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Assembling/Painting Biplanes


TeaWeasel

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I picked up the apparently excellent Tamiya 1/48 Swordfish recently, and while I don't plan on starting immediately I'm rather perplexed at the order in which I should build and paint the thing. It's the first biplane I've had so I'm wondering wherever I should build the whole thing, then paint the wings as standard, or attach the lower wings to the fuselage, paint the upper ones separately then attach it all at the end.

 

I think the second option would be easier in terms of painting the thing, but once it's done I'd be worried about stray glue affecting the finish, or if any filling work would be needed that could also affect it. I've been looking around the sites at other such projects but some advice would also be helpful.

 

Cheers

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How do you plan to rig it?  If using the etched set designed by Tamiya, then these fit into pre prepared slots and " float" so you can build as you suggest and then add the pre finished top wing afterwards. The fit is good so you only need to be careful with the glue when attaching the top wing.  Maybe a bit of flat varnish needed if any glue marks shine a bit. If rigging with other methods the build will depend on the type you choose to use. For example, if you use nylon thread, one technique is to drill holes in the lower wing part way, and all the way through the top ( or the other way around). You then attach the rigging wire at the hole and pull through the other wing, and glue.   That will usually mean painting the sides of the wing facing the rigging and then painting the other sides once fixed, rigged an tidied up.  That's OK to do as you can easily mask around the wings to avoid any overspray if airbrush painting and if brush painting just paint carefully! 

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1 minute ago, neilh said:

How do you plan to rig it?  If using the etched set designed by Tamiya, then these fit into pre prepared slots and " float" so you can build as you suggest and then add the pre finished top wing afterwards. The fit is good so you only need to be careful with the glue when attaching the top wing.  Maybe a bit of flat varnish needed if any glue marks shine a bit. If rigging with other methods the build will depend on the type you choose to use. For example, if you use nylon thread, one technique is to drill holes in the lower wing part way, and all the way through the top ( or the other way around). You then attach the rigging wire at the hole and pull through the other wing, and glue.   That will usually mean painting the sides of the wing facing the rigging and then painting the other sides once fixed, rigged an tidied up.  That's OK to do as you can easily mask around the wings to avoid any overspray if airbrush painting and if brush painting just paint carefully! 

 

 

Ah I probably should have mentioned that, I'll be using the Tamiya etched set. It seems to be a lot easier than I expected judging from what you said.

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only thing to watch with the etch set is making sure the wing structure is square as the etched parts have no "give" so look wonky if the gap one side is less/more than the other. Hard to describe but I have built three of these now. The hardest was with the one where I built with the wings folded. The Tamiya design solution is great for that, but I rigged the outer wings with the etched set, and when I then slid them on the pre moulded spars, the weight of the wings pulling downwards seemed to flex the wing structure enough to force the etched rigging to bend a little.  I think the problem was that I secured one end and floated the other, whereas it would have been better to attach without glue at both ends.  Good luck, its a lovely kit.

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As I build some WWI biplanes now and then I've established some procedure, which in rough is:

 

1.) assembling the main fuselage and paint it (sometimes I paint the halves first, or paint them only with a base colour, but then some repainting usually is necessary due to sanding issues) and usually apply the decals at this stage. 

2.) paint the wings and apply the decals.

3.) nail the main assemblies together, and apply the smaller parts, like propeller, guns, gear

4.) fog some clear coat around the entire thing

 

As smaller WWI biplanes might get some fiddly, this works fine, as I don't have to paint the wobbly assembly.

 

I did only the Trumpeter Swordfish in 1/32, which was really robust (especially concerning the upper wing mount), and I guess the Tamiya Stringbag is quite sturdy as well, but I used the above order as well and it worked fine. 

 

But I would give some alternative rigging a second thought, I skipped the included PE rigging parts, as they didn't look the part by any means. If you use some EZ rigging line or Uschi's "rig the thing" it is quite easy.  

 

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Haven't built a biplane for  3-4 years, but like the others I would assemble the kit as normal including drilling out holes for rigging as appropriate and leaving the top wing off. Paint and apply all decals, any weathering, flat coats, cabane strut rigging, etc, and  attaching the upper wing last.

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It's extremely difficult to do an acceptable job painting the exterior colors with the top wing in place. For that reason I think most of us assemble everything else while gluing the struts to the lower wing and fuselage but not the top wing. Then paint, decal, clearcoat, weather, and all that fun, and drill holes for rigging if using Easy Line or thread. Then glue on the top wing, touch up any oopsies on the paint, and install the rigging.

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Here's my typical flowchart when doing biplanes:

 

  1. Assemble everything except the upper wing and struts (outer upper wing and lower wing pieces also separate if going for a folded option).
  2. Align the upper wing to fuselage+lower on a jig, but glue struts only to either upper or lower wing (depending if they are in upper cammo or U/S color). 
  3. Prime everything
  4. Drill holes for rigging using photos of the real thing.
  5. Paint, decal, lacquer, weather everything.
  6. Join the fuselage+lower and upper wing sub-assemblies. Step No.2 ensures we have a good and easy alignment now.
  7. Rig it.

 

Long story short, do as much test-fitting, aligning, and preparation for the rigging before painting. This way You don't risk damaging the paintjob.

 

Now, specifically for the Swordfish, You might want to also leave these small fuselage-to-lower-wing struts off until step 6.

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img source: GrubbyFingerShop

 

Edited by warhawk
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