Easier biplane rigging

[p-26luvr]

I am going to show how I rig my biplane models with this thread, (pun intended ). I have been building models for 68 years now. The first models I did any rigging in were ship models. The first when I was in my teens, The second, Revells 36 inch Cutty Sark. For years I built biplane models, & never rigged them, & after I did start to I used many different types of material with varying degrees of sucess.

About 1 1/2 years ago a series of things fortunately came together. Starfighter Decals issued both decals & resin cockpit sets for the Monogram between the wars bipes, which I had a few of & had wanted to build for years. At the same time, I came across the thread that I now exclusively use in rigging my models.

MY INTENTION IS TO SHOW THE AVERAGE MODELER THAT RIGGING A BIPLANE MODEL IS EASIER THAN IT SEAMS AT FIRST GLANCE. I am no expert at the rigging of models. BUT USING THIS METHOD I HAVE RIGGED 12 MODELS IN THE LAST YEAR.

To start off with you will need a good rigging diagram, and/or several pictures of the plane you are going to model. Pictures are very useful in showing where the rigging is anchored.

Next we come to tools. This is a picture of the tools that I use. The top 3 are tweezers that I find most useful. The bottom 2 are pin vices. The top one has a needle in it which I have cut the eye part off from. I use this to make starter holes for my drill. I use a pin vice for this so that when the needle breaks or gets dull all I have to do is replace the needle with no problem or trouble. The lower P/V holds a #75 drill. I use this number drill because the usually recomended #80 drill breaks very easily & much more often.

This picture show s why I use this particular P/V. Because it is short it fits in my hand just right so that I have complete control over both the pressure & direction in which I am drilling. There is far less likelyhood of my drill slipping.

Next we come to the thread that I use. It comes in a conical spool with 600 yards of thread. It has a nylon core covered with a silvery finish. It cost $10.00 here in the US. I bought mine at the local fabric store.

Once you have studdied your rigging diagram & pictures thoroughly, you next lay out the places you want to drill all of your holes in the model. This picture shows where I have done it on this model. There are short black lines next to where the holes will be drilled. I DRILL ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE WINGS & THE FUSELAGE SIDES. On a sold resin fuselage like this model, I drill at least 1/4 in into the fuselage in order to have a good anchor point for the thread.

In order to keep this thread manageable I will be breaking it down into several posts with 4 or 5 pictures per post. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to ask them & I will try to answer them. Carl T

[p-26luvr]

In these pictures you will see where I have fed my thread down through the upper wing & into the holes in the fuselage. On double wire rigging I do both wires at once Once I have seated the wires firmly in place I apply Super glue to the holes in the fuselage. THROUGHOUT THE RIGGING PROCESS I USE 5 to 15 secong super glue usually. I NEVER USE THE FAST DRYING KIND.Sometimes I use a 10 to 25 second drying glue. Please notice that I leave a long bit of the thread above the upper wing. I use this to pull the rigging tight.

This picture shows the tailplane area on the same model Again you see where I have used a long length of thread, which I trim closer after everything is glued up.

In the next post I will be using a different model to work on. Carl T

[Dr.Jellyfingers]

An excellent guide sir, thanks for taking the time.

I'll be bookmarking this for sure as there are one or two in my stash

Cheers, Si.

[p-26luvr]

In this series of pictures I am using my SBC-4 Helldiver model. In this picture is the lower wing & interplane strut. The tight wires go up to the cabane stuts, the loose ones go into the fuselage.

These are the cabane strut wires

These are the lower wing to fuselage joints.

This is the upper wing & interplane junction. I always try to glue the threads on the UNDERSIDE OF THE UPPER WING & THE TOP OF THE LOWER WING FIRST.

This is this model with the rigging ready to be tightened up. Usually I tighten up each/pair of wires as I go along, but this picture shows you how much thread I leave over so that I have some to pull the rigging tight with.

