Excellent work Steve. The real beauty of these kits is that you can do sooooooo much with them. Your's is growing right before our eyes. Hopefully I can do some work on mine now that I have other projects finished.

Stephen,

Are you gonna use the Part PE Turnbuckles? Those really look like a real pain... But then, ANY turnbuckle is gonna be a pain. The bad thing about the Part PE turnbuckles is that they just CE down "onto" the plastic. Not sure if thats strong enough.

Your correct, the beauty of these 1/32 Roden kits is that they do lend themselves to be detailed. I'd love to see a whole plane put together with Part PE.

Regards
Steve

Any thought of making your own turnbuckles for that more scale appearance ?

Hey Terri,

Part has the full load of turnbuckles..........all in scale.........but the problem as I "see it" will be how tightly they hold onto the plastic with CA alone. The ONLY reason I have thought about making my own is that they would be set into a drilled hole in the plastic, thus a bit stronger. I'm in the "THINKING" mode right now. Trying to look ahead.

Besides..........the home made ones call for Q-tips pulled to form the slip-cover............problem is that Q-tips around here are made of cardboard type material, not a tube that can be heated and pulled.

Regards
Steve

Really , no plastic Q-tips ! I do under stand the issue of having more strength for the rigging , turnbuckles . Having the turnbuckles lie flat doesn' t sound to great . With the holes which would give you a better bond and add more strength . I just never did care for flat turnbuckles and in 1/32 that would really stand out . Well if you can't get Q-tips how about plastic tubing in styrene .

Hey Terri

Turnbuckles.....PE style. Part's PE Turnbuckles get folded to give them some thickness, not perfect, but they look OK. The end piece folds into an L angle to be CAed to the wing/fuselage. Thats the connection that I don't really like. My wings gonna need some real-time strength.

yes fiberous stick for the Q-tips bummed me out when i went looking. Small plastic styrene would be nice. Don't have a good hobby store around here, have been ordering on-line, like to see what I'm getting first. Spend a lot of time in hardware/craft/ect kind of stores looking for interesting "Stuff" that might be useable in the hobby.

Now I've got to go to the womens makeup section for some sanding sticks.............

Anybody have any thoughts on plastic tube that can be stretched? I'm getting close to HAVING to make my own turnbuckles.

Regards
Steve

Hi Steve H,

I have been lurking in the background watching your build with great interest. I love to detail out my flying R/C models (mostly 1/12 scale or so WWI biplanes). I used to build only styrene models when I was much younger.

Anyway, you can try pulling the insulation off of the very small wires in computer mouse cables. They are pretty small diameter!!!

Please let us know if this works out for you.

Oh yea, out on the West Coast we have Target Stores that carry plastic swabs. I am surprised the pharmacies don't have them in plastic too.

Keep up your wonderful build and good luck!!!

Dave

Hello David

Well, let me try a few more stores then for plastic Q-tips.

As for lurking.........So do I and i appreciate the help. This rigging is going to be a first for me so all the suggestions are welcome. When I settle on a solution, the learning curve will be steep but once a prototype is build, then just a long tedious assembly line.

Regards
Steve

OK, still messing with Turnbuckles. I can't close up anything until i at least determine the method that i will attach the rigging with.

Here is a photo of a turnbuckle attempt with copper wire. Size looks about right up next to the airplane. Missing the Q-tip sleeve since I don't have the correct type of Q-tips. Also in the photo is Part's PE turnbuckles. They just dont look strong enough to me. The twisted wire looks like it would hold better in a drilled hole with CA glue.



Thoughts?

Regards
Steve

Hi Steve,
Not being an American I cannot be sure of the size of your coin, but your turnbuckles look a little big to me.
Go to your local stor and buy a couple of Chuppachups ( I prefer Cola Flavour). The sticks from these are better than Q tips for stretching.

Cheers,

Hugh

Hey there Hugh

Lets see....you don't know the size of our coins and I've never heard of Chuppachups. At an impass here. Soooooooooooooo......since I have never rigged a biplane before....much less, made turnbuckles, am I on the right path at least?

I will agree that they look a little bit too large to me also. The wire is the smallest i have ever found. The eye could be smaller as the monofilament going through it is much smaller. Would a smaller eye work? Length can always be ajusted and well as being burried in a drilled hole. I'm still looking for slipcover material.

Regards
Steve
"Getting obsessed with turnbuckles!"

Hatter,..try stranded lamp cord wire.......I build 1/400 ships also and use the stranded wire to fashion buckels,..stanchion supports and even rigging on the top masts. They come in all sizes up to .30 gauge awg. with the normal being an 18.awg gauge.
You can double or triple the wires to twist, and apply CA glue to the finished product to fill in the voids between the strands........it works. Give it a try!

Hi Steve , you are on the right path . I do agree with Hugh on the size of the wire you used .
If you can find a small size , any where would work . If you can still find the twist ties which are made from wire those will work or have a look at your local craft store in the make your own jewelry the wire that is used for necklaces and bracelets will also work . Dollar store may even have that . Maybe even a electronic store might have what you are looking for .

I do like Davids tip on using the wire insulation , never thought of that one ! But will work in 1/32 scale .

