Broken struts

[Kurt]

I’ve snuck over here from the “sticks and string” ship model crowd. I have a WNW Ships Camel that came with a cabane strut detached from the fuselage. My question is what would be the best fix, some sort of pinning? I would imagine structural integrity is really important with this piece. I think it must be fairly a common occurrence. Before I go and make it worse is best way to approach it?

Thanks,

Kurt

[lcarroll]

Kurt,
    Yes, a very common occurrence at least at my desk! The WNW Camels are beautifully engineered however I personally would prefer the cabanes not be molded to the fuselage. I have built 2 Wingnuts Camels to date and struggled with broken off cabanes on both, it's just far too easy to have an accident (or three!) with them!
   I use pinning as the solution. Drill both ends of the broken strut and use guitar steel strings or Nickel Silver rod from Albion Alloys, 0.45 mm diameter would be the minimum I would recommend and personally I prefer the guitar string as it's available in bigger thickness. I use CA to assemble them and attach with CA as well. Obviously alignment is critical. It's a delicate operation. Hope this is of assistance.
Cheers,
Lance

[Alexis]

Agree with Lance . I have broken many struts during clean up and test fitting right up to finally assembly . Pinning them in the best solution . I pin all of my struts and I used either steel wire , brass rod/wire , copper wire .Depending on the strength and flexibility needed .  Haven't tried guitar string so can't comment on the usage of it , but it is a common material used for pinning .


Terri

[Manni]

Hi, i did the same with my Camel some days before. I drilled a hole in the strut and the fuselage and pinned it with a acupuncture needle.
Bye,
Manni

[AlbertD]

I had to pin a broken strut on a WNW Sopwith Dolphin. I used some brass rod and super glue gel with care it went pretty well. I think it's hard to go wrong with any metal wire or rod.