Getting the rigging on a double decker in.

[Ian M]

Some one asked if I could describe the process of rigging a Bi plane, so I will give it a bash. SORRY NO PHOTOS. I did not take any underway. I hope you can see it with good old text!

You will need a few things to get this done:

A pin vice and a drill. I used a 0.3 which is as small as I can handle with out bending or snapping off!

I dubbing needle; a needle with a handle or indeed just a pin in a pin vice!!!

Super glue. One of the instant grab CA type

Wire; For this I used 1lb fishing line that was run through a tamiya paint marker in gun metal colour.

A fine pair of tweezers.

A pair of locking tweezers are hands as well.

A very sharp fine pointed scalpel. Open a new blade and then sharpen it!!!

Build the kit but do not put the upper wing on. Yet!

Paint the kit. If you use a mixed colour save some or be sure you can mix that same colour again.

Now the fun begins: Fine a good reference, or if you cant find any, the box art! Study the runs of the wires, noting what they do and how they are placed and how many there are. On my SE 5a the main wing braces should all be Doubles but hey this was my first attempt to, so they have single wires only!

Once you have established the placing of the wires, its time to start drilling. Go around the plane. Both wings, tail plains, rudder, wheel braces and the like. Drill a hole in the correct place for each wire.

Step 2! Put the wing on the plane!

Next day should see things are set and you can start knitting!

Some will take a long length of monofil and run it through a few places and attach it only at the start and end. Not an option in this demo!!

Thread the line though the hole and secure with super glue. Insert the other end through the other hole and pull it gently tight. Start inboard and work out as this helps the access.

Work in pairs, port wing>starboard wing- etc., Keep a good eye on not pulling to much as you will pull the wing out of line. Then its just a case of working your way from side to side. port-starboard-port-starboard.

I know it sounded easy but in fact it was!The hard part is getting started..

Once all the wires are in place and CA is set. Its time to find that razor sharp knife.

Cut all the loose tails off and if needed sand the spots off. Then TOUCH UP the exit holes, job done.

Any questions just ask.

Ian M

[Guest]

Rigging is a very emotive subject. You either love it, hate it or just accept it as a necessary evil. I have only done one, a 1:48 scale Albatros and to be honest, I hated it mainly because, at the time, I did not have a suitable magnifier and I just could not see what I was doing. In the spirit of trying to do it right, I bought a load of turnbuckles. When the little plastic bag arrived, I thought it was empty but in fact it contained 25 really well made turnbuckles, simple to make yourself but not simple to get them this fine and consistent.

So, a very similar process to the excellent method described by Ian above. The only difference is that into each hole drilled, a turnbuckle is inserted and fixed with superglue. Then the 'knitting' starts by threading the 'wire' through the eye of the turnbuckle. Trouble is, I struggled to get the turnbuckles glued in place without filling the eye with superglue. It was only the next day as I tried in vein to thread .3mm fishing line through a .4mm eye which, I was unaware, was glued solid. As I could not see it, frustration reached boiling point and I am amazed the model survived.

If I had read this way as described by Ian as I was about to start the Albatros, I would have gone with this method. I really believe that turnbuckles should not really be used below 1:32 now.

My next one, if I do the second Albatros that came in the box will be done Ian's way.

Cheers Ian

[Guest]

Here's the bits I use for 1/48th ship models. I use wire removed from servo leads for shrouds and make thimbles from heat shrink. I put a blob of cyano on the wire before heating the heat shrink, then trim the tail. At the bottom end I use a shackle on the end of the bottle screw (turnbuckle) with another thimble.

I agree with Graham that this may be slightly out of scale at 1/48th and possibly easier to get away with on a model ship than on an aircraft, which probably use much smaller bottle screws anyway.

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