discussion Nose weight suggestions

[Guest]

Hi all, having recently bought an A-10 kit I know I'll need to add some weight to the front to stop it sitting on its tail. The kit suggests around 50g in a space behind the cockpit. There seems very little room right up in the nose where it would be more effective, but I'll know more as I start to build it.

I grabbed some used wheel balance weights from work as I thought they'd be ideal, but I don't think they'll be dense enough now that I've seen the limited space available, and they aren't pliable at all to try and squish into place.

I used to buy small quantities of lead to add mass to scratch built speaker cabinets from a company called Lead Shot Ballast. They had various sizes of shot and sheet so would have been ideal, but it looks like they are no longer around. I'm guessing one alternative to that would be lead fishing weights, but they seem to work out expensive for the weight you get.

For now I've ordered a roll of lead strip normally used for holding plants down in aquaria, but wondered if you guys had any other suggestions that you used regularly.

Thanks,
Andy

 

[boatman]

HI Andy well I use like you said lead but so it can fit into a small space but I fit the lead all rolled up as tight as possible into a vice an bash it with a hammer so its compressed so smaller size but more wheight hope that idea helps you

chris

 

[Guest]

Airgun pellets.

 

[boatman]

Yes Ralph a good idea but they will need to be compressed as pellets are hollow if 1.77 or .22
chris

 

[Guest]

Yes Ralph a good idea but they will need to be compressed as pellets are hollow if 1.77 or .22
chris

I put them in a pair of pliers and squash them.

 

[Guest]

I’d say a roll of lead strip will work well, as you can cut it into pieces, fold it up, and hammer it into shape so it will fit.

Is there room in the very nose of the model, in front of the cockpit? If so, you can likely get away with less lead because it will be further away from the pivot point (the rear wheels).

As for determining how much, what I normally do is temporarily assemble all the main (heavy) bits of the model using tape — in case of your A-10 that would be the fuselage, wings, engines, and tail, I’d say. Set this up on something so that it balances where the wheels are, and then stick something like Blu Tack on the front, as closely as possible to where you intend to put the weight inside the model. Once you’ve got enough Blu Tack on to keep the front down, take it off and weigh it so you know how much lead to add; then add a bit more to that to be sure

 

[Dave Ward]

Try something more dense than lead - say gold! - or depleted uranium! :tongue-out::tongue-out:
Dave

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestions so far chaps. I have access to a 30 tonne hydraulic press so should have no problem squashing lead into shape :smiling5:

Is there room in the very nose of the model, in front of the cockpit? If so, you can likely get away with less lead because it will be further away from the pivot point (the rear wheels).

Yes, as I mention it would be more effective right up front but the space there looks very limited, hence looking for something denser than the Zinc weights I have.

Although gold may be a bit out of my budget Dave, and with all the lead shielding I'd need around the uranium I'd never be able to lift it :upside:

 

[Guest]

One of those shot dispensers anglers use, any tackle shot will have them; various sizes in the same container from dust to BB. Nowadays of course not lead for environmental reasons.

 

[Dave Ward]

Joking aside - I use 6mm steel ball bearings ( the same sort I use for paint agitation ). You can epoxy, or CA them in position - I sometimes wrap them in foil, if the position isn't too secure.
You can get BB from Amazon, at not a lot for a big bag!
Dave

 

[PaulTRose]

ive used all sorts over the year......small nuts are sometimes the right size......ball bearings are good and come in all sorts of sizes.....i used to be into muzzlepoading weapons so i still have loads of .44 calibre lead balls and bullets which come in useful

one word of warning......dont use ca glue with lead.......remember reading somewhere how they react over time ......creates a 'residue' that expands ....not what you want in a plastic model

 

[stillp]

I bought a kilo of steel shot (similar to Liquid Gravity) online for a couple of quid. It was sold for weighting teddy bears.
Pete

 

[Guest]

Plenty of suggestions there, thank you all.

 

[Steve Jones]

Sorry Andy. I misread the title of your thread. I thought you had a new magic diet plan I could use :smiling5::smiling3:

 

[Tim Marlow]

Agree with Paul ref lead and PVA, you’ll end up with lead acetate over time, which does expand.....seen some horror stories in the railway days with exploding boilers....as you say though, plenty of other alternatives....I’ve used brass offcuts, lead flashing offcuts, old white metal parts....anything heavy works, and you can always cut it to shape...

 

[Guest]

I thought I'd cracked it with these wheel balance weights to be honest but 50g of them will never fit into the available space. Will see how this lead strip turns out and look at the other suggestions for the future.

And thanks for the glue tip too, will do a bit of research on that.

 

[Gern]

I'm sure I read somewhere on here, many moons ago, that it's possible to use foil to make a sort of mould by wrapping it around the area you need to fill, then pouring in liquid lead to make a casting. That seems like a lot of trouble when small lead shot (from fishing suppliers) does a good job. If you're worried about it expanding as a result of reacting with the glue, make a sort of lid from scrap plastic that you can fix over it to stop it moving.

PS I forgot to mention. With my He219 which needs a LOT of weight, I filled every hollow space in front of the main wheels with weights, including the hollow nosewheel, the cockpit radio, some lead strip behind the control panel and between the cockpit walls and fuselage sides. Not sure how many spaces you'll find on your A10, but it's worth a look.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Dave, good idea to find every available space.

I'm trying to resist the temptation of starting the A-10 but I've put so many layers of paint on my Sea King build that it's going to take a while to harden up fully. Sounds like a perfect excuse to get the ball rolling and see just what nooks and crannies I can find to cram weight into.

 

[wotan]

Andy

I recently built this A 10 and I used big fishing weights hot glued into the nose. It just about balanced the thing.



John

 

[Guest]

Thanks John, hot glue - genius!

I've actually made a start with a dry fit (couldn't help myself!) and there seems to be much more space than the instructions indicate, so I may be worrying over nothing. Still lots of good advice given here though.