1:48 F-80 Shooting Star wheel bay plugs (for Hobby Boss)

Landing gear bay plugs for the F-80 Shooting Star, 1:48

The landing gear bays are among the most troublesome places when painting. The openings have to be closed off reliably, otherwise the mist from the airbrush gets inside and the interior, which is meant to be in a different shade, is needlessly overpainted. This item takes care of exactly that step; the model itself and the paints are not to be found in it. The target kit is recorded in the name.

The real subject

The Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star was the first American jet fighter to reach regular service. It came about during the Second World War, but it made its mark in combat only over Korea, where it carried out mainly fighter-bomber tasks against ground targets. It was over Korea too that the first combat between jet aircraft in history took place. The design with a straight wing and a jet engine inside the fuselage was simple and robust; the two-seat T-33 trainer, one of the most widespread training aircraft of all, later grew out of the airframe.

Painting procedure

• Insert the plugs only once the base coat in the bays has dried.
• Check that they sit all the way around and do not stand out above the surface anywhere.
• Spray at right angles to the surface, not at an acute angle into the opening.
• Once the spraying is finished, take the plugs out with plastic-tipped tweezers.

Who the item is for

For builders of jet classics in 1:48 scale who want to spare themselves squashing balls of paper into the openings and to have the inside of the bays clean with no touching up afterwards.