How to thread cotton through 0.5mm holes?

[IanJohnB]

Hi,

 

I am trying to build the Revell Titanic and it has simple rigging on it.  I have got to a part where I have to thread two pieces of he supplied cord through one 0.5mm hole. I am really struggling to do this and am wondering if anyone has any tips.  I ave to thread two cords through one hole in the deck in order to support the masts :-)

 

Apologies if there is already something on the forum about this but I cannot find it.

 

Thanks

A frustrated modeller!

[roginoz]

Can you enlarge the hole in the deck slightly to accomodate the thread ?

 

I've had success rigging biplanes dipping the line in superglue [CA] to stiffen it before threading it through small holes........ooooooh matron !!......

Good luck.

Rog

[Courageous]

I would suggest passing a single short length of something like wire through the hole and glue your rigging lines to the single and pull it through.

HTH

 

Stuart

[dnl42]

A typical approach for a single thread is to coat the end of the thread in CA, let it dry so that it's stiff, then cut the thread at an acute angle to form a "needle." For this case, you might try this with both thread ends joined with CA.to form a single "needle."

[cmatthewbacon]

Do you still have access to both side of the deck? If so, raid someone’s sewing kit for a needle threader, or buy a cheap one at Wilko. Springy diamond shaped loop of  fine wire... push it up through the hole, run thread through it and pull it back down leaving a thread loop below. Superglue the thread at the hole, then cut thread loop to release needle threader. If you can only get at one side, make a “turnbuckle”.  Get some fine fuse wire, make a loop and catch the ends in the chuck of a pin vise (or use pliers at a pinch). Put thread through loop, hold it, and twirl pin vice. You’ll end up with a loop that’s tightly drawn around the thread, and a shank of twisted wire. Cut the shank about 1cm long, and push into the hole and superglue. The cotton rigging will actually be anchored to the loop rather than going in the hole, but a drop of black paint will make sure no one can tell!

best,

M.

[IanJohnB]

6 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

Do you still have access to both side of the deck? If so, raid someone’s sewing kit for a needle threader, or buy a cheap one at Wilko. Springy diamond shaped loop of  fine wire... push it up through the hole, run thread through it and pull it back down leaving a thread loop below. Superglue the thread at the hole, then cut thread loop to release needle threader. If you can only get at one side, make a “turnbuckle”.  Get some fine fuse wire, make a loop and catch the ends in the chuck of a pin vise (or use pliers at a pinch). Put thread through loop, hold it, and twirl pin vice. You’ll end up with a loop that’s tightly drawn around the thread, and a shank of twisted wire. Cut the shank about 1cm long, and push into the hole and superglue. The cotton rigging will actually be anchored to the loop rather than going in the hole, but a drop of black paint will make sure no one can tell!

best,

M.

Thanks for this - don't know why I couldn't work it out myself. After wasting several hours over the past few days I have done it in under 5 minutes using this technique. 

 

Really appreciate all the responses. This is a great forum 😊

[s.e.charles]

another trick I recently read in David Griffith's book Ship Models From Kits  as he is describing rigging a 1/700 scale ship. the hole was a bit oversized, so he ran the rigging through, and then plugged the hole with a bit of stretched sprue. I believe WWI planes builders use similar technique.