How to do bracing wires in 1/72n scale?

[Romani]

At that scale, doing the wires of the rigging, landing gear and control cables seems superfluous as they wouldn't be visible, but there's something missing without them, I just added a couple cables to my experimental Fokker Dr I (experimental because I learn modelling techniques on it the hard way, by now it has more glue on it that paint&#33 and it looks much better.

Thread is out of course, conventional wisdom is to use stretched sprue, but I don't know if it's just me that I'm ham fisted or that the plastic I'm using is really bad. 9 out o 10 times the plastic simply breaks, and when I get some wire, it's decidedly non uniform, too thick, too thin and with an annoying tendency to curl, when it works and it can be put in place it looks great because it keeps taut like real wire.

for lack of a better solution I'm using copper thread from old electric cable. It's reasonable easy to work with, and is thin enough for the scale, trouble is that it bends easily, it's difficult to get it straight without bending midway, but it's better than nothing.

Looks like the only way of attaching wires to the model is drilling a lot of holes (ouch&#33 running the thread through them to attach them, and then fill the holes with glue and or filler. And contrary to a real aircraft, wiring should be installed before assembly.

Any thoughts?

[StephenLawson]

Try the search engine at the bottom of the page?
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/index.ph...ighlite=rigging

[PeterL]

I'm a big fan of rolled wire, transformer wire or fuse wire of varying thicknesses for different jobs, and I agree it's difficult to keep it straight. Annealing in a candle flame helps.

Speaking of candle flames, stretched sprue is worth persevering with IMO. If not for rigging then for other applications. For 1/72 I would recommend clear sprue. It is less flexible, which helps to keep it straight, and , because it is only visible where the light strikes it, appears thinner than it actually is. If you stretch some of the T-section clear plastic from the upright of an old Airfix kit stand (never throw anything away), the same property creates the illusion of two parallel wires so that double flying wires can be represented. Tiny blobs of Krystal Klear will fix it in place. But, whatever you do, do not spray a model rigged in this way with any kind of varnish once the rigging is complete. It will ruin the effect.

Sprue is also good for details such as springs (perhaps not in 1/72) ,fuel lines, control runs etc. It must first be softened if it is to be worked into tight bends. This can be done either by immersing it in hot water, or by spraying with some kind of solvent such as an aerosol laquer.

[Romani]

well.. thank you very much.. thanks to the advice of the esteemed members of this forum, now I've ruined the perfectly fine undercarriage of the DVII I'm making. Heating copper wire under a flame seemed like a good idea... softens the wire, straightens it out, the soot blackens it... really good idea, trouble is the wire was attached to the part, a gust of wind bedning the flame and now I have a half melt landing strut.

Why I did listen to you? why the hell do I ask in the first place? even more important, why in the name of the devil do I bother to play with things that are beyond the understanding of mere mortals!!???

All I wanted was to build and paint a decent looking model for the first time in my life, picking a cheap kit to limit the loss ... why I torture myself so ? when I will realize modelling is an expensive addiction wich only engineers and surgeons are qualified to undertake? why oh why? masochism or stupidity?

*sobs uncontrollably*

I think I need a drink before I throw the model and everything out of the window.

Next time I ask a stupid newbie question, please forcefully remind me that people like me cannot be trusted with sharp objects, toxic chemicals, or small parts that can be ingested. It's for my own good.

[PeterL]

How on earth did you manage to run the wire through a flame while it was on the model? And why? One more tip. Never spray in an unventilated area

Next time I ask a stupid newbie question, please forcefully remind me that people like me cannot be trusted with sharp objects, toxic chemicals, or small parts that can be ingested. It's for my own good.

Hey Romani! You don't have the monopoly on stupid ! We've all done it. Learn from the mistake and move on. Far better though to learn from somebody elses mistakes. Keep asking the questions mate, we'll let you know if they are stupid or (usually) not.

[StephenLawson]

How in the world did you get the directions sooooo fouled up? If your using wire. Measure twice with divider or compass. Cut once with wire snips. glue in place one end at a time...

[Romani]

How on earth did you manage to run the wire through a flame while it was on the model? And why?

