[JohnReid]

One of the main problems with both the Albatross and Nieuport 1/16th kits, was the poor quality of the landing gear struts, that could not support the weight of the airplane over time, due to their very soft nature.If I had built these kits as free standing models I would have had to modify these struts by inserting a hard wood or metal core.In my dioramas I either put the weight on saw horses, or in the case of the Nieuport a screwjack under the fuselage.

The Jenny struts are made from wood which must be carved to a streamlined cross section, with metal castings fit to the ends, where the U/C meets the airplane.This requires a lot of cutting and fitting and making sure that the castings are put on correctly.Warning! be sure to use detail 4K on the drawing for the correct lengths of the struts. The landing gear profile drawing is not to scale.

I would recommend that in putting the U/C together ,that you use metal or hardwood dowels to keep everythig together.When the engine is installed this is somewhat of a heavy model and would be vulerable to breaking, especially as a free standing model.In my diorama I will have many options in making the model secure when attaching it to the hangar floor.I am getting anxious to see it on its gear and in the diorama to get rough idea of how it will look when finished. to be cont..... I will try to have some new pics up next week.