Landing Gear Dust

AK Interactive Landing Gear Dust — Dust for Aircraft Landing Gear

Landing Gear Dust from AK Interactive is an enamel weathering effect in a 35 ml package, designed to create a realistic buildup of dust and fine sand on an aircraft model's landing gear. This is modeling chemistry, not a kit — the package contains only a bottle of product, no model parts.

What the product does and how it differs from a wash

Dust dusts the surface. On landing gear legs, wheel hubs, tires and inside wheel-well walls, it leaves a light, matte-looking film, as if the aircraft had been taxiing on a dusty surface or sitting at a field airstrip. A wash for landing gear, by contrast, is darker, flows by capillary action into recesses, and highlights detail, edges and shadows. Dust therefore dusts the surface, while a wash brings out the structure. The best result comes from combining both: first a wash to bring out the detail, then dust for the dusting.

Use

• Stir the bottle thoroughly before working — the pigment settles to the bottom.
• Work over a cured gloss varnish: a smooth base lets you wipe off the excess cleanly, without streaks or blotches.
• Apply it with a brush to the landing gear legs, wheels and inside the wells, and let it work for a few minutes.
• Wipe off the excess with a brush or cloth dampened in a suitable thinner (typically odorless thinner or mineral spirits), wiping from top to bottom, in the direction of airflow.
• Work in layers — build up the intensity gradually; one heavy coat looks unnatural.
• Seal the finished effect with a matte varnish.

Who it is for

For aircraft modelers at any scale who do not want the landing gear to look like freshly molded plastic. It suits aircraft from field and unpaved airstrips, desert bases and modern equipment alike, and works just as well for dusting the wheels of ground vehicles.

Safety: a solvent-based enamel product. Flammable — keep away from ignition sources. Do not inhale the fumes, work in a well-ventilated area, protect your skin (gloves) and airways. Keep out of the reach of children.