Can anyone offer suggestions about methods to improve the strength of a strut-wing mating? I am attempting to make the Roden SE5 and have had a world of difficulty getting the struts to hold in place. So far, I have simply tried gluing them with Tenax, Testors cement and ca, with limited success. The primary problem is that the struts tend to move while drying, smearing the paint finish and ruining the look of the resulting joint.
I have been mulling a way to improve the joint by inserting a wire into the strut end and drilling a corrosponding hole in the wing or fuselage join location. Has anyone tried to do this? If so, any suggestions for how to make it work?

One of the things I have used to success it cyanoacrylate (super glue) and excelerator. Apply excelerator to the strut end then fill the locator hole with glue and set the end in the hole. and hold for about 3 seconds. Then insure the right angle. Within 10 seconds it is stuck fast.

I have used Jackflash method but i also will drill small holes and use metal pins to aid in that depending on the aircraft i'm building at the time . I do have Rodens se5a but haven''t built it yet so i really can't say what will work best for you .

Greetings Mike;

Terri is correct that pinning often means creating assemblies with brass pins inserted into matching holes to unite two pieces. Using brass only makes the joint stronger.

I have tried the ca and accelerator approach but tend to get some overflow that creates a puddle of dried glue around the strut base. My idea was to drill a hole in the strut end, insert some type of wire into that hole and drill a corrosponding hole in the wing/fuselage mating location. Like many of my ideas, I am not sure if it is workable.

I just happened upon this post and am currently building a 1/48 vacu-formed Vought O2U corsair for the Between the wars Campaign. Here is a photo of struts built using contrail strut stock. Drilled and pinned to fit the wings. Alongside is the kits-rather crude-resin cast strut.


Contrail strut stock is available from Roll Models

Thanks for the picture. It really helped me confirm what I was thinking about. Now, I'll have to give it a go.