Starting with the next post I will show you some of the models I have done using this method & tell you what has happened to them. Carl T

[p-26luvr]

This is my Matchbox SBC-4 before an unexpected flight.

This the same model after the 2 models dropped down from over 6 foot up coutesy of my cat Tippy. The grey one is thje same one I used earlier. All that happened to it was that the right stabilizer came off.

This is my Sikoski S-16. This little bird fell over 4 feet twice onto the hobby shop floor.

The only thing that happened was that an inter plane strut came off & was lost. None of the rigging broke or came loose on any of the three models even the smashed SBC-4.

If you look through the pages on this site you will find threads on all but one of the models that I have used this method to rig my biplane models. If you try this method go slowly until you are familiar with how things work. I WILL STRESS ONE POINT, BE VERY SURE THAT YOU DRILL ALL OF THE HOLES THAT YOU WILL NEED. It is very hard to do it on an assembled model.

There is one drawback to this method that I must alert you to. There is one thread on about every 2 models that in my experience does not dry as quickly as all of the rest. It may take quite a bit longer to dry, or harden off. I do not know why this is, but I have become used to it & make allowences for it. Carl T

[Moofles]

thankyou very very very helpful.

[billybookcase]

Can this be pinned?, as I feel a biplane coming on.

BB

[Lightningboy2000]

That looks very helpful to another rigging student here!

Also sounds like your cat needs rigging up after those little accidents. Bless em. Love the cheeky devils all the same!

Mart

[p-26luvr]

Thank you fellows for your kind comments.

I would like to add something that may interest you. The average time I now put in on rigging a model is 1 1/2 to 2 hours each. The Sikorski took longer but it had a lot more rigging. If you look at the picture you can follow the rigging steps I used on it. Starting at the rear left landing gear strut at the fuselage junction, you go up on the same side to the gusset with the hole in it, through the hole & over to the left rear interplane strut, up through the hole there to the top of the right interplane strut. In this way you have made 1/2 of the X cross wire on the L/G & interplane struts using just one piece of thread. Doing the same thing with the cabane struts, I started at the lower end of the left forward cabane, went up to the top of the right forward cabane strut & down to the bottom of the right rear cabane strut, thereby forming 1/2 of the X wires there with one piece of thread. Doing it this way saves having to cut ,place & glue shorter lengths of thread.

This is my 1/72nd scale Revell P-26. I am in cluding this because I rigged it with 10 thousndths brass wire cut to length & bent on each end, & super glued in place.

I am including this picture because it shows the underside of the P-26 model. I did not take a picture of the bottom after it was rigged, but you can still see where double rigging wires went between the landing gear & from the landing gear to the outer wings.

I have in various stages of building about 35 more biplane models which will be rigged using this method.

I generally now tend to do my decaling after I do my rigging whenever possible. If you do your rigging like this you should find that you model is quite solid & easier to handle.

Over the years I have used music wire,fishing line, fly tying wire, brass wire, ordinary thread, jewelry thread & wire. But this is the best material I have ever used for rigging biplane models, AND IT IS NOW THE ONLY THING I WILL USE FROM NOW ON. Carl T

[p-26luvr]

These arte a few of my models I rigged using this method

Carl T

[CPNGROATS]

Very nice bi-planes......!!

Cheers,

ggc

p.s. the P-26 is very nice as well..

Edited April 8, 2011 by CPNGROATS

[J.D.]

Someone needs to slam a pin into this. I've always wanted to know how to do it.

Thanks.

[crookedmouth]

Interesting thread and some nice models!

Why do you prefer this particular type of thread? I use a couple of gauges of nylon fishing line for different purposes. One problem I find with it is that if I havent drilled my rigging points at the correct angle, the line takes a slight curve, as it approaches then enters the hole ,which I can't tension out. I guess that your thread is a little more forgiving?

[p-26luvr]

Interesting thread and some nice models!

Why do you prefer this particular type of thread? I use a couple of gauges of nylon fishing line for different purposes. One problem I find with it is that if I havent drilled my rigging points at the correct angle, the line takes a slight curve, as it approaches then enters the hole ,which I can't tension out. I guess that your thread is a little more forgiving?

