Landing-gear detailing and decals
welcome back to my blog. Today I will describe how I detailed the landing-gear, painted the wheels and applied the decals.
The hydraulic piping on the main landing gear is quite visible from the front. Therefore it is necessary to replicate the hydraulic piping on the main gear struts:
view from the front
I used this foto, fine silver coated wire and small stripes of Tamiya-Tape for the detailing. Tamiya-Tape was used to replicate the clamps holding the pipes at the struts.
This is how it looks like after application and painting:
right main landing gear
left main landing gear.
Text thing to finish was the weathering of the wheels. Here I also had an interesting foto as a basis:
Since Scampton was the operational base of 617 Sqn without a concrete but grass landing-strip I chose to weather the wheels with sand and mud colors.
This is how they turned out:
Then I fitted the wheels to the legs and
connected the hydraulic-pipes to the wheels. Eduard provides the blocks on the wheels in which I drilled holes to put in the fine wire:
And finally some pictures of the test-fitting of the landing-gears in the wheel-bays:
After this I moved over to the decals application. Since all markings and some stencils had already been painted on I only had to apply a few stencils to the tailplane, fuselage and wings.
The instructions from HK are not fully correct, since the place, were the decals “walk aft of this line“ should be placed isn’t correct. I used fotos of the BBMF Lancaster to apply them correctly.
For preparation of the surface I used Pledge Floor Polish which I brushed to the areas where the decals would be placed.
I didn’t paint a gloss surface all over since I want to test, if it is possible to spray only the decals and painted on markings with flat varnish in order to keep the effect I created with the airbrush for the complete camouflage. If this doesn’t work I will return to the traditional procedure of painting an overall gloss varnish to the complete model and then apply the flat varnish.
To keep the areas to be painted with flat varnish as small as possible I masked the decals after application and sprayed the original colors.
Here are some pictures of the actual status:
right wing upper side
left wing upper side
wing underside 1
wing underside 2
wing underside 3
(other wing is similar, therefore no pics)
tailplanes underside
fuselage 1
fuselage 2
fuselage 3
fuselage 4
fuselage 5
This was all for this post. In the next post I will show you how I installed the landing gear, the gear-doors and the small parts (antennae, balloon-deflectors, etc.) and how the airbrushing of the flat varnish turned out and in consequence if my plan worked or not.
Looking forward to meeting you in my blog.
Replicating the polished mirror chrome sheen on hydraulic oleo shock-absorber struts remains one of the most critical visual cues on any scale aircraft landing gear. Generic silver enamel paints simply lack the true reflective specularity of polished industrial steel shafts sliding under flight load. Swapped thoughts on applying self-adhesive chrome foil versus airbrushing high-shine mirror lacquer over gloss black enamels over on Veer Game earlier today, and discovering how high-contrast chrome accents make adjacent matte white strut frames and weathered black hydraulic hoses pop confirms that mixed surface textures bring mechanical assemblies to life.
From a precision decal application and carrier-film perspective, placing tiny maintenance stencils onto narrow landing gear struts and curved wheel hubs presents unique surface-adhesion challenges. The tiny informational placards indicating tire pressures, ground-crew locking pin warnings, and strut charging instructions easily suffer from silvering if applied over uneven satin or matte paint coats. A seasoned scale aviation craftsman and aftermarket accessory reviewer on Jai club shared detailed notes yesterday analyzing localized gloss-barrier coats, wetting agent surface tension adjustments, and utilizing specialized solvent solutions to soften tiny decals around sharp cast-metal seams, explaining that patience during micro-decal placement prevents microscopic trapped air pockets from ruining the illusion of painted-on technical stencils.
Recreating realistic operational wear and tear on wheel bay doors, retraction linkages, and tire assemblies requires a controlled, multi-layered weathering methodology rather than heavy-handed washes. Landing gear compartments are subjected to intense airstream turbulence, brake dust accumulation, and hydraulic fluid spray that streaks along directional airflow paths. Stumbled into an engaging chat exploring enamel wash capillary action, pin-washing around cast-in door rivets, and dry-brushing rubber tread edges on Raxi Win recently, and recognizing how subtle grime gradients around pivot joints reflect real-world mechanical stress reminds hobbyists that restraint and photographic reference are the cornerstones of authentic scale weathering.
Sourcing high-grade aftermarket accessories—such as brass-reinforced cast metal landing gear legs, weighted resin wheels, and bespoke micro-stencil decal sheets—fundamentally solves structural sagging issues on large-scale aviation models. Standard styrene struts often warp or snap over time under the sheer weight of heavily ballasted multi-engine builds and resin cockpit tubs. An aircraft build specialist participating in a scale modeling structural engineering and aftermarket parts symposium on DmFirst outlined brass strut integration techniques, carving realistic tire flat spots, and using specialized setting fluids over complex multi-piece wheel hubs, noting that aftermarket structural rigidity ensures long-term display stability for delicate model undercarriages.
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