Rigging for a novice

[SimonR]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been done to death but I have trawled thought this site and still rigigng seems like a nightmare to me.

I am buidling my first serious stringbag, I generally do cold war jets but fancied something different for the xmas hols. I'm doing the 1/48 Eduard RNAS Sopwith Camel and its basically almost ready for the top wings to go on (not been the easiest thing to build this far!).

Is there an easy way to rig the thing, not concened about 100% accuracy, ie turnbuckles etc, just something that will look decent enough in the cabinet but not cause me to launch it into orbit!

cheers

Simon

Edited December 27, 2012 by SimonR

[pte1643]

I'm doing the 1/48 Eduard RNAS Sopwith Camel and its basically almost ready for the top wings to go on (not been the easiest thing to build this far!).

Tell me about it. It's a little bugger of a kit.

For the rigging I used 2lb Maxima fishing line, which comes out at 0.15mm, which is about right for 48th. Drilled micro holes with a 0.4mm drill bit and used CA, following the kit diagram.

There are probably easier ways, but it worked for me.

[bentwaters81tfw]

I copied this from here I think. Don't know the original poster, but credits to him.

If you have ever had a hankering to build a biplane, but have been put off by the rigging, or any of the other issues that are unique to them, then hopefully this little blurb will make things a little clearer and easier to understand. While I claim to be no expert, I have done enough of it to be comfortable enough to share my techniques and trials and tribulations learned over the years. If you have any input I would be glad to hear from you, just drop me an email at [email protected] and let me know your ideas, or questions.

Background.

Most biplane wings are divided up into bays or cells. Visualize a box in between the top and bottom wing, with the wing struts comprising the corners of the box. Within the box is your bay, or cell. So when its said the wing is a 4 bay or 4 cell wing, it means there are two cells on the left, two cells or bays on the right, with the fuselage center being the divider. Most biplanes are rigged the same way; X bracing fore and aft between the struts, and landing and flying wires in an X pattern between each bay running span wise. Some aircraft used doubled flying and landing wires, so check your references. A flying wire extends from the inside of the bottom wing to the outside of the top wing. Conversely, Landing Wires run from the inside of the top wing, down to the outside of the bottom wing. They are named for the loads they take. Landing wires absorb load from a negative G direction, Flying Wires absorb loads from a positive G direction.

Rigging.

There are several different techniques that can be used. We will cover the two I most commonly use, elastic thread and nylon monofilament. I gave up on stretched sprue a long time ago for various reasons. I could never pull a strand that was consistent in thickness from one strand to another, and it lends very little strength to the model. Plus I am hamfisted enough to usually break one or two strands during the rigging process. We will also cover the tools of the trade that make it easier to rig a model.

Elastic Thread. Sold under the trade name Lycra, this is a small diameter multi filament thread, which will stretch to 50% of its relaxed state. I use it for any rigging that does not contribute to any structural stability, i.e. control runs, internal wire bracing, antennae wires, etc. If the model you have built is strong structurally and does not need further strengthening from the rigging, it can also be used for bracing, flying and landing wires. As it implies, it contributes nothing to airframe stiffness, it is strictly for appearance. It is very easy to work with, and requires a minimum of practice to get it down. The steps in rigging with Lycra will be covered in depth.

Monofilament This is, as the name implies, a single strand nylon line, most generally used for fishing, or for heavy duty sewing needs. It usually comes in clear, but I have seen smoke colored line. It comes in a variety of thicknesses, and from several different sources. I use Aeroclub Mail Order from the UK for my elastic and monofilament needs. The price is cheap, and you have your order usually in about 5 days. Do a search for Rigging and you will find it in their online catalogue. The advantage of nylon is that it is very strong and contributes to the strength of the model. If you have a very petite airframe and need the additional bracing, monofilament is the way to go. The drawback is it has to be drawn tight when installing, as it does not heat shrink like stretched sprue does. We will cover the method to do so later on.

Tools / Materials required:

Small scissors.

Small tweezers, preferably cross action, at least 2 pair.

Ruler (6 scale is usually sufficient)

Pin vise with straight pin and a #75 drill bit (or close to it)

Black Permanent Marker or Paint Stick (or your choice of color you want the wires)

Masking Tape

CA Adhesive (thick gap filling variety, not Gel)

CA Accelerator

Accelerator applicator. ( I use a piece of music wire)

Preparation

One of the most critical steps in a successful rigging job is preparation. Misaligned rigging can really detract from a model, so the extra care spent in layout pays huge dividends. The best time to layout rigging holes is BEFORE the model is assembled and painted. This way you can use a pencil to layout alignment lines, and then rub them off after. Lets begin with the wings.

