Rigging . . . . .
MCFranklin@aol.com
Tue, 5 Sep 1995 21:17:59 -0400
For years I used the old standard of stretched sprue, glued in place with a
tiny dab of white glue. I really liked the way it would pull up taught when
I would pass the smoke from a lit punk over the wires. I would heat the
plastic over a candle until the middle was really soft and floppy and then
pull it out to both arms length. Tape a heavy bolt to one end before you
heat the runner. Have another piece of tape attached to the door
jamb and as quick as you can after pulling the sprue, tape the free end to
the jamb and let the weight pull the sprue straight as it cools. You can get
enough rather stiff sprue for an entire model from one pull. I use a
draftsmans divider with the pointy ends bent to an 'L' outward from each
other to measure the length of the needed piece of rigging.
Now however, I use pieces of ceramic wire, .0055"dia, to rig the biplanes.
The wire is cut and glued and measured just like the sprue, except that it
is absolutely straight
and does not need to be tightend up. It also comes in a most convincing off
black color which to my eye looks just right. I get the ceramic sprue from
Precision Hobbies, P.O.
Box 97F, Springfield, VT. 05156 (802)885-3094. The wire is $4.95 per 10 foot
length.
I have to say that this stuff is really great. It looks fine on both 1/72
and 1/48 planes.
In fact, .0055" scales out to .264" in 1/48 which is perfect. In 1/72 it
scales out to
.396" which is a "little" oversize but not at all noticeable on the model.
I hope this will add to the general confusion. Mike