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Fabric wing ribs


steelpillow

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Early planes had fabric wings stretched over a ribbed framework. The fabric would pull in a little, giving a characteristic scalloped ribbed texture to the surface. By the 1920s trailing edges were becoming rigid and the effect less noticeable but still subtly there, especially on the upper surface behind the main spar (the front by then was becoming covered with solid sheet).

What is the best way of creating such textures on a 1:72 scale model? In my case the wing is to be swept, as with the Dunne machines and a few others, so the ribs will run at an angle.

I wondered about scoring parallel creases across the underside of thin plastikard, has anybody experience of doing this? Card thickness, stylus sharpness, etc?

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Even on early aircraft it wasn't that noticable, in 1/72 you can create it effectively with stretched plactic card rib tapes and some paint. The skinning method you method also works, 5 thou card and a ball point pen

Some useful techniques here:

http://www.wwi-models.org/Images/Casirati/Nieuport/index.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20080122044909/www.wwimodeler.com/harry/woodman.html

Be aware that depending on the rib shape the underside often had the reverse effect, with the ribs being flush or even indented in comparison to the fabrics.

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Thanks for that - very useful links. I think I'll probably go for scoring 5- or 10-thou plastikard, upper surface only. The thought of placing all those strips with absolute precision does not appeal. FYI it's a "what-if" based on a Dunne-type passenger plane ca. early 1920s. He typically made the underside flat, must have had scratchbuilders in mind, grin.

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Another effective way to simulate rib tapes is to lay parallel strips of masking tape on either side of the rib and then paint on Mr Surfacer 500. Once it's dry, strip off the tape and give the Mr Surfacer a gentle sanding to reduce the "square corners" effect. If you want very subtle tapes you can lay strips of decal film down before painting.

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