It is assumed that you have your strut locations known at this point if its a kit, or you already have them laid out if a scratchbuilt wing. Check your plans and references before drilling any holes to determine the number of Flying/Landing wires you need to drill. Once this is determined, its time to layout your rigging holes and drill them. I generally space my landing/flying wires out from the strut hole about 1mm, but this is subject to accuracy. If you are not working from 3-views, then eyeballing it from a good clear photo should give you an idea how far away to make them. Begin by drawing a pencil line from tip to root, using the strut holes as a guide. Do this for front and rear struts if equipped. V strut wings may only require one line. Now using a small square, square off these lines and draw lines between the strut holes for your inter strut bracing. On both sides of this line, draw a parallel line the determined distance from your strut hole, for the flying and landing wires. Remember, on the outermost struts, there may not be flying wires, and rarely any landing wires, (check your references again) so odds are good you wont need holes on the outside of those strut holes. Where these pencil lines intersect is where you will make the holes.

Drilling holes.

Depending on what technique you are using determines how deep you drill the holes. If you are using Lycra Thread, then you only need to drill to a depth of 1 mm or so. If you are using monofilament, then you will drill completely through the wing so that the hole goes all the way through on the bottom wing. On the underside of the top wing, drill ½ the thickness of the wing. We will cover why later.

Using the pinvise with a sharp straight pin chucked in place, center punch all the intersecting pencil lines to prevent the drill bit from walking when you drill. The method you use to drill is entirely up to you, but I have found a Dremel set to low speed makes short order of the holes, but a steady hand and a pinvise with a #75 or so drill bit works just as well, it just takes longer. Once all your holes are drilled, relax and have a beer or drink of your choice; you have earned it. The same methods work for fuselage rigging and tail plane rigging. Just remember the mantra, measure twice, mark once, drill once. Always double check your dimensions and never assume you have it right… always double check.

Running the lines.

Okay. Your jewel is assembled, all your rigging holes are drilled, and you are about to cut your first line. Stop. Look it over and determine an order of rigging. Generally speaking, working from the inside out makes the most sense, trying to run lines in between existing lines can be enough to make your little jewel become airborne into the nearest wall at a fatal velocity.

Now we can cut lines and begin gluing them in place. If you are using mono, length is not a concern. The rule of thumb I use is to cut your line about 2 inches longer than what you need. This will allow for your tweezers to act as a weight to keep your line taught as you glue it in place. More on this later.

For Elastic, use a ruler to measure the distance your line needs to be. It does not have to be accurate; remember this stuff stretches. Unroll a couple of feet off the spool, and using the permanent marker, draw it along the line several times to color it. Let it dry for a few minutes, then lay the line on your ruler at the determined length and cut it off. Make as many as you need, as you will find most of them will be roughly the same length.

Now the fun begins. Remove the drill bit from your pinvise and install a common straight pin. This will be your CA applicator to get the glue into the hole. Put two strips of masking tape down on an area of your workbench that is out of the way, but easy to reach. You dont want to rest your elbow in it and become one with your bench. Put a drop of CA on the tape, and stick your pin into it, so that a tiny drop forms on the point. Touch the tip of the pin onto the side of the hole and let capillary action pull the CA into the hole. A little practice on some scrap holes may be in order until you get the feel for it. You dont want the CA to be above the surface of the wing, just enough to fill the hole. After 3 or 4 holes are filled, you may find it necessary to remove any excess CA buildup on the tip of the pin. For the first end, no accelerator is needed, just poke the line into the hole and let it cure. Repeat this to as many lines as you feel comfortable with.

(Hint: Install all the landing/flying wires and X bracing into the underside of the top wing before you install it onto the model. It is much easier than trying to install them later when it is assembled.)

Once these have cured, you can begin gluing them into the bottom holes. To accomplish this, I generally check the length by stretching the line to the hole and seeing how taught the line is. If it is loose, I cut just enough so that the end of the line is about 1/8th of an inch or so away from the hole in a relaxed state, then I can stretch it to the hole and it will be nice and taught. Now using your pinvise CA applicator, put a drop of CA into the receiving hole, and add a tiny dab of accelerator to the end of your line. It may curl a bit, but it does not hurt the line any. Now, quickly, use your tweezers and stretch the line to the hole and poke it in. The accelerator will instantly cure the CA and you have one nicely installed rigging line. Repeat this procedure for as many lines as you have. Begin with the X bracing between the struts, then work your way from the center of the model outboard, stretching and gluing as you go. Once you get the knack of this, you will be amazed at how quickly you can rig a model.