Well, since this is the very first model I intend to build and paint on a reasonably decent way, I decided to proceed on a methodical way deciding wich parts had to be painted and assembled before assembling them together. I even painted the tiny bits before cutting them off the sprue *gasp!*

So I decided to paint and assemble the undercarriage before sticking it to the model. First, after asking in the forum and hearing what I most definetely didn't want to hear I will have to strip the paint of the axle wing, and then paint again, also remove the wheels overpaint them and apply lozenge decals, now the problem is that I glued the wheels with superglue, so it looks like I will have to shear them off and glue again. *sigh*

Answering your question. Using an electric mini drill I drilled the holes into the axle wing to get the wire through them. Unexpected problem I found out is that with the heat of the friction the shoddy plastic melts and fouls the drill bit , so you have to drill the holes with brief "bursts" to allow for the plastic to cool off.

Other problem I found was, you guessed, that since I had already glued the struts (with supergrlue again) drilling the holes was more difficult.

I ran the wire through the hole, bent it to make a hook and poured superglue inside the holes, sticking the hook to the bottom of the axle wing and filling the drill hole as a bonus. That way the wire is solidly anchored and it can be pulled taut and straightened out before cutting it to the desired length and sticking the tip with a drop of superglue to the fuselage. When I try this method with wing bracing I suppose I will drill holes on both wings.

The wires were about 2 inches long, so I figured I could hold them to the flame with no problems, it's only that the candle flame flickered and the plastic is so crappy that one of the ends of the strut was warped by the heat. before I realized it, as my attention was focused on keeping away the edge of the axle wing from the flame.

I do have to say that heating the wire is a very good idea. The copper stretches, remains taut and losses the tendency to bend. Keeping it taut with a pair of tweezers and sticking the tip to the fuselage should be fairly easy.

On the subject of the strut.. couldn't find any epoxi putty around to mold the missing bit, don't want to buy another kit , and don't have the heart to rip out the undercarriage of my previous experimental model since I finally managed to make it passably looking.

So I rummaged through the boxes of models hoping to find some plastic piece I could cut to shape to replace the strut. I found a spare link of a track of a WWII Russian tank at 1/35 scale, wich is of the appropiate thickness, rather than shearing off the strut at the base, I decided to just cut below the warped part and stick the bit of the track piece on top of it using superglue. When I attach it to the fuselage I will trim it to the desired length, and hide the "repair" with a generous application of Tamiya putty and paint.

Thanks to this happy discovery I've decided to persevere, and post about my woes. I'm still pondering about wether to drill holes into the fuselag side for the aileron cables or not, since I have to repaint the fuselage yet again

By the way, interesting accidental discovery. A spill of superglue smooths and evens out a rough surface way better than the application of Tamiya putty.

[StephenLawson]

Rigging multi-plane aircraft models is not as difficult as it may seem. The choices are easy. You can use either monofilament or fine wire sections. It depends on how long your strand runs are going to be. The best choice in 1/48 and smaller for strand runs over 1 ½ inches is monofilament. These come in various thickness’ and can be purchased in department store sewing centers or in the fishing /sports department. For 1/48 and smaller scale 5-8 mil is good. For 1/32 and larger start with 5-6 lbs test fishing line.

First of all leave the top wing upper surface and the lower wing under surface unfinished. Why you ask? These are the areas that you need to apply glue to. An open flat surface is easier to work with than the narrow area between the wings.

Drill straight through the wing next to the strut at the appropriate angle. There should be two holes for each strand. Note also that one hole can possibly hold upto 5 strands. The key to working with monofilament is start by the upper cabane strut locations and move out and down with your strands. Used spring action clothes pins to clip on the strands once their through the lower wing area. One clothes pin for one strand. This pulls the strand(s) tight and then you just put one drop of thin type super glue in the hole. Don’t use metal hemostats as they can over stress the small 5-8 mil strands and after your complete it will go slack and heat application won’t tighten it permanently.

When your finished rigging use a sharp #11 blade and clip all ends of the secured strands. Then scrap any glue spots off the plastic and finish to suite your chosen profile.

The other choice is ( I prefer blackened brass) fine wire. For 1/48 and smaller try .006-.008. For larger scales try .015-.020 and up. Brass is best choice for short runs of 1½ and smaller. Brass has weight and will tend to sag over a period of time. Turnbuckles can be manufactured in scale, it just take patience. In smaller scales you can simply replicate turnbuckles with an application of thicker gel super glue then paint when dry.