I use this particular thread because it is the easiest type of material I have ever used for rigging. It tightens up very easily, so far does not sag, & adds a great deal of strength to the completed model. Check out what happened to the 3 models that fell. I realize that it is not scale size nor appearing, but I want to have fun while I am building a biplane model, to be able to enjoy the experience & be satisfied with my model at the end. Not only that, but 3 of the models that I have rigged this way have placed in local contests.

I have a little more that I am goig to add to this thread shortly. Carl T

[p-26luvr]

I am adding these pictures to show how I have rigged the tailplane area on my Curtiss F11C-2. The control horns are from a Part brand etch-brass fret. I used 10 thousndths brass wire for the rod part.

This is the completed model.

Carl T

[p-26luvr]

These 3 pictures will make it clearer how I rigged the Sikorski S-16 that I described in the post with the P-26 pictures. The first one shows the under side where I went from the fuselage & rear landing gear strut up to the gusset on the opposite side & then to the hole by the rear interplane strut & up to the forward interplane strut.

This picture shows the half X formed by the rigging.

This picture shows how I did the cabane struts. I started at the lower front on one side, & went up across to the upper front strut on the other side & down to the lower end of the rear strut on the same side using one piece of thread.

This is my Airfix Hawker Demon in which I used fly tying wire for rigging. I will never use that again.

Carl T

[p-26luvr]

To clarify & add a few points. I start by marking out where I need to drill all of the holes for rigging, & then do my drilling. On a couple of my models I forgot to drill a few holes & as a result damaged the paint job I had done. I do all of my drilling before I do any painting.

After doing my painting I run my drill through all of the holes I have drilled so as to clear them of any paint blockages.

When I am doing two parallel rigging wires I make a guage from a strip of plastic on which I have placed 2 marks or 2 nicks opposite each other near one end. I place that end next to where the struts are going to go, & using my needle tool I make 2 starting points for my drill. Doing this makes sure that the spacing between my wires & the distance from the struts is uniform throughout my model. It helps keep the model looking neat.

As I said earlier I try to do my decaling after I rig my models, but there are always some times when that can not be done, particularly on a fuselage. One such instance when I should have but did not was with the roundels on the bottom wing of the Sikorski S-16. These had 2 decals one on top of the other. I was afraid that I would either break or strech the rigging on the bottom of the lower wing. I was fortunate that I did not. BUT an interesting thing did happen. I used Micro-set & Micro-sol on the decals. Doing this caused the rigging thread to go slack for about 10 minutes before it tightened up again.

I generally run one line or pair of lines at a time, making sure that everything is fully tight. I then trim that line or pair of lines. WHEN I DO A PAIR OF LINES I DO THEM BOTH TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME. I PUT THE SUPER GLUE ON BOTH AT THE SAME TIME & TIGHTEN THEM TOGETHER.

When I have a tailplane that requires that I would have wires to all 4 surfaces, what I do is first put the thread through the fin, & then down through the stabilizers. I then take one of the loose ends & glue that across the bottom of the fuselage. When that is dry I then take the other free end & glue that next to the other one. When that one is fully dry I very carefully trim the ends. Doing it this way uses one piece of thread instead of 4 very short ones.

All of this sounds like a lot of work, but once you get used to how things are done it does not take very long.

One last thing. In using wire for rigging, if it gets bent it is next to impossible to sraighten out. In using streched sprue for rigging, I am very sure that a model so rigged would not have taken a fall like mine have & not have broken wires. Monofilament while strong is very hard to see & for me at least hard to use.

