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Rigging Materials


franky boy

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Hello chaps

 

Just wondering what materials people use for rigging biplanes?

 

The postman bought me the lovely new Airfix Tiger Moth kit in 1:48 last week and despite modelling since I was 7 years old (now 43) I’ve never built a biplane. It’s about time I tried one!

 

I know of EZ Line, knitting in elastic and fishing line but was wondering if I’m missing anything or should choose from one of the above? 
 

Any advice greatly received. 
 

Thanks

 

James

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Personally I think there's nothing which looks better for wire rigging than real metal - either etched or fine fuse wire or similar. That said EZ Line is much easier to do!

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

 

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    My experience of PE rigging is that it is extremely cantankerous. Commercial sets are almost always too wide (for RAFwires) and after the extreme shinyness is taken off with varnish or paint it's even wider. Plus the difficulty getting it so that none of the wires is under tension or compression, so that they don't flex and kink. Every now and then I give it another go buit so far have not been happy with the result, most recently with  sets for the Roden Gladiator and the Airfix Tiggy in question.  It could well be just me, but nonetheless unless you do a lot of biplanes I'd recommend against it. I get best results using elastic material, pre-painted with Modelmaster steel (which is very hard to come by in Scotland, AFAIK). For smaller scales or subjects with cable (i.e. non-streamlined section) rigging I use either painted nylon invisible mending thread CAed into holes, or an ancient reel of copper armature wire, which is steel grey and looks very good once straightened by rolling under a steel rule on a flat surface but needs even more careful handling than PE because it will kink if you look at it harshly. A plus with the wire is that in smaller scales you can dispense with the holes and stick it with white glue.

 

   I also confess to using stretched sprue still if I need a realy fine line for such as control line rigging.

 

   Most recently I've been trying out some of Albion Alloys nickel wire on 1/72nd Sopwith Triplanes. In that scale, the 0.33mm wire is far too big after a dullcoat, but the 0.2mm stuff looks quite good, helped by having gone dull of it's own accord, whereas the 0.33 was too shiny.

 

 

 

Paul.

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For me it's fishing tippet line all the way. It comes in various sizes, it actually adds structural integrity to the model, it can be painted with metallics, and it can be heat-shrunk if necessary. It does necessitate drilling holes and a certain amount of pre-planning.

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I'll happy confess that I haven't plucked up the courage to rig a biplane yet but I use that Uschi elastic thread for radio wires etc., I find it very easy to work with.

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I have used fishing line for years and always enjoyed rigging a lot. However I have come up against a major problem with the super glues available. Something seems to have changed as they just don't grip straight away as they used to. I have tried so many now that I wonder if I will rig anything again. 

 

Keith

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A nice walkaround here...http://www.grubbyfingersshop.com/walkaround_galleries/DH82_Tiger_Moth_Walkaround_A17-691_VH-UVZ_Temora_2014/content/index.html

You'll notice the rigging is actually flat. I used P.E. rigging for my 1:48 Swordfish and regretted it. The pieces were too long.

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Chaps

 

Thanks for all of the great replies. It gives plenty of foods for thought. At the moment I’m edging towards the knitting in elastic option but as it’s a little while of yet that may change. 

 

Thanks again

 

James

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I thoroughky dislike the etched wires, the etched edges catch the light and, no matter what you do, it always looks like flat bar rather than the proper aerofoil section.  I have used fine stainless wire which looks better to my eye even if it is a round section; there's less material and the visual "weight" of the wires is better balanced against the wings and struts. On the downside t can be a bit of sod to make it look as if it is properly under tension - any tendency  to sag destroys the illusion unless you are modeling a wrecked or abandoned machine. 

 

The Prym knitting elesctic is a neat way to suggets RAFwires in 1/32 but to my eye looks too heavy for 1/48 - again we're back to matter of gettng the right visual balance between the different elements  Monofilament fishing line has the advantage of adding a bit of structural strenth when you have long wings that might droop a little, but it needs to be under light tension when you glue the end in place

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  • 2 weeks later...

I will go with Paul on this one. Just finished rigging a 1/32 Hasagawa Boeing F4, (been half built in the box for 20+ years!), looked at most of what has been suggested and opted for Albion 0.33 nickel silver wire fixed with extra strong pva glue. I have in the distant past, used fuse wire but it bends too easily.

Dave

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10 hours ago, Old Mull said:

I will go with Paul on this one. Just finished rigging a 1/32 Hasagawa Boeing F4, (been half built in the box for 20+ years!), looked at most of what has been suggested and opted for Albion 0.33 nickel silver wire fixed with extra strong pva glue. I have in the distant past, used fuse wire but it bends too easily.

Dave

Hello Old Mull, I've just read your post AFTER posting a query about the AIMS metal rigging set. You mention "extra strong" PVA. What exactly is this? Is it strong wood working PVA? I've botched up some paint jobs and  rigging jobs using super glue. I'd rather use PVA as it's more forgiving.

Thanks,

Paul (AKA Bertie)

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I hate rigging. And antenna wires too. One thing I've used is Nitinol wire (the stuff I have is 0.008" diameter). It has "shape memory" which means that it wants to be straight. Sure, it will sag over several inches, but with proper gluing you can prevent that. Some examples of my use of Nitinol for 1:72 antenna wires:

 

100_1294

 

For the Gannet, the lead-in wire (which has a slight curve instead of being straight) was achieved with "strategic gluing." Superglue is used for attachment.

 

IMG_1758

 

The Canberra wire is 8-9 inches long.

 

100_4476

 

I used Nitinol wire for the whip aerial on the PB4Y-1 as well.

 

I bought my supply of the wire through Amazon's industrial website. It comes in a pouch, nicely coiled up, but watch out when you open the package. The coil can fly out like a spring - remember, this stuff wants to be straight! I don't see any reason why you couldn't use this for biplane rigging.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Hi Paul (aka Bertie),

it’s a extra tacky pva. ‘Original Hi-Tack all purpose VERY STICKY GLUE’ it says on the brown plastic squeezy pot! I found it in a haberdashery/crafts store and I believe it’s been formulated as a fabric adhesive. It’s made in Britain but it might be worth having a trawl in your local outlets for an antipodean equivalent, that is when you escape from your latest lockdown! Just had a look and it’s also listed on Amazon.

Dave (aka Old Mull)

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It's funny really, there are so many things available for rigging wire.  The cheapest and most therapeutic is just nasty old stretched sprue.  There is an abundance of it, so if you screw one up you just make another, and the price is right.  It may not win you any contests, but it sure looks the part.  - Just sayin'.  

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