1:48 B-17 Landing Gear (Unloaded) for Monogram kit

B-17 unloaded landing gear 1:48 (Kopecky Scale Models, for Monogram)

A resin replacement landing gear from the Czech brand Kopecky Scale Models. It is not an airplane model but a detail part for the Monogram B-17 Flying Fortress kit in 1:48 scale, which you have to have. This version has round, unloaded tires, with no flattening on the contact patch. The B-17 Flying Fortress is the legendary American heavy bomber of the Second World War.

Unloaded versus loaded: which version to choose

Kopecky offers this landing gear in two variants and it is important not to mix them up:

• Unloaded (this version): the tires are round, as on an empty aircraft or a machine lifted on hydraulic jacks. Choose it if you are building an aircraft that is lightened, on jacks or without a full combat load.
• Loaded: the tires are flattened by the weight of a fully loaded aircraft standing on the ground. Look for that version if you want the realistic impression of a heavy bomber settled on the runway.

Getting the choice wrong means ending up with the wrong version, so think first about how the model is going to stand.

Why a resin landing gear

A resin landing gear tends to be stronger and better detailed than the plastic one from the kit; on a heavy model of the B-17 that is a practical advantage, because the legs carry a lot of weight. The set also refines the shape and the breakdown of the landing gear.

Fitting and painting

• Wash the mold release agent off the parts, cut off the casting blocks and clean up the surfaces (sanding resin with respiratory protection).
• It is glued with cyanoacrylate glue (super glue).
• The legs are usually silver or metallic, the tires a flat rubber black; a wash and dry dust effects will bring out the detail.

This is a part for a kit, not a model in its own right. The Monogram base kit, glue and paints are not included in the package.