Thoughts on Rolling Gear on 1:400 models?

[Shrek 2 on VHS]

Hey everyone, so earlier today I was taking a look at one of my models when I bumped it and the nose gear broke off, thankfully it was an easy fix but it had me thinking, what is the point of rolling gear in 1:400?

I personally think its an unnecessary gimmick, an out of scale feature that is WAYYYYYYYYYY to fragile. You could lose a gear without noticing and the value of it declines an insane amount. That is something I prefer a lot more to my older releases as its something I don't need to worry about it.

But that's my opinion, what's everyone else's thoughts?

 

[ghqv2988]

All 1:400 models are inherently fragile, especially the smaller planes. Compared to the older style nose gears which were thick and chunky, modern day nose gears are indeed more fragile, but definitely more realistic. It really comes down to being a tradeoff between durability and realism. I had a similar experience where I was trying to put a replacement tire on the nose gear of one of my 1:400 NG A320s and it snapped with barely any pressure. Salvaged whatever part I could and tossed the model out. Lesson is to exercise caution with all models. Although GJ's quality sometimes borderlines as a Hasbro toy, they really aren't designed to be toys.

 

[ghqv2988]

Hey everyone, so earlier today I was taking a look at one of my models when I bumped it and the nose gear broke off, thankfully it was an easy fix but it had me thinking, what is the point of rolling gear in 1:400?

I personally think its an unnecessary gimmick, an out of scale feature that is WAYYYYYYYYYY to fragile. You could lose a gear without noticing and the value of it declines an insane amount. That is something I prefer a lot more to my older releases as its something I don't need to worry about it.

But that's my opinion, what's everyone else's thoughts?

To answer your question though I definitely still prefer the rolling gears. I've always wondered though whether our models will survive the test of time when the metal naturally becomes more brittle and prone to snapping.

 

[planes_on_a_shelf]

Definitely not a fan as it makes the gears - especially the nlg - way wider than it should be - more noticeable of course on narrow bodies

 

[TheEpicBirb]

Personally I find them pretty cool but I do agree, it makes repairing them a lot more annoying.
The details dont bother me all too much but sometimes it can get a bit odd, such as on the AC 762s, they have pretty big gear.

 

[Theresa apocalypse222222]

Definitely not a fan as it makes the gears - especially the nlg - way wider than it should be - more noticeable of course on narrow bodies

Totally agree, the front gear on current Jcwings mould saab340 is completely a disaster

 

[Phantom]

Definitely not a fan as it makes the gears - especially the nlg - way wider than it should be - more noticeable of course on narrow bodies

Exactly this.
I too prefer accuracy over gimmicks and rolling gear can't give that accurate look.

 

[YesterAirlines]

I agree I prefer static gear. I like the look of modern landing gear, but I don't need them to roll and it does make the whole thing more fragile and breakable.

 

[pons399]

If the struts are finely moulded and the wheels roll smoothly, I have zero qualms. Uber-detailed metallic rolling gear is more of a 200 scale requirement for me.

 

[LeoMuse747]

I agree with your comments. I don't mind rolling gears but, since they're might be prone to breaking more easily, then static gears are better.

 

[Boeing_3019]

Rolling gears are great sometimes, but they fall off a lot and the nlg on narrow bodies end up looking like this:

 

[bakejobb_23]

Rolling gears are great sometimes, but they fall off a lot and the nlg on narrow bodies end up looking like this: View attachment 41749

This right here is the issue with rolling gear…i’d rather have the right shape and have the mains be rolling and the fronts static or have them all static unless the proportions can be 100% correct for rolling. That’s my opinion. I’d still pay the usual prices to get proper static gear that look 100% accurate as they can be. Overall though, not the biggest issue. I’ll still buy any model regardless of this issue. Just hoping the future looks better…

 

[JJ Skippy]

I can’t be bothered to have just one type of gear. I’d say my collection is about half and half between rolling gear and static gear, so I’m fine with the former as long as it doesn’t fall off. Unfortunately I have a few that are missing wheels…

 

[bakejobb_23]

speaking of wheels, i need a set of nose gear for an aeroclassics 733…do the replacement gears/props pack sold by aero work for that model or would I have to scavenge from another aero 733?? asking for a friend…of course…

 

[JJ Skippy]

speaking of wheels, i need a set of nose gear for an aeroclassics 733…do the replacement gears/props pack sold by aero work for that model or would I have to scavenge from another aero 733?? asking for a friend…of course…

I think the narrowbody gears are standardized so it should work

 

[Alphaless]

Rolling gear is fine as long as it doesn't come at the expense of the model's quality or accuracy.

 

[Shrek 2 on VHS]

speaking of wheels, i need a set of nose gear for an aeroclassics 733…do the replacement gears/props pack sold by aero work for that model or would I have to scavenge from another aero 733?? asking for a friend…of course…

So back in 2019/2020 before i actually started to collect, I was only getting Continental models, one of them being the AC 722 in globe. Because I didn't know about the quality of them, two weeks after I got it all the gear were missing. Two years later I started to collect for real and decided to fix it. So from AC direct I got spare gear from their website, I think it was for the 737/dc-8 pack. And what I did was I took the tires apart and rebuilt them on the model. Attached are photos from when I fixed it.

 

[bakejobb_23]

So back in 2019/2020 before i actually started to collect, I was only getting Continental models, one of them being the AC 722 in globe. Because I didn't know about the quality of them, two weeks after I got it all the gear were missing. Two years later I started to collect for real and decided to fix it. So from AC direct I got spare gear from their website, I think it was for the 737/dc-8 pack. And what I did was I took the tires apart and rebuilt them on the model. Attached are photos from when I fixed it.
View attachment 41767View attachment 41768View attachment 41766

oh hell yeah man it looks great! I’ll have to give it a go at some point then…you’ve given me confidence with the pics. How was the process?

 

[Shrek 2 on VHS]

oh hell yeah man it looks great! I’ll have to give it a go at some point then…you’ve given me confidence with the pics. How was the process?

Thanks! and yeah, it was easy. You just have to have patience because it’s kind of tedious. So what I did was, I took apart the tires making sure to leave one of the struts attached to one of the sides. Then using tweezers, I carefully threaded it through the hole on the the model. I then used the tweezers to pick up the other tire and carefully try to align it.