For Monofilament the techniques are the same for the first end, just put a drop of CA into your anchor hole, poke it in and let it cure. The difference now will be the other end and how it is secured. Back in your preparation, you drilled the holes in the lower wing all the way through. Take the other end of your line and stuff it in the hole so that the end pokes through and out the bottom. Now using a pair of cross action tweezers, grasp the end and pull the line through the hole, and let the weight of the tweezers keep the line taught. Now using your CA applicator, add a drop of CA to the top of the hole to seize the line in place. When you get all your lines run, flip the model over upside down. There are two methods of seizing the line off, use whichever one you find easier. You can either use a sharp #11 blade and cut the excess off and add CA to the hole, or you can trim the line off, leaving about 1 or 2 mm extra, fold the line over on itself and poke it back into the hole before applying CA. The advantage of this is, the hook that is formed will become embedded in the CA in the hole and will be a very strong anchor. After all your lines are done, use a drop of CA to fill the hole off, and after it cures, a tiny brush with the same color paint the bottom has, or spray the color onto some decal film and punch out tiny circles to cover the holes, will make them invisible after flat coating.

Hopefully this will give you some idea of how easy rigging really is. I find it one of the more satisfying parts of a biplane build, as the rigging is what gives them that look and a lot of character. . I hope that as you practice the techniques here more, you will become more confident in your rigging abilities and you will find its not the endless dark tunnel that people perceive it as. As always, start with something simple with minimal rigging before you get carried away. A Fokker D-VII or a Nieuport is a good place to start, and then perhaps go to a Sopwith Camel or Albatross DV with a little more. The more you do, the more you will become comfortable.

[SimonR]

Thanks bentwaters, thats a brilliant help!

Tell me about it. It's a little bugger of a kit.

For the rigging I used 2lb Maxima fishing line, which comes out at 0.15mm, which is about right for 48th. Drilled micro holes with a 0.4mm drill bit and used CA, following the kit diagram.

There are probably easier ways, but it worked for me.

Think I have seen your build, looks superb despite the pitfalls of the kit!

cheers

Simon

[heloman1]

Thanks for posting the above, I'm about to start the Eduard Camel, my first bi-plane build.

Colin

[gcn]

There are numerous ways to skin this particular feline. What is most Importent is you have the right tools.

You will need some sort of magnification to see what you're doing. I have an Optivisor.

The easiest way would be to drill holes part way through the top wing and all the way through the bottom.

Insert and fix your rigging of choice into the top wing using extra runny super glue via a needle with the eye cut open. This glue will dry instantly. 2lb fishing line is the cheapest or there's knit in elastic (see eBay) or ez line (expensive). All will do the job satisfactorily.

Attach top wing to struts, this will be the hardest part of the job because the Eduard Camel has a reputation in this area unfortunately.

Then pull through the lines through the bottom wing, glue and make good the undersides and your done. The lines closest to the cockpit will be the hardest.

I've never done it this way though as i prefer to use the eyelets and brass tube method if you have a look at ww1aircraftmodels.com for a wealth of tips on rigging.

[SimonR]

Thanks for the help again chaps.

I read somewhere the Ed Camel's instructions have the front & rear wing struts the wrong way round hence the issues with the top wing not fitting correcty, i'll let you know if this is true sometime tomorrow

[stevehed]

The DURAS method of rigging may also be worth considering. Basically you drill holes through the top and bottom of the struts and, after fixing one end, run the wire, in my case invisible thread, through as many holes as practicable. I use this method in 1/72 and when the struts are too thin I nick one side with a razor saw to create a slot and use this to tie off the thread before securing with a dab of superglue. This should be less of an issue in the larger scales. This method usually means you don't have to drill holes through the wings. I'll let the inventor describe the method further.

http://wwi.priswell.com/duras.htm

Regards, Steve

Edited December 27, 2012 by stevehed

[SimonR]

Thanks steve, now halfway through rigging the damn thing by drilling holes in the wings, may have a look at the DURAs method for next time though!

cheers

Simon

[Mike Esposito]

Invisible thread is the way to go!

[John @ WEM]

There are also these little goodies (I can e-mail a copy of the instructions to anyone who cares to see how they are used):

https://www.whiteensignmodels.com/p/WEM+172+148+132+Rigging+Eyelets+PE+4803/13950/#.UQ1Y0WftNi8

[HMSLion]

To be honest, I always used wire. .015 wire. Measure it a bit long, trim to fit with wire cutters. Fasten with CA glue.

[Jessica]

If, when you're feeling good about that method, and a little more adventurous, you can try the eyelets method.

Make some eyelets from twisting wire around itself (I used a piece of piano wire to make the loop) and superglue them into the positions your rigging will anchor to. Then you need some short lengths of microtube. Slide a length of microtube onto your rigging thread (I use invisible thread), run the end of the thread through the loop and double it back upon itself so that it runs back through the microtube. Fasten the tube in place with a small drop of superglue. At the other end of the line, do the same, and just before gluing, make sure that your thread is drawn tight. Here's what it will look like.

Then just trim off the free ends of your thread and move on to the next one. Rigging that Hanriot took me about an hour, working slowly and carefully.

Et voila!

[SimonR]

Thanks for everybody who chipped in with some advice on the rigging, my first stringbag is now done and can be seen here.

Rigging is not accurate but I have learnt a lot doing it!

cheers

Simon

[ludwig113]

If, when you're feeling good about that method, and a little more adventurous, you can try the eyelets method.

Make some eyelets from twisting wire around itself (I used a piece of piano wire to make the loop) and superglue them into the positions your rigging will anchor to. Then you need some short lengths of microtube. Slide a length of microtube onto your rigging thread (I use invisible thread), run the end of the thread through the loop and double it back upon itself so that it runs back through the microtube. Fasten the tube in place with a small drop of superglue. At the other end of the line, do the same, and just before gluing, make sure that your thread is drawn tight. Here's what it will look like.

Then just trim off the free ends of your thread and move on to the next one. Rigging that Hanriot took me about an hour, working slowly and carefully.

Et voila!

hi jess,

what size micro tube do you use ?

cheers paul

[snapper_city]

Simon, I asked Russ the same question about his recent AN-2 Colt http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937402-antonov-an-2-colt/#entry1277252

His answer is at the bottom of page 1.

[gcn]

For micro tube Albion Alloys do them in brass in several sizes. For 1/32 I use 0.5mm OD 0.3mm ID tube. You can buy precut tube from modelskills.co.uk or uncut from ebay.

There are also turnbuckles from Radub Brinzen in PE that are suitable for some aircraft or metal turnbuckles from Gaspatch models that are more expensive but more realistic.

RB tunbuckles here

Brass sleeves here

You could also use a heat streched cotton bud, but I wouldn't want to be using that with ez line. Would be like trying to fit a jelly into a sock with only one hand.

[JOCKNEY]

Thanks everyone I have a lot of biplanes I want to make and a stranraer to finish but was terrified of the rigging. Eventually I have a roden staaken which takes rigging to a whole new level ! Anyone built one ?

[SimonR]

Brilliant thread, can this be a sticky Mods??

Next question is, how on earth do you do woodgrain on a prop?

cheers

Simon

[stalal]

Wingnut has produced some beautiful WW1 kits and I m really tempted to build one. However, rigging seems very daunting to me and this challenge keeps me away. But I m going to take up this challenge soon. 

[TallBlondJohn]

11 hours ago, stalal said:

Wingnut has produced some beautiful WW1 kits and I m really tempted to build one. However, rigging seems very daunting to me and this challenge keeps me away. But I m going to take up this challenge soon. 

 

Practice on something cheap first, you'll soon get the hang of it. I always recommend the Airfix Roland CII if you can get one, its a neat little kit, easy to paint and a great start on the esoteric art of building biplanes. Only flaw is the flying surfaces are too tick, sand them down a bit.

[wmcgill]

There's always this I guess..

 

http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/hintsandtips

 

[Harold55]

23 hours ago, TallBlondJohn said:

 

Practice on something cheap first, you'll soon get the hang of it. 

Couldn't agree more with this suggestion.  My scale of choice is 1/48 and there are lots of cheap WWI models in this scale to work with.  Any Eduard weekend edition are good inexpensive kits to cut your teeth on.  My other suggestion is initially go for kits that have struts that are easier to get right.  Neiuports, Fokker D.VII, Fokker Dr.I, Siemens-Schuckert D.III (newer version of the Eduard model).  DML/Dragon wwi models are nice also.

Good luck and have fun!

[stalal]

I have taken a plunge. Finally bought a WnW kit. WWI is a new genre for me and I always wanted to take this challenge. Rigging and the price kept me away. The kit hasnt arrived yet but I have not heard anything bad about their kits. Its a Hannover with relatively easy rigging. Lets see how it goes together for me. 

[Martin Ford]

3 hours ago, stalal said:

I have taken a plunge. Finally bought a WnW kit. WWI is a new genre for me and I always wanted to take this challenge. Rigging and the price kept me away. The kit hasnt arrived yet but I have not heard anything bad about their kits. Its a Hannover with relatively easy rigging. Lets see how it goes together for me. 

You will love it. It took me a while to take the plunge, I did so because of the Wingnut Wings reputation rather than a love of WW1 aircraft. I was hooked straightaway. I have 15 Wingnut kits now and look forward to the rigging. I am far from being an expert but find the rigging quite therapeutic, theres something so satisfying about letting go of the tweezers and seeing it snap into place. I'm currently making a Sopwith Triplane and am loving it. 

I dont know if any experts agree but for my latest build, when rigging, I didn't use any CA accelerator, just the glue itself. It just means holding it in place for that bit longer without shaking too much, it seemed to give better results and I only had one fail. Sometimes I have had accelerated CA not take, then the next attempt doesnt take and you can end up with a small blob. 

 

All the best, stalal, I hope you will post your Hannover on here. 

 

Martin