Definately the kit turnbuckles , yes. From the guide-lines

"Requirements
A. Finish the build within 12 months time.
1. Starting date February 1, 2008
2. Ending time Jan. 31, 2009.

B. Kit must be built with Roden kit parts.
1. Aftermarket parts can be used if they are specifically designed for the Roden kit you are building.
2. Profile or scheme must be from the kit .
3. Rigging medium can be any that the builder is familar with

C.Progress will be reported on a central thread in Early Aviation."

Grettings Steve. Originally PE small parts were never meant to be load bearing. Its more window dressing. The PE turnbuckles are not an exception to this rule. They should be slide into place and glued after the rigging medium is attached at one end to its anchor point(s) on the model. Hence the reason I predrill all of my rigging pilot holes. Note the turnbuckles I used on the 1/48 version in the build notes thread.
Regards Stephen

Oh, yeah. You are on the right path Steve.
ChuppaChups... Small round lollies on a stick. Kojak was always sucking on one.

The deal seems to be that the styrene is a little more robust in these than in the Q tips.

I have a bunch of wire that came from some earthing strap or other... dunno where I got it (read, filched it from a scrap metal bin at my old place of employment)... The strands of wire are very thin... I'd say about 5 thou. And to look at it, you'd say that it is not strong enough to make turn buckles from, but it seems to be.

Cut the length so that the ring is flush with the surface.

Cheers,

Hugh

Still trying to come to grips with those pesky turnbuckles.

1. Gonna revisit the Part PE TBs.
2. Gonna go a hunting today for suitable Lollies.

Stephen I noted the "Warning" on the GB rules. Well, I've already violated them in using Beer Can, but I told you that going into it. Go ahead and remove me, thats ok. Just keep my thread going un-stickied.

My deal in this thing is to have fun with it and learn soem new things in the process.

Regards
Steve

Easy Steve. Thats not my meaning at all. I was asked "what I would do" in the original post. Note also I stated that rigging media can be anything you are comfortable with. To me that includes turnbuckles. They are by definition apart of the rigging. I had not thought of removing you from anything. There is no salt here. We are all just trying to enjoy the builds. As I said a couple of days ago no worries.

Hey Stephen,

No "Salt" taken. I just noted that I have used beer can for my cowling, both upper and lower. Technically that is a violation of the GB.

I'm just listening closely to turnbuckle thoughts and suggestions. I just need to learn the technique even if in 12 Gauge copper wire..................then reduce it a million times. I've built a few models before, but never one with wire rigging. This is a new challenge for me.

And i do appreciate the thoughts.

Regards
Steve

Don't stress Steve,

The very first finished build in this campain had bits of ever green styrene added here and there I seem to remember and I remember thinking that that was not playing by the rules. But since it seemed to be OK, I my self have stretched the definitions of the original premise with the Fokker F1.

I am going to order a Hisso Powered SE5a from my Local and do a quick OOB build on it this month. No aftermarket, no scratch and most of all, no stress.

I will post progress on this forum and maybe Stephen will pick it up

Keep doing what you are doing. We are all learning from it.

Cheers,

Hugh

Hey Hugh,

Not stressing at all................ Been building a series of failed turnbuckles.........but I'm getting better. Got to get my "Plan" down pat before i drill the first hole or seal the wing and fuselage up.

I also keep eyeing the Part PE turnbuckles. I also am eyeing the lack of a fillet provided between fuselage and wing. I've been experimenting with some solutions. It's a simple L fillet but it has the compund curve of the wing to work around. Since i also have a gap to contend with there, may use strips of styrene and then gap filling CA. It would certainly strengthen that weak area for me.

So today has been a thinking day. How to overcome these issues.

Appreciate the support. Look forward to the OOB SE5a H-S. Ya gotta have stress though. I have ANOTHER SE5a Viper coming and for that one i WILL open the side panel up. And use both PE and styrene framework.

Regards
Steve

Try using the Lead Foil from the neck of a port bottle for the fillet... This has obvious advantages

Cheers,

Hugh

Hugh, I always welcome "collateral" advantages. Good call on that. Might have to go buy some today and try it. You also jogged my memory, I have some rolled lead that i might be able to roll a little thinner.

Going shopping for Q-tips under other brands that may still use the tube plastic. SE5a is stalled right now with problem solving going on.

Regards
Steve

Steve , don't give up . The guys here are a really big help and very understanding . Things may seem frustrating at times , but that's what beer is for !!!

I'm still learning new rigging methods and find it to very challeging at times . It did take me a while to come up with a way on doing turnbuckles in 72 scale ! But i did do it .

I find you to be a big asset to the site and I really enjoy your build .

Give Up?????????? no way!!!!!! I'm problem solving!

Went to Wally World.......(Wal-Mart) and found a bunch of "stuff". Found the Q-tips with plastic handles under a different brand and name ("Swisspers in Hot colors") . Found .23MM steel wire. Even snuck into the lady's department and got some great sanding sticks.

Back to making turnbuckles. I've got them down to almost the size of the Part PE turnbuckles.



The ruler is in 100ths of inch.
Steel wire is .23MM or .0092 In.
The copper twist is one of the old ones.
The second one up is an attempt at having an eye at both ends of the Q-tip and still have a length of twist to CA into a drilled hole.

Ideas?? Suggestions?

Regards
Steve