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Rigging multi bay aircraft


RAS

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My next project is the 1/72 scale Roden Gotha G IV.

I usually drill holes and then use black invisible thread. Seems to work OK for single bay aircraft but two bay machines such as the Bristol Fighter can be a pain!!

For this project I thought about using elastic tread but it always seems too bright and shiny to me.

So is there something that is black and elastic that would be suitable?

Thanks  (hope pictures work)

 

24377851398_c7547a25a1_o.jpgIMG_8399 by Ray Staley, on Flickr

 

26473180759_556187a9fd_o.jpgIMG_8400 by Ray Staley, on Flickr

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I think black EZLine is probably your best option. It isn't shiny, doesn't need holes drilled right through, just a little 'well' to put CA glue in and then touch the end of the thread to it until it bonds. I have done this on WnW 1/32 kits and never had a problem.

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I posted this 1/72 sort-of scratch-built DH1a  a couple of days ago on the end of my failed DH Group Build.....

3310139c-0c23-4d2e-bd4f-64654c572faf.jpg

.....the rigging is stretched silver sprue - the traditional methods are the best, and it is recycling old plastic - Save The Planet!.
Measure with dividers, a touch of pva glue on each end, and there you go. I quickly realised that the 'modern' method of 'sewing' thead through pre-drilled holes would be impossible to achieve on the tali-booms, and the model would fall to bits if I tried it on the wings.
So satisflying to build a model in exactly the way I'd have done back in '68.

My sprue came from a 'baggie' Airfix Bristol Bulldog kit - practice on some modern grey sprue first though - the silver stuff is getting rare!

Incidently - this is the ONLY method I know where it is possible to replicate aerofoil RAF wires by stretching sprue shaped into an oval before heating. It does work, but I haven't done it here.


(note that this is only a 'work in progress' pic, still control wires and some other bits'n'pieces to finish.)

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17 hours ago, Beardie said:

You are a master Alan. I failed dismally in every attempt I ever made to use stretched sprue. Elastic is much more forgiving for the cack handed among us.

Curious. After three attempts with elastic some years ago, I gave up and went back to sprue - the elastic stuck to everything I didn't want it to, and came off whenever I pulled the other end! I tried fuse wire (too shiney and got kinks in it) and fishing line too (couldn't ever get it straight enough).

I'm trying to pluck up courage to try to do double flying wires on a later project, and another shot at raf-wires. I did it once on an Airfix Camel - it was a complete pain to do and used most of the world's reserves of sprue. I could tell the difference, but in 1/72 scale it felt a bit like worrying about the correct needle colour on the altimeter. 
Horses for courses, each to his own, and other cliches.

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The trick with elastic is to put the superglue where you want the elastic to stick, I usually drill a shallow hole (not all the way through), put a drop of CA in the hole with a fine wire (I use tattooing needles glued into the end of skewers), dip the end of the elastic in superglue accelerator and then aim for the 'pre-installed' glue. Cut the other end a bit short of the target so it it will have a bit of tension and then repeat the process.

 

With sprue, even when I got it thin enough the combination of my clumsiness and it's fragility always ended in disaster.

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I've used wire on a 1/48 build and have used monofilament on a 1/72 build with fully drilled holes for the rigging (I've only got 2 WWI builds under my belt since returning to modelling). One big plus I found with using the drilled holes method and monofilament was that it added a lot of structural strength to the wings and undercart.

 

Although a little daunting I really enjoyed the drilling and rigging method, there was something very rewarding about it.

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I recently found a box of flower arranging wire belonging to my late wife Angela so it's got to be 20 odd years old. The the wire is Soft Iron wire and comes in roughly 12" lengths and is rigid and can be cut with a modelling knife. However it bends easily. it comes in several gauges but only the finest of between 28-30 gauge is of any use and only for 1/48th. Mine is a few years old and has been stored in a card tube and the patina is dark brown. To straighten it if bent, simply roll it between two hard flat surfaces and it becomes perfectly straight again.

It's easy to cut into the measured lengths and with superglue on each end it can be held in a pair of tweezers and put into place. If it gets damaged then just pop it off and replace it. I I have used it on an old 1/48th sales demo Tiger Moth restoration. It's great for the small centre cabane structure wires. and strut stagger wires.

 

John

.

 

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I've rigged many, many biplanes over the years.  Many choices...

 

My favourite will always be 3.5 lb. test monofilament (.005) fishing line coloured with black permanent marker.  Yes...you have to drill a lot of holes, but once the craft is on a jig, the rigging goes smoothly by glueing one end with a smidgen of CA, then pass it through the next hole, secure with forceps (which also pull down and tighten) then another dab of CA.  Trim off the ends with a new, curved, exacto blade.  It takes time but I found the results to be better than EZline, Ethicon stainless, sprue...

 

The only tricky thing is the hole drilling.  The drill bit is usually the smallest in the set and they tend to break a lot.  

 

As my modelling attests I usually use a combination of materials depending on where the rigging is supposed to be.  

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1 hour ago, krow113 said:

Some math:

 Assume a given wire is 3/8" in diameter , divided by 72 , indicates the scale wire should be .005" .

RFC manuals give various bracing wire diameters between 9/32” to 3.7mm (RFC quite happy to use metric on French types), depending on the aircraft.  That would give scale diameters of 0.004 to 0.002 inches or 0.1 to 0.05mm!  I tried rigging with invisible thread but gave up as i couldn’t see it.  :rage:

Cheers

Will

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I did say 1/48th scale for the wire I use which is 0.011". I thought it looked quite acceptable to my aging eye.  Again I have used all manner of types of rigging material but none has been as easy or cheap as this material. As for fine drills I make my own Archimedes drills out of steel piano wire. I've even used these type of drills to put  0.5 mm vent holes in 18 mm thick aluminium/epoxy vac moulds on the rare occasions I drill vent holes as I usually mould them in.

 

Bruntons wire's are flat oval in section and so depending on the viewpoint they will vary in thickness to the eye.

 

Relaxed or pedantic it's your call.

 

John

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Have only ever done rigging once and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

I made a 1/72 Airfix Handley Page 0/400. I used knitting in elastic and found it pretty easy and rewarding. But have to say a continuous piece seems easier than one small stretched piece. With the 0/400 you go up and down and in and out in one go just tacking it off with CA and accelerator. 

One day I'll start my Wingnut Wings kits, Martin

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