Try this thread is will asnwer most of your questions or at least take you where it can be found.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/index.ph...wtopic=13747&hl

I guess I'm a real peasant compared to a lot of the very talented and skilled pros here, but I always just use sewing thread for rigging. I find darker colors work well on larger aircraft and lighter colors on smaller ones. I can't speak for 1/48 scale but this seems to work fine in 1/72 scale. Then again, I follow a divergent path in modelling. I am not so concerned with getting every detail correct but more with geting the impression across (especially with some of the "what-ifs" I entertain myself with). I am always amazed at the incredible detail I've seen in a lot of the work by forum members, but that level of detail would drive me nuts and take a lot of the fun out of it for me. Maybe that's why I like 1/72 & 1/144 scale so much....they seem more forgiving of my mistakes.

Brian da Basher
(Currently bashing an AEG out of a Vimy and MB-2)

[NeilE]

Hi There Romani;

While stretched sprue has its uses, I much prefer monofilament for a lot of rigging duties. In 1/72 scale, smoke coloured nylon thread (the non-stretchy one is fine and when a top coat is sprayed, takes on a colour tone relatively like that of actual rigging, thus meaning no additional colouration is necessary.

You can almost have rigging to scale with monofilament thread if you use some of the very fine fishing lines that are readily available.

The only problem with monofilament is that you can't replicate RFC flat ribbon flying wires, I believe there is a technique for those that the ancien sprue users like to use but you'd have to ask them about that.

Monofilament can be tightened if it goes slack with referred heat - from, say, a heated screwdriver or blade held close to the thread but don't touch the screwdriver to the thread or you'll be in trouble!

Also try a pin vice for your drilling duties for your rigging. Yes, it takes longer but doesn't mar the plastic and can mean less drill bit breakages too. I like to use a # 78 or #80 drill bit for most rigging holes.

Some modellers also use a piece of guitar string in their motor tool in place of a drill and say this is an effective replacement but I haven't tried that.

The good thing about monofilament is that it adds structurally strength to your model in a way that stretched sprue doesn't.

For applying superglue to the rigging holes to hold it in place, I either use a small pin, a piece of fine guage guitar string (more on this soon), or use the following tool - Take a standard sewing needle, cut the top of the eye off it and slightly spread the ensuing Y so, and then bed this into a handle of sprue, heated slightly so that the shaft of the needle fits into the sprue - secure with some super glue and voila! A handy super glue applicator that you can use again and again. Just dip it into a pool of superglue on glass (I use a cutdown jar bottom for the purpose) and then touch it to the part to be glued and capillerary action will flow the superglue from the applicator to the part. To clean off dried superglue from the applicator, just use a match or cigarette lighter and it will be as good as new!

I agree with Stephen about generally leaving the top of the top wing and the bottom of the bottom wing unpainted until after the rigging process is completely finished. Its so much easier and allows for a much better finish on these surfaces afterwards.

Also always keep on hand (a) Super glue accelerator (beware the fumes of this&#33 and (B) Some superglue remover! (stuck fingers to your forehead are embararrassing). If you are a nasty cigarette smoker (like I used to be), cigarette smoke is a mild super glue accellerant (but is probably just as nasty as the accellerant fumes&#33.

In 1/48 scale, I have used the finest gauge electric guitar string - a high E - - for flying wires and main wires, lightly annealed to take the shine off it, measured with calipers and attached to appropriate pre drilled holes with white glue. The white glue shrinks to almost nothing and leaves a nice clean join - warning! This is a very time consuming technique but worth it!

Also look at using different media for different types of rigging (1n 1/48), monofilament for control wires, fine wire or guitar string for flying wires etc....

The best thing about monofilament is that it is relatively quick once you have done the pre drilling and pre attaching of the strands to one point. I can rig a typical 1/72 model in two hours after the prep work is done.

These are just a few ideas that may help make rigging a bit more enjoyable. Stick with it, its worth it!

Oh Yes.........hmmmm.... As you can see now, Modern modellers have moved from the Sprue Age to the Monofilament Age B)

All the Best

Neil