Heat to Tighten Mono Rigging

[Des]

To stop the lines from sagging I always pre-stretch the mono before I fit it to the model. I cut a length of mono then holding one end with one hand I run the mono through my fingers of the other hand stretching it fairly tight over its full length. When I fit the rigging lines I apply tension but not an excessive amount, too much tension can cause the wings or tail to be pulled out of alignment, overly tight rigging lines are not necessary.

Des.

[TomR1981]

Some good tips here, thanks!

Tom

[lawman56]

Sounds like the next "new idea" progression, may just be a functioning turnbuckle in scale! Now if I could just perfect my Acme "Miniaturizing Atomic Ray Gun"........

[Des]

A fully functioning turnbuckle in 1:32 scale would be quite an achievement, but tightening the turnbuckle would be a task on its own and the amount of movement we would get would be miniscule, probably not enough to tighten a slack line, stick to using heat to take up the slack.

I had to use the soldering iron yesterday to tighten a line on my latest build, the Fokker Spinne, but with there being so many rigging lines I managed to touch one of the other lines and it instantly broke, so I had to replace the line, not a huge issue just a pain. By the way, the soldering iron on the slack line worked extremely well, the line is now nice and tight.

Des.

[GAJouette]

A fully functioning turnbuckle in 1:32 scale would be quite an achievement, but tightening the turnbuckle would be a task on its own and the amount of movement we would get would be miniscule, probably not enough to tighten a slack line, stick to using heat to take up the slack.

I had to use the soldering iron yesterday to tighten a line on my latest build, the Fokker Spinne, but with there being so many rigging lines I managed to touch one of the other lines and it instantly broke, so I had to replace the line, not a huge issue just a pain. By the way, the soldering iron on the slack line worked extremely well, the line is now nice and tight.

Des.

 Des,
Man do I feel your pain as I struggle to rig the fuselage for my Voisin Canard. Not that the rigging is all that complicated but rather enough of an issues to make me want to pull my hair out. Assuming of coarse I had any to begin with.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette