Papertiger59 Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 (edited) Hi Gentlemen, My question is about bracing wires for interwar RAF/FAA biplanes. Were they "round" or "flat", by "flat" I mean "Raf-wires" ? This question deals with the kits I have in my stash. Hawker Woodcock Hawker Hart Family Hawker Fury/Nimrod Fairey Flycatcher Fairey Fawn Fairey Swordfish Fairey Seafox Fairey Campania AW Siskin DH-9a Gloster Grebe Gloster Gamecock Gloster Gauntlet Gloster Gladiator Avro 504 Avro Bison Sopwith Snipe HP Heyford Vickers Vimy Vickers Vildebeest Westland Wapiti Supermarine Seagull Supermarine Southampton Supermarine Walrus Supermarine Stanraer Blackburn Shark Blackburn Baffin/Ripon Thanks, Chris. Edited June 14, 2016 by Papertiger59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 By this time they would all be streamlined RAF wires. Noting that most of those kits are only available in 1/72, I wouldn't worry too much. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papertiger59 Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 Thanks John ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfordhibby Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Just a wee question related to this subject. Does anyone manufacture the Raf-wires in 48th, I would imagine they'd probably be PE?? For an Eduard Gladiator (if that makes a difference) this will be my first biplane. Regards Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Aero Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 I would have thought Eduard would do their own. Extratech and Part I think did a Gladiator set. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfordhibby Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Thanks John Had a wee look at the suggestions and did a wee bit more digging. Looks like Tamiya brought out a PE set for their Swordfish.It seems to have what I was looking for, with a wee snip here and there. Regards Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alancmlaird Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 I'll thow a cat among the pigeons here. I made 'RAFwires' out of stretched sprue with its flat sides for 1/72 scale - completely accidently!!! I was stretching the sprue over a candle flame as usual (back in the day) , but I used a piece that had a short 'branch' on it a right angles, expecting it to just pull out to a round cross section. It didn't. It retained a flat cross section, much to my surprise. I made some more (enough to rig a then-new Airfix Pup). It was a complete pain to do (keeping the wire in the correct line of flight was agony!), and I used up the sprue from three kits just to get enough of consistent quality for use. I hate to say it, but the final result was excellent, the appearance of the different apparent 'thicknesses' depending on the angle of view was absolutely spot on. The model was crashed and trashed many years ago, unfortunately. Would I do it again? Almost certainly not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 a suggestion made on Hyperscale, IIRC, was Kanthal Ribbon Resistance Flat Coil wire, it gave a link to ebay US, I found some on ebay UK http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232017299575 the poster suggested the 0.3 X 0.1mm gauge for 1/48th, full size the would be a width of 14.4 mm, (0.3 x 48) I'm not sure how wide/thick streamlined bracing wire is, but perhaps someone who knows maybe able to add futher info. HTH T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Paw Posted April 21, 2017 Share Posted April 21, 2017 (edited) On the subject of flat line rigging wires I came across an unusual if not serendipitous situation with e-zee line. I am now on my second reel of fine black line but did notice whilst using the line that sections of the line were flat and definitely not round. This line was not good for the WWI German aircraft that I was using for at the time. I presume it was a fault with part of the reel I had as it was only a small part of the reel that was like this. Has any one else noticed this? Andrew. Edited April 21, 2017 by Bear Paw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 On 07/04/2017 at 10:08 PM, alancmlaird said: I'll thow a cat among the pigeons here. I made 'RAFwires' out of stretched sprue with its flat sides for 1/72 scale - completely accidently!!! I was stretching the sprue over a candle flame as usual (back in the day) , but I used a piece that had a short 'branch' on it a right angles, expecting it to just pull out to a round cross section. It didn't. It retained a flat cross section, much to my surprise. I made some more (enough to rig a then-new Airfix Pup). It was a complete pain to do (keeping the wire in the correct line of flight was agony!), and I used up the sprue from three kits just to get enough of consistent quality for use. I hate to say it, but the final result was excellent, the appearance of the different apparent 'thicknesses' depending on the angle of view was absolutely spot on. The model was crashed and trashed many years ago, unfortunately. Would I do it again? Almost certainly not! I thought everyone knew this! Yes, if you file a length of sprue to a given cross-section, and then stretch it, it will retain most of its cross-section when you stretch it (only smaller, obvs) . So for a small scale rendition of RAFwires try stetching some Slaters strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alancmlaird Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 5 hours ago, Work In Progress said: I thought everyone knew this! Yes, if you file a length of sprue to a given cross-section, and then stretch it, it will retain most of its cross-section when you stretch it (only smaller, obvs) . So for a small scale rendition of RAFwires try stetching some Slaters strip. Every manufacturer of Blackpool rock could certainly testify to its efficacy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 I had not thought of that, but yes, brilliant analogy when you think about the lettering in the rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now