discussion aerial wire and fine tube for planes

[yak face]

Hi everyone,thought i would share a little discovery i made while trying to find the right stuff for aerial wires on planes.I know aeroclub do a lycra thread ,and ive read its good,but i found something in boyes at scarborough.Its bait elastic ,99p for a bobbin,probably hundreds of yards of it.Its on the fishing section,i presume fishermen use it for tying bait to the hook,but its perfect for aerial wires or rigging.Its stretchy, very thin,and being a rubber type material will stick fast with the tiniest drop of superglue.ive used it on the last 2 models(de havilland heron+ il2 stormovik)and its so easy.Before,every time i tried to use stretched sprue i always melted it trying to tighten it up with a hot screwdriver!! Heres another one if you need a thin hollow tube, for an exhaust for example,and it needs a slanting cut on the end,brass microtubing is no good you just cant cut it neatly enough.Try getting a cotton bud(q tip for our friends in USA)and heat the central stem and stretch it like sprue.Because its hollow to start with you end up with a very fine hollow tube,which you can just cut with a knife.Youll need to attach it with super glue cause its not styrene but its really useful.I used it for the exhaust stubs on a 1/72 polikarpov i-16 it looks really effective.Sorry about the length of this post! its taken me ages and my typing finger is tired out,im going to lay down!(with a beer) bye for now:beer:

 

[Guest]

Sticking with stretched sprue...

Its stretchy, very thin,and being a rubber type material will stick fast with the tiniest drop of superglue.I worry about rubberised materials - do they degrade over time? I am sticking with fine stretched sprue at the moment fixed with a bead of fast drying PVA glue. It is possible to fix it fairly tight and the drying of the glue tightens it a bit plus I think the sprue has a tendancy to contract slightly with age keeping it tight.

Cheers.

 

[yak face]

Its stretchy, very thin,and being a rubber type material will stick fast with the tiniest drop of superglue.I worry about rubberised materials - do they degrade over time? I am sticking with fine stretched sprue at the moment fixed with a bead of fast drying PVA glue. It is possible to fix it fairly tight and the drying of the glue tightens it a bit plus I think the sprue has a tendancy to contract slightly with age keeping it tight.

Cheers.

true ,i did think about the rubber perishing/losing its tension but then i thought, its so easy and im so lazy ,if it does ill just have to re do it -ive got miles of it! Ill just have to keep an eye on it and see what happens. As for stretched sprue i just cant do it, no matter how much i try.the only other thing i had success with is my missus' hair(good job i dont do biplanes -she'd be bald by now!!) cheers tony

 

[Guest]

I have found that if u stretch a long peice black cotton, streched taught between two clamps and then paint it with a brush and PVA glue... when it dryes it dryes quite rigid. You can then cut it to length and glue it in place with a blob of glue at either end.

Andy