What I've been up to tonight

[Plynkes]

Decided to expand my horizons a little and try something I've never done before. No big deal really, but I don't consider myself a proper modeller, rather a wargamer who dabbles purely for the sake of "getting it on the table." But for some reason I felt like doing it. So I did: I finally faced my Room 101: Riggging a biplane! [/i][/b] Gasp!

Okay, easy as cake for proper modellers, but a bleedin' nightmare for the likes of me. So here goes, on a guinea pig, my half-finished Ottoman Albatros DIII:


Not perfect. It's a bit tricky, and there's some visible slack in places, most noticeably on the undercarriage.



But you have to remember, I'm totally new at this, and it's all a bit scary...


I've simplified the rigging scheme a little, as it is a wargaming model and I'm just going for an impression really. Just felt that no rigging at all looked a little bare. I'm pretty pleased. Not bad for my first effort.


Ahhh, it's no bloody good, I'm too drunk to do any more. I'll carry on come the morrow...

[Helen]

Hi Poly,

Nice work

Can you provide us with a "How to do for non-modellers rigging?"

Lovely work on the plane - is that a Smer kit?

God Bless

Helen

[revford]

Looks smart man, great job there.

Based on my extensive and detailed knowledge of biplanes (I built a 1:72 Swordfish about 25 years ago) it's spot on.  

[Westfalia Chris]

Good Lord, it looks better than ANYTHING I´ve ever managed in twenty years of modelling. Really, unless I can do it in a cartoony-yet-halfway-convincing way, rigging is the part I skip out on.

ANd that wood effect on the hull looks lovely. Care to elaborate on that?

[Plynkes]

Yes, it's an El Cheapo SMER Hermann Göring DIII, Helen. It would probably be wise to lay off dispensing modelling wisdom like a guru until tomorrow, just in case it all springs apart during the night. For now let's just say I've been lurking around websites and forums of bona fide aviation modellers for the last couple of days, hoping to steal some of their secrets.

But the crux of it is to figure out your rigging plan before you do anything else, and drill lots of little holes accordingly. That is much easier to do if you do it before you start gluing bits together and painting. Fishing line, superglue and my own two hands did the rest, as I was unable to find a shop selling haemostats in small town Welsh Border country (and that's what the big boys use to stretch everything nice and tight, I'm given to understand).

I've been delighted to discover that some of the slightly more expensive kits, such as Eduard and Special Hobby actually come with rigging plans, which take a bit of the headache out of it. Still, you can't beat SMER for value for money.



Chris, the wood effect on the fuselage was an experiment I was pretty pleased with, though it was a somewhat painstaking affair. First off I painted it with Coat d'Armes Wood Brown. Then I took the time to freehand paint wood grain over the entire area with the same company's Leather Brown.

But that looked shit, and nothing like real wood. So I calmed it down with a wash of GW Brown Ink, then some drybrushing of a very light beige-ish brown that I just concocted on the fly, and then some more Brown Ink. Then I picked out all the seams with GW Black Ink. There was no plan to this, I just kind of fumbled my way through it, trying new things each time I was unsatisfied with how it looked. I ended up pretty pleased with it, though. It's quite a nice-looking wood effect. It doesn't show up too well on these photos due to the angle of the shots, but I plan to do some side-on views once the whole thing is finished.

[Malamute]

Looking good.

[Lowtardog]

Tip top Poly dont know how you have the patience, I once knew a guy who did this with diddly little napoleonic ships was like watching a guy making a spider web. all power to you :mrgreen:

[Hammers]

...I was unable to find a shop selling haemostats in small town Welsh Border country (and that's what the big boys use to stretch everything nice and tight, I'm given to understand).

What are haemostats?

It looks very good, Plynkes. Was I manning a ritish pompom during the Great War I would hesitate to shoot it down.

[Lowtardog]

...I was unable to find a shop selling haemostats in small town Welsh Border country (and that's what the big boys use to stretch everything nice and tight, I'm given to understand).

What are haemostats?

It is actually a small clamp used for stopping the flow of blood in blood vessels and the like, hence "Haem" relating to blood :mrgreen:

[Plynkes]

I might have meant hemostat, but I think it's just another name for the same thing.

It's a kind of surgical clamp used to stem blood-flow during surgery. Looks like a pair of scissors. All the online tutorials I studied assured me that they were required equipment for rigging a biplane. It's probably just as well I couldn't find one, as I wouldn't have known what to do with it anyway!  



I think the idea is that you clamp it to the bottom of your line and let it dangle, so that its weight keeps the line taut while your glue sets. I just held it tight with my hands.

[Lowtardog]

Poly they are easy to use (knew my cmbat medic course would come in useful eventually )

you see at the base of the scissors where the finger holes are, there are two protrusions with teeth on them, well once you have your wire in the grip of the "prongs" these are pushed together to lock in place.

I would think you could get quite small ones from medical supplies or possible even a main chemists? if you cant find them in model shops.

You can also get plastic ones too

[twrchtrwyth]

Nice work.

[Plynkes]

Hmmm. One of the diagonals has for some reason gone slightly slack.

Oh well. I'm not really sure I can be bothered to re-do it. It's not that noticeable I suppose. Still, a bit annoying.

[Jules]

looks very good.

When I did the rigging on my 1/600 ships I used fine guitar strings and this also worked good.

[Uncle Mike]

quote:  Originally posted by hammershield

        quote: Originally posted by Plynkes
        ...I was unable to find a shop selling haemostats in small town Welsh Border country (and that's what the big boys use to stretch everything nice and tight, I'm given to understand).



    What are haemostats?

In Canada we call 'em "Roach Clips"... :roll: