Frequent lurker posts: Glencoe MB-2 bomber

[Lufbery]

Hi all,

I lurk frequently, but don't often have much to say.

So anyway, after more than a year of work (and the birth of my first child), and after trying a number of new things (not the least of which is rigging a biplane), I've finished my Glencoe 1/72 Martin MB-2:

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This kit was a real bear to build, and I didn't make it any better, having made a few mistakes along the way.

The MB-2 represented the first time that I:

1) wet sanded to remove seams and molding flaws,

2) made my own decals (woodgrain decals for the cockpit floor; they turned out great!),

3) used white metal aftermarket parts (Lewis guns and Scarff rings),

4) drilled holes and installed a ton of rigging and control wire lines,

5) repaired broken struts by drilling holes in the ends and putting wire in them, and

6) scratch built a few small pieces, the exhausts in particular.

[Old Man]

An excellent beginning, Sir!

Welcome to the world of hair fine scale wires.

May I ask what material you used for the rigging on your on your premier attempt?

I have one of those kits on the shelf, and memories of having botched one horribly as a boy.

[Lufbery]

Hi Old Man,

Thanks for the kind words.

I used smoke colored invisible sewing thread that I got at a local fabric store.

The control wires on the alierons and from the cockpit to the tail are very fine silver-colored wire that I salvaged from a ceiling fan light switch.

Regards,

-Drew

[Grant]

Well the lurking obviously paid off! Nice job on the rigging - AND you made a base for it too.

See, it is good to post.

cheers

Grant

[Old Man]

It turned out quite well, Sir.

Do you recall the size of the monofilament? I found a spool of the stuff that is only four thousandths of an inch in diameter in the craft section of my local hobby-shop, and that is damned near true scale in the 1/72 range. It can be a little hard to grip with the tweezers.

I mostly use an elastic material called EZ-Line, that I got mail order from Bobe's Hobbies in Florida, in charcoal grey and rated at three thousandths of an inch. I cut the line a little smaller than the necessary length, and get a very tiny bead of gel CA on the end. The first attachment can be simply left to dry, and the for the final one, which will be under a little tension, I drop a little accellerant on the surface the end will be touched to by the tweezers: when things go well, which they do about nine times in ten, the tiny bead of glue bonds firm in a couple of seconds' contact with the treated surface.

[Lufbery]

Thanks Grant!

Old Man,

I'm not sure what thickness the invisible sewing thread is, but it is pretty thin -- thinner than the normal fishing line I use on my fishing rod.

It was hard to grasp, but I used a pair of needle nosed tweezers to grasp the line. I drilled part way though the top wing, and the whole way through the bottom wing, so each line was first anchored at the top, and then drawn through the bottom wing. I had troulbe applying the right amount of super glue. A shaved toothpick worked pretty well.

Things went a lot more quickly when I started using super glue accellerator. :lol:

I got a hat at Lowes that has two LED lights on the brim. I wore it while rigging, even though my wife thought I looked pretty funny.

I may need to try the elastic line you've mentioned.

I've got a 1/48 scale Dragon/DML Spad 13 in the stash, and two Roden 1/72 fighters: a Fokker D.7 and Bristol F2.b.

Regards,

Regards,

-Drew

[Old Man]

The elastic, Sir, is available from Bobe's Hobby House in Florida, and runs about fifteen dollars for a hundred feet. I have gotten ten builds out of my reel, and am, I think, about half-way through it.

That is a good method you have used for the rigging, that usually gives a good result. I personally do not like drilling holes, but it is only a matter of taste, not a conviction of craft: in some ways I am very lazy....

I have built the Roden Bristol, and it is a very nice kit, well engineered for attaching the fuselage in its mid-gap suspension. It would build up very nice out of the box, though it omits a few cockpit features. I would recommend a few things should you set about it. First, enlargen all the locator holes, both on the wings and on the fuselage, as they are so small as to be largely useless. Second, be very careful assembling the fuselage halves, as there are no locator pins on them, and precision in alignment of the locator notchings for the fuselage to lower wing struts is necessary. Third, the locators for the horizontal tailplanes are pretty poor, and you will have to look sharp in assembling them to the fuselage. I omitted the engine assembly, as I found it a bit oversize on my first try with it, but that could well have been poor assembly on my part. All I did was glue the cylinder banks in, and trim off the sump of the engine and glue it over the hole on the bottom.

Happy modeling, Sir!