Bear Paw Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Hello, I have been messing about with different types of materials to create struts for 1:72 scale biplanes. I wanted to try and make it easier to set the wings of little biplanes. The theory is that the brass would be adjustable. The cabane struts attached to the fuselage can be placed through the body of the aircraft and bent up to the top wing. This makes things more robust. The wing struts (cross braces) are drilled into the wing. I have experimented with my Roden SE 5a which I am doing in the colours of the post war Chilean Airforce. I have used Albion Alloys 0.7 and 0.5 mm brass tube for each of the struts. The idea is to measure and cut the tubing using the kit struts as templates. Once installed the tubing is flattend making a very thin strut that is very strong. I will add some photos later tonight. Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardie Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Sounds interesting if rather tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 I think Albion make (or were planning to make) almost what you describe. I think it was going to be a tool to crush the tube onto wire to give an aerodynamic strut. I can't see it on their website though. Cheers Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Here is theround brass tube tube cut to length and inserted into the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 Here is the tube tube flattend with the Tamiya bending pliers. Unfortunately you can see the crimp marks on the struts - but I think this looks quiet good. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardie Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Well they do look like struts. The only problem is that you dont have the tapered ends or aerodynamic shape of the real struts although I am not sure how noticeable this is in 1/72 scale when you are not 'zoomed in' on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 1 hour ago, malpaso said: I think Albion make (or were planning to make) almost what you describe. I think it was going to be a tool to crush the tube onto wire to give an aerodynamic strut. I can't see it on their website though. Cheers Will Hi Will, I have had a go with my Tamiya flat bending pliers. They work well because of the pressure you can apply with them. Andrew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 30, 2016 Author Share Posted October 30, 2016 (edited) 15 minutes ago, Beardie said: Well they do look like struts. The only problem is that you dont have the tapered ends or aerodynamic shape of the real struts although I am not sure how noticeable this is in 1/72 scale when you are not 'zoomed in' on it. Yes true I am sure I can do something about that. The block shape is not very obvious when seen from a more normal distance, but they need some work on them. Edited October 30, 2016 by Bear Paw Add words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 An interesting idea, Sir. I would make one suggestion for further development. Probably better to do the flattening before attaching to the model. In pressing the tube flat, especially with repeated squeezings, there is real chance of deforming the alignment of the wings, and even the attachment of the struts themselves. If you do the flattening before attachment, you can dress ends, file off tool marks, even alter the section a bit. Other methods of flattening could be used. For example: place the tube between two metal rulers, place the sandwich on a hard, unyielding surface, tap with a hammer, or for choice a raw-hide mallet. Should get you flat without much in the way of marks. I do a good deal of scratch-building in 1/72, and personally tend to use styrene strip with the edges knocked down. But it is a bit flimsy, and needs careful handling till the whole thing is rigged. I think you may be on to something useful here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 Thank you Old Man for your input. I agree with your suggestions - the tube does need to be flattend before fixing as I have put a slight skew into the top wing by deforming the main struts (cross braces) and it will be difficult to shape the struts at the ends now. The problem with pre flattening is that the struts becomes bendy, so I may inset a thin rigid steel piano wire down the tube before flattening. This would serve three purposes: i, give the strut a profile ii, add rigidity iii, provide thin needle like ends to the strut by which it can be inserted in the wing. Of course all this will have to wait now, as there is a small matter of work, and next weekend I will be at Telford. Where I will source some supplies for this task. BTW on a different topic has any one else used the UV activated glue in their modelling? I have a super glue allergy and have been trying this and it works a treat. It is instant when hit with the UV and you need very little of it. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 10 hours ago, malpaso said: I think Albion make (or were planning to make) almost what you describe. I think it was going to be a tool to crush the tube onto wire to give an aerodynamic strut. I can't see it on their website though. Cheers Will It was always difficult to find on the Albion site and now I can't find it either. However, it's available here... http://modelskills.co.uk/tools/45-the-strutter.html John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 3 hours ago, johnd said: It was always difficult to find on the Albion site and now I can't find it either. However, it's available here... http://modelskills.co.uk/tools/45-the-strutter.html John. Thank you John for this. It is exactly what I want, and I never knew it existed! It would seem that my requirements have already been met. Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnd Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 My pleasure. It'll be interesting to hear how you get on with it. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 1 hour ago, johnd said: My pleasure. It'll be interesting to hear how you get on with it. John. I will look at the pieces of equipment and place an order if they are good as they look. I will post my results up here when I get every thing together and get some thing done. Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 I wrapped self-adhesive sign masking vinyl around a steel wire for the struts on this 1/72 Hansa , worked real good , aero-dynamic shape and all: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted October 31, 2016 Author Share Posted October 31, 2016 That is a good model Krow. Good idea with the sign vinyl I can see how that could work. Andrew. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted October 31, 2016 Share Posted October 31, 2016 10 hours ago, johnd said: It was always difficult to find on the Albion site and now I can't find it either. However, it's available here... http://modelskills.co.uk/tools/45-the-strutter.html John. Thanks for that, John - I started to wonder if I'd imagined it! A bit expensive unless one is doing a lot of biplanes (or one very complex one). I look forward to seeing how somebody gets on with the tool. Cheers Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 (edited) 6 hours ago, Bear Paw said: That is a good model Krow. Good idea with the sign vinyl I can see how that could work. Andrew. Thank you . It actually worked very well. Flat white vinyl mask was used, painted to suit. The kit struts were for example only , entirely unuseable , along with the vague indents on the wings for placement. All struts were made then put on the model , tiny hole drilled to mount , real nice. Iv'e seen the tube squisher , meh , might be tough to get matching units out of it. If I thought it was a good tool , it would be with the many others I have already... Like trying to bend tubing and filling it with sand , not really a viable method. My method can be done with easily available materials by anyone with decent enough skills. Edited November 1, 2016 by krow113 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Hi, and yes I can see that wire would be a lot easier to work with and the the vinyl tape a lot easier to shape. I will try this too. Thanks, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Krow113, I assume the vinyl tape is wrapped over the wire to form the leading edge, but how do you shape the trailing edge so the strut profile is an aerofoil rather than a teardrop shape? Having looked at that Albion Alloys tube crusher video I'm less convinced than before, it just seems to make squidged oval tubes, which are not usually the shape of real struts! I thought it was going to have some magic trick that gave the aerofoil shape. It just seems a very expensive way of crushing tube in a vice! And no different to putting wire in some tube and crushing in a normal (flat faced) vice. And I could happily make a few mistakes on strut length rather than shell out 75 quid on that length gauge... To be honest I just used plain 1/32 brass rod unadorned for struts on a 1/72 balsa(!!!!) scratch built BE4. Even keen modellers are too stunned that anyone modelled such a thing to pay any attention to the strut quality! For more see http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1161.45 One day I will work out photo links now that picasa no use... Cheers Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow113 Posted November 1, 2016 Share Posted November 1, 2016 Wrapping the vinyl around the rod produces' a teardrop shape , vinyl ends were trimmed as well as the width after the wrap. Looks proper when done. It was real easy to do , bulldog clamps ensured the vinyl stayed adhered to itself overnight. Paint after fabbing. Ask at your local sign shop for some vinyl scraps , they'll prolly give ya a truckload of it. Sorry no pics the computer that had them ate its hard drive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted November 1, 2016 Author Share Posted November 1, 2016 Hi Will, I think you have a point there about the effect when looking at the completed model. I have a Albatros float plane by Roden that I dropped after completion - I replaced all the wing struts with round piano wire and it looks passable but not satisfactory to me. Krow I know the type of vinyl tape you mean now. I will see if I can get some. Thanks, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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