approach and put it back together for the second time. . . only to find there was still a bit of gap. So, it was closing in on 2AM and I was getting tired. . . and I just decided that if I mangled it, and the gear got to "weak" or "loose", I'd just buy a new one on my credit card!

Anyways, I shaved quite a bit off from the the bottom of the floor/cockpit piece along the entire area where contact was made with the gear and even took a bit more off the top of the gear. And, after re-assembly, the gap was completely gone! However, I did definitely lose some tension in the gear assembly. It isn't loose now. Meaning, it doesn't jiggle or anything. But, when I roll it across the table, it does shift back after a while. . . and if I apply considerable weight to the front of the nose, the gear will will collapse/retract. However, this is much more weight, applied in a non-standard spot, than would ever be applied during display, even with FAST packs installed. Heck, even with another valk on top of it! I have to really press on it for the gear to retract.

So, the moral of the story is. . . you can get rid of the gap. But, you want to make a trade between that super-stiff gear it comes with, and a gap-less fuselage. So, my advice is, be very careful, take your time, and, when in doubt, shave less than you think might be necessary and test. Remember, you can always shave more, but you can't replace what you shaved!

Personally, I don't ever plan on playing "runway" with my valk and rolling it all about. And, even if I did, it still can do it. . . its gear might just retract unexpectedly if I'm not careful. I ran it across my table a few times. And only if I placed downward pressure on the nose while rolling it pretty fast did the gear budge. . . and once retracted.

I'm more concerned with how the valk looks with its gear deployed rather than how well it stays deployed when it rolls on its wheels. Before the operation, I was most concerned that the gear wouldn't support the weight of the valk after the operation. This fear proved to be unfounded. You'd really have to go nuts and really shave the parts down to make the gear that unstable. Anyways, because the valk can still roll (with some care), it still easily supports its weight (and any future FAST pack weight), and the "posture" of the landing gear is unaltered, I think this is a worthwhile fix. I'm happy with the results. Though, if I do it to my 1S, I'll try a bit harder to strike an even better balance between stability and "gap-less-ness."

I hope this all proves helpful to any of you contemplating this fix. I had heard about this fix in only vague terms. . . and nobody could really provide any details. I finally just decided to take the plunge. Maybe in the future I can provide some pictures too.

It's nice to have my Hikaru 1A sitting there with its gear deployed, gap-less, and I don't have to worry about the stress to the seam, or the damage the gap might do to the Takatoys stickers I plan on applying (my 1S already has them, and I avoid deploying the gear on it).

Thanks!

Edited August 31, 2003 by Hurin

[Hurin]

This post is to bump it up so that those who might have read it earlier might be prompted to see the "important" notice at the top.

I'd hate for anyone to ruin their valk.

H