.005 surgical wire needed for rigging purposes

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hi,

I have started to model WWI biplanes in 1:48 scale. For the rigging purposes I’d like to use both fishing line and .005 surgical wire. Could you please give me some names of wire suppliers whom to contact… If somebody has another alternative way to rig the planes apart from fishing line, I’d be more than interested to hear the ideas.

Thank you in in advance

Matti Sallamaa

Helsinki, Finland

2

First, here is a link to a product that they are selling on ebay. It comes in different diameters and is fairly easy to work with:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200405595491&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Then this is a picture of some items that can be purchased at Hobby Lobby in the U.S. I’m not sure of their availability to you. But similar items are available in most arts and crafts stores. The large spool is a flexible cord, used for jewelery. The two smaller spools are a pliable copper colored wire also used for stringing jewelery. I hope this can help you a little bit. Rick

3

swing on to: http://www.theaerodrome.com and post there - you’ll get a myriad of answers. I use a mixture of lycra type thread, elastic thread & steel wire [guitar strings!]

results here: http://onetofortyeight.com/post.cfm/lvg-cvi

4

Wonder wire. Do a search here on that topic…wonderful stuff!

5

I’m not much of a biplane guy, but I’m guessing stretched sprue would work pretty good

6

For what it’s worth to you, I use sprue… It doesn’t need to be cut to the exact length, a little sag is ok… You just glue it and let it set, then just hold a heat source near it (not TOO close though), like a soldering iron, incense stick, fireworks punk, or (in my case) a lit cigar and when you get it just close enough, it’ll suddenly snap tight… As you add wires, just be sure that you’re aware of how close the heat comes to finished wires so you don’t melt one of those…

7

I use guitar string, it is just a tad larger at .008" but it is easy to get, pretty cheap and look right.

8

I’ve never seen wire sold smaller than .010" in any quantity. But you can buy 8X flyline leader material that runs about .003" (that 3/5th’s of a human hair). But another route you might think about is to find a machine shop that has a wire EDM machine. They use a brass wire in the machine (thousands of feet at a time), and it is only used one time. If there’s another fifty feet on the spool they will simply change spools to avoid changing wire in the middle of a cut. The wire comes in .010" and the more common .012". It’s kinda stiff for something that small, and can usually be had for next to nothing.

gary

9

Thanks to everybody for the answers and ideas

Matti

10

I had a look at the package, it is a Super light E string, and may say 8 gauge but it is .008". One string costs $1-2 and gives you a wire about 3 feet long.

11

In a pinch sometimes I use cut up lengths of speaker wire or automotive harness wiring. I slice off the plastic insulation and use copper strands from there, in 1/48 and 1/32 this works especially well. It’s copper, it’s soft enough to straighten out and put bends in etc. Hope this helps.

12

If you don’t mind buying this stuff online, check out www.smallparts.com. They have several different types of wire in sizes as small .002" (I’m not sure how this translates to gauge but it’s pretty small), including music wire.

I buy from them often and have never been disappointed.

Hope this helps.

13

Hi,

I found a wooden spool of 006 wire (Brotherston Surgical Supply Company) at an antique store. Don’t know what kind it is, silver in color, stainless steel?? possibly. Is this the guage you could use?

Best Regards,

HMS

Arizona, USA