LASTLY I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS EITHER THE BEST OR ONLY WAY TO RIG A BIPLANE MODEL. IT IS FOR ME THE EASIEST & SIMPLEST. I ACTUALLY ENJOY THE PROCESS WHILE I AM GOING THROUGH USING IT. AND I REALLY LIKE THE END RESULT. Carl T

[p-26luvr]

I see that there are a large number of modellers looking in on this thread, SO;

I would like to invite those modellers who rig biplane models in other ways, such as with streched sprue, monofilament invisible line, Aeroclub's stretchy line, & brass wire, to take pictures of how you do your way of rigging a model; and do the same as I have done & make a thread of your own showing your way to others. Maybe in this way we can build up a resource for future modelers that will offer a variety of methods to choose & learn from. We may then have a larger group of biplane building modellers.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY RAMBLINGS. Carl T

[DougN]

Carl, see my techniques (posted last year) here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49572

Cheers

Doug

[p-26luvr]

Carl, see my techniques (posted last year) here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49572

Cheers

Doug

What I would like to see, is to have all of the rigging threads together in one place under one heading so that a person does not have to hunt all over the place for them. That way they would not miss something important & useful. What do you think about it.? According to the stats there have been over 700 views of my thread alone, so there must be some interest. Carl T

[Work In Progress]

No-one has to hunt all over the place, if people provide direct links as Doug has above. It is literally one click away.

[Doug Rogers]

I'm planning on using some of our Bobs Buckles on my Fury, not used them before, but I've seen some really nice results from using them, so fingers crossed!

[p-26luvr]

BTW DOUG, I really liked your thread on rigging your Gladiator. I remember seeing it when I first came onto this site. I will be watching how things come bout with the Bobs buckles items. Carl T

[fharris]

I find rigging biplanes one of the most satisfying aspects of this hobby and have some 37 fully rigged models in my collection, one, two and four engined, single and two bay configuration. My method of rigging is almost identical to that described in this thread but with one extra step. The rigging thread is 0.125mm (.005") monofilament locked into the hole with a circular section tapered wedge - a section of heat-stretched sprue. The sprue wedge is dragged through the hole, quite forcibly, with pliers and locks the thread almost immovably in place. My procedure is, after drilling the holes, to pass the rigging thread through the hole(s) at the junction of the fuselage/lower wing from the top of the wing and tape the end to the bottom of the fuselage. The other end is then loosely threaded through the remaining holes and this end is also taped in place. In a single bay wing two lengths of thread per wing will suffice unless the model has twin flying wires which will require a couple of extra short lengths. Returning to the starting hole, a length of the sprue wedge is inserted through the hole and dragged through as tight as possible to lock the thread in place. Proceed to the next hole and tension the thread, again as tightly as possible, and pull a sprue wedge through the hole. The wedging action also further tensions the thread. Repeat until all sections have been rigged. It is advisable to alternate the sequence between port and starboard wings to prevent distortion. Also, feed the wedge from the "inside" of the wing so that the dragging action assists the tensioning. A smear of superglue on the end of the thread stiffens it and aids in inserting it in the difficult to get at holes. For twin flying wire configuration, it is best to start with the inner wires. Although the wedging should be sufficient to hold the rigging, a touch of very thin superglue at the inside points is a worthwhile belt and braces added security. After trimming off the sprue dags and excess thread, the holes on the outer surfaces should be completely filled and require only a gentle swipe with wet and dry to be ready for painting. For aircraft with rigging emanating from the fuselage the initial securing of the thread cannot be made as securely as above but a wedge pushed in place and superglued should be enough.

The attached photo is of a mock-up that might help to explain areas that I have not covered adequately. The upright piece represents the holes in the top wing.

(A) Length of heat-stretched sprue which provides two wedges.

( Wedge passed through first hole. This represents the first step with the loose thread and taped below fuselage.

C After the thread has been tensioned between B and C it is wedged in place and the wedge trimmed to a more manageable length. It will be fully trimmed later.

(D) Thread tensioned by wedging at E

(E) Wedging at E

(F) Excess thread to allow tensioning between holes.

Fairey lllD rigged using the above method

FGH

[Doug Rogers]

Interesting technique FGH, the results speak for themselves, that Fairey IIID is gorgeous!