Ok - I've gotten a few other kits off the bench and want to build a plane. It's going to be Tamiya's Brewster F2A2 US version.
My question is - gear up or down. the struts look a bit on the beefy side and is it to simply on my part just to go wheels up to get rid of the problem?

Who's built this little guy and who can toss out ideas on the notion of up vs. down?
My usual determination is display space (hang vs. desk top), but this guy is small so it's not too much of an issue.

Well, I cannot comment on the landing gear. However, I think you should make it gear up. It really changes to look of the aircraft.
On the ohter hand as I recall it there is no pilot included (?) which would look strange for a "flying" aircraft. So maybe an aftermarket pilot is the solution.

I say: gear up

There is a pilot figure in the kit so that's a bonus.

Thanks for the feedback. Gear up.

Hello!!

I´ve built that kit, and had the same dilema, but chose that i could live with it!
Here´s a couple of pics:







Regards!!

José Pires

Hi Scott,

The Buffalo's gear were pretty hefty. Here's one recently drug out of a Russian lake and restored at Pensecola:

Color Buffalo Pix

Though Tamiya's gear may be a bit thick, a little shaving down will get them right.

BTW, an interesting article concerning how well the Buffalo performed in a dogfight with the Curtiss P-40B/C Tomahawk: Buffalo VS P-40 Dogfight

written by American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers member Erik Shilling .