Need for PE rigging on Tamiya Swordfish?

[ebergerud]

Sorry to break the WWI spirit on my first post, but I've gotten some conflicting information and bet this would be a good place for information.
I'm thinking seriously of buying Tamiya's pricey but very nice Swordfish. Was thinking of a Mark I to help sink the Bismarck so the PE is not included. (It's in the Mk II and that kit costs $11 more which is the cost of the widely available stand alone PE. I think some of the PE is to convert a MKI to a MK II.) I don't really know what function the PE bracing plays in the kit and have gotten two answers on other boards. One is that the PE is necessary because the bracing wire used on the Swordfish is poorly emulated by mono - a material I'd prefer over PE any day. The other is that some aircraft modelers are shy of rigging and the PE is to widen the audience of the kit. So: if I build a Swordfish MK I would PE add significantly to the realism of the kit?
Eric

[gcn]

I've built a Tamiya Swordfish before and I used mono. I haven't spent any post build time looking at it and tutting about how wrong it looks. In that scale or 1/32 I think it doesn't matter what's used as long as it is rigged. If you want to use something with a flatter profile have a look at knit in elastic.

I know I haven't got the talent, patience or time to even attempt to rig anything in PE.

It's a nice kit and builds up very well. I may try one with floats one day.

[PrzemoL]

IMHO rigging with stiff PE elements is very, very hard, to say the least. It will almost surely end with sagging. The rigging material needs some elasticity to compensate for inevitable deformability of wings/struts structure. If I were you, I would go for elastic monofilament line, like fishing line or so. You may also try flat elastic thread suggested by WNW to rig their models of British WW1 aircraft.

[Chris Johnson]

I haven't built the Tamiya Swordfish yet but this is my Trumpeter 1:32 kit where I used monofilament and brass tubing.



I was very pleased with the look of the monofilament and of course, you always get the benefit of increased structural integrity when using it too. In 1:48 scale it will look even that much better. Frankly, I dismissed the idea of using the PE lines for the same reasons as laid out by PrzemoL.

Cheers,

Chris

[lcarroll]

Eric,
    I have the PE Rigging you are considering, never used it but have "fiddled" with it a lot in trying to evaluate it. I'm with the others, for me too hard, it's bound to sag (read that it does that in a Review somewhere) and in the end very "two dimensional" in appearance. I'd consider the other options, and in 1:48 Scale I believe the mono would look just fine with the added advantages.
   Good luck with your project.
Cheers,
Lance

[ALBATROS1234]

i also have the additional tamiya pe in addition to the mk.I kit. not sure about the pe rigging but there are also some other things in the fret like details for the engine and such if my memory is right . i would most likely do standard mono rigging and use the other bits to dress up the build. i havent started on this one so i dont know yet.i bought the kit from a guy who threw in the pe . but i would most likely buy it if only $11.

[Graham t]

I've built a couple & used the Tamiya etch.  It represents the correct "RAF" flat type rigging so that's a plus.  It is however quite dificult to fit, being of fixed length.  All in all though, worth doing IMHO.

[Dave in Dubai]

I also built the 1/48 Tamiya Swordfish as a gift to an elderly neighbour who flew them during the war.

I thought long and hard about buying the PE set as it is quite a lot of extra for a few extra parts.

However the end effect was worth the effort and extra expense.

The PE wires have to be carefully fitted into the small slots moulded into the wing surface....carefull you dont clog them up with paint or the wires will be even more difficult to fit.

I seem to recall using CA to glue the ends of the wires, but friction should hold them in place just as well as the tolerances are very precise.

Good luck with your model.

[IanB]

 I'm halfway through a 1:72 SPAD XIII which has the struts and rigging in PE and I'm going to have trash all of it, scratchbuild the struts and rig with monofilament. It looks great on its own, but looks horrible when actually put up against a decent model. Plus it's almost impossible to get it attached correctly - and why would you want to go to that much trouble for something that looks terrible?
Rig it properly, that's my advice.....

Ian

[Gisbod]

Yes, I built the Tamiya Swordfish last year and used the PE rigging.. Very nice in theory, but almost impossible to keep rigid -the model flexes as it is picked up/ moved and the rigging tends to warp under the slightest of pressure - the beauty of monofilament is that it acts as real rigging, and makes the whole structure stronger and the rigging remains 'tight'.