I am currently building my 2nd Tamiya 1/48 F4F Wildcat. On the 1st one, I installed the antenna wires after finishing the kit. (used thin fishing line). The fore and aft one looked fine, but trying to get the two that go down into the sides of the aircraft was a pain - could never get the tension to look right. Also, since it went int the national insignia, I had to be very careful with glue, tape, etc., to hold them in place until the glue set.
On the 2nd one, I’ve takena different approach. I’ve pre-shaded, painted and futured the individual outer parts before assembling them together. (fueslage, lower wing, upper wing halves, and cowling). I plan to go ahead and appy the decals, drill the holes, then insert the wire (using magic wire this time) leaving the ends sticking out the bottom of the model so it’ll be easier to tension them after I assemble the kit.
I was wondering after seeing all the great looking photos of finished models on this site - how do you all go about adding the wires? After it’s assembled? Before hand as I’m doing now? I’d really love to hear your methods, ideas, suggestions, etc.
I use monofilament and a pin vise with a #80 (or close in size) drill bit after the plane is built and painted. Dip one end of the monfilament in CA and wipe the excess. Thread that end through the hole created with the pin vise and drill bit. Wait several minutes for CA to cure. Pull taut on monofilament inline to connection point of antenna spire, wing tip, etc.and attach with very small amount of CA keeping wire taut beyond and inline with connection point until CA cures.
I also use this method. There is also a little trick I use. Use the heat from a lit candle to tighten your rigging. Just the heat don’t get too close or well you can guess what happens. I use this little trick when I reg my biplanes. I get them as tight as I can by hand but if the still sag the heat will shrink them tight. Also good after your models have been built and sitting around, after a while the rigging starts to sag. Remember though just a very little bit os heat.
For the heat source, I use a small screwdriver and heat the blade over the flame from the stove. The handle protects you from the heat and you have a little more control.
Thanks for the ideas! One question for all of you talking about using heat to tighten wires - is that for the monofilment lines only? Or does it also work with metal wire? Seems like heating would cause it to expand and sag even more if it was metal. . .
This is going to sound a bit weird, but here it goes. This is time comsuming. If you have access to a pair of old pantyhose, you can carefully remove one of the elastic threads and stretch it to your needs. Install it as you would any monofiliment line. IIRC, I read this out of the readers tips section of the FSM magazine. Good luck.[:D]