Hi all.
Im working on my first biplane.Dont ask,,lol,,sudden rush of blood to the head after all the rigging talk recently?,,,Actually I really fancied doing a trainer to go with my fighters.
Im wondering what the best build sequence is,especially for aligning the top wing.(struts on lower wing then add top,,,strutts on top,attach to bottom?
Heres what I plan to do.
Build the plane as a monoplane,drill all the rigging holes.(done)
Spray it as normal,,including the seperate top wing.
Attach all the rigging to the "monoplane".
Attach the top wing and then connect up all the rigging.
Im thinking of using black thread for this,,will it be too harsh or should I use a different colour.Personally I think the contrast of black rigging and a yellow plane will look nice
You have no idea how much im dread,,,,er i mean,,looking forward to the rigging bit :-)
Any comments and advice welcome. ( "stick to monoplanes" doesnt count :-) )
Nige

Hey Nigel; I have posted some of this here before for free. You Can do a search for "rigging" or try my website for the whole download.

http://www.wwi-n-plastic.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=93

I have Revells 1/24 scale (I think) Fokker Dr1 and Academy's 1/32 scale Sopwith Camel setting in my stash that I'm trying to get the courage to build, I'm going to try using 1 lb. fishing line for the rigging. It's thin enough that I can take a little flat black thin it and give it 1 or 2 passes to give it contrast. I used black thread on a 1/48 scale B-17G and it looked good when I first put it on but it got fuzzy over time, but now it works great for capturing any dust or cobwebs in the air........just cleaning the stuff out is another story. :-)

Good luck.

R.J.

Thanks guys.
Just to clarify my question.
Its not a question about actually doing the rigging.Ive read all the threads I can find on here and Im pretty happy I can handle that ok.


Hope this helps.
Nige

Oh, ok sorry about that I guess I mis read your post. I think it would be easier to attach the struts to the lower wing first and then add the upper wing. There would be a little less stress on the glue joints and a little more room to reach in and adjust the struts while they set.

R.J.

I understood you Nigel. The topic of rigging biplanes usually includes setting the struts first. Let me explain a little...

"...Struts are the bane and pain. The battle-cry of the neophyte modeler - “I can’t do that, it has all those struts!” Several methods are used with struts. I will either replace kit items with extruded (airfoil shaped) brass sections or put brass rod in all the ends of the kit struts. This reinforces your work but also gives your struts an adjustable (by bending) pivot that works to your advantage, especially when your kit has dihedral ,forward or reverse stagger. . When you have all strut locator holes in the right places and the cabane struts are fixed at the right angles, everything else should go great. Simply use a temporary jig of children's Lego blocks to hold the assembly straight and plumb while the glue cures..."

Thanks guys.
That just about covers everything I wanted to know.
Not the sort of thing I usually build but we'll see how it goes
Nige

nigel - be very wary of rigging then attaching the upper wing, i had the bright idea of doing this on my DH2 by running the threads over the top of the struts, then putting on the top wing. problem was the upper wing was slightly out of alignment so half the rigging snapped and the other half sagged- one of the reasons that one took me eighteen months on and off to build. but apart from that it sounds like you should be able to tackle this no problem. i often find the hardest part of rigging is researching where all the wires actually go on the real plane!

Cheers Phil.
I had a good look at the TigerMoth in Hendon and noticed that the wires are all close to but not through the struts,,so Ive drilled holes and I'll attach the bottom wires and then trim and glue into the top wing.
Thats the plan anyway,,when the xtracolour finally dries,,
This kit is really just a bit if fun to see if I can do it

My preference has been to build the top wing then erect it onto whatever struts are under the center section, maybe dry-fitting the outer struts just to ensure alignment.

I have never had success following kit instructions to erect just the center section, then add the outer top wing sections to that.

John