1:72 Lioré & Olivier LeO 451

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PART IV: MAIN WHEELS ( OR JUST A BIT OF PLASTIC SURGERY)
Here is the next fun part of my build. Some posts ago we were discussing having fun with old models. As you have seen until now I didn't build anything, because of that sort of fun. I just re-model the model.
Today I decided to re-model and completely finish some parts.
When you look at a photo of a LeO 451 with a better detail you can't miss the distinctive main landing gear with big wheels and tires with heavy tread.

And with some detail:

The wheels supplied with the model are correct in size but look basically like two skinny donuts:


Since there were some similarities between the fuselage of the prototype of this a/c and the plastic model, it's possible that the prototype's wheels and tires have been used as well:


I want to have the treaded tires for my Leo though.
Firstly I sliced the wheels in two and glued each half on a plastic card.

After cutting, gluing together, sanding, filling the gaps, sanding and priming this is the result:

Thickness is now fine, but there's no tread. I really wanted to reproduce the nice diagonal V-pattern (in 2 directions) but in this scale it's too much for me (in 1/48 I would try it though). I decided to simplify it but still represent the 3-dimensional tread (catching mud, dust and dirt).
For the tread I used paper tape (good quality, better adhering to plastic) in 2 layers - 1 layer was too thin:

The appearance of the tire changed immediately:

Even if the pattern of the tread is not absolutely symmetrical, I tried to make the 2 tires looking equal. Below a photo with the rims:

And after the primer:

I painted the tires with "rubber paint" (Testors, enamel) and gave them some light acrylic wash (Testors CreateFX, Basswood):



I think I'm done. Next comes the rear wheel.
Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys!
A small addition to the previous theme: WHEELS
Here is my modification of the tail wheel.
The kit wheel looks like this:

It is designed to be attached in this position - the left top end should be glued to a vertical notch in the body.
Going through all the photos of LeO 451 I could find, I didn't see any with a mudguard:




Here are some drawings showing the complex wheel mechanism:

It is clear that the wheel fork and the shock absorber are not in one plain as with the model part, but under an angle and the absorber does not attach to the body but to 2 braces. There are too many parts here, but I tried to simplify the whole system, using some plastic parts from my "remnants-box." Here is my rendition:

The wheel will be attached to the existing notch but I need to make a whole in it and stick the end of the forward brace (the piece to the left in the picture) in it.
Here's a comparison between the old and the new part in the exact same position to be attached to the fuselage.:

I painted and "smudged" the rear wheel in the same manner as the main wheels earlier, didn't do a photo though. I'll add it later.
Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Crimea_River said:
Nice mods. Hope its steong enough
Click to expand...
It is - I did it 3 times, the first 2 the sloped part (brace) broke at the gluing point or behind it. I drilled a hole in the vertical part and pressed the brace in it. I was thinking to add an "invisible" support in a form of a pin through the vertical part, which will go straight above into the fuselage. In this case the whole apparatus will be not cantilevered (as in the original case) but also "hanging" from above.
The attachment of the wheel is another story and will come when the fuselage is ready.
Cheers!
 
SaparotRob said:
Incredible attention to detail. Enjoying this build.
Click to expand...
I'm only touching here and there, where some of the obvious (or maybe not so obvious) discrepancies are. More modern models don't need so many changes, but they could be incorrect as well. Everyone makes a (different) choice for himself what to change and what not. I really prefer to go with the idea "What you don't see does not exist", but many of the details are interconnected and it's hard to decide where to stop. On the other hand there are pretty nice parts out of the box and it's pity to use them but to leave the rest unchanged.
 
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