Control wire exits

[smperry]

How do y'all handle attaching a control wire where it exits the airframe and heads for a control horn? I have tried dipping the end in CA and then attempting to stick that in a predrilled hole. I have also tried sticking the wire in the hole and then adding a tiny drop of CA. The former only works if you exactly hit the hole on the first try, miss and you have a bit of CA mess around your hole, and the latter requires a drop so tiny you don't know if you got it or else you get a blob around the wire. Thin CA here helps some.

So does anyone have a better way of securing control wires where they exit? Half blind, fumble fingered modelers want to know.
sp

[rolanddvi]

SP,

I have seen/heard of people who run the lines through the holes prior to gluing the fuselage together. They secure them with tape on the inside and then mate the two halves. Never tried it myself. HTH.

Mike

[smperry]

That sounds like the way to go, only I would CA the wires on the inside, tape just might not hold forever. One more thing to think about and plan ahead for. So much of the high level of detail seen here is taking the trouble to think and do several steps in advance. Techniques can be copied, but knowing all the steps and their correct order can't be copied; that has to be learned through experience.
Thanks for the good tip Mike, The trick will be in remembering it.

sp

[maddog]

SP, a third method  is to use a glue looper or equivalent to feed some thin CA into the hole then feed the line in being careful it sits clear of the fuselage, then let it cure. You can then feed it to the control horns. Obviously you want to be careful with the tension you apply after curing but it does work quite well.

Good luck!

[Bill_S]

I've had similar situations. What I've done is cut a short piece of stiff wire (smaller in diameter than the the hole diameter, about 5 or 6 times longer than the hole diameter), then CA my rigging material to the center of the wire, wrapping the rigging cable around the wire a couple of times. Once the CA sets, I stuff the wire through the hole. Done correctly, the wire will "turn" inside the fuselage and won't come out when you tension the cable.

[smperry]

Maddog and Bill
Thanks y'all, two methods I hadn't thought of. I will have to try them and see what I can do.
sp

[macsporran]

I keep a short length of .2mm nickel wire (Albion Alloys) and carefully insert this all the way through fuselage; in from port control cable hole and out from starboard hole. Apply a tiny spot of CA to end to attach monofilament thread and pull it all the way back through, then cut off wire and apply tension (bulldog clip) to both ends of mono as you attach and glue to horns on rudder or elevators.
A little widening of the inside faces of the holes before fuselage assembly makes pushing wire easier. A drop of Future seals the holes and weathering washes obscure any possibility of light shining through.