Flying Skeletons... just a quick little proof of concept...

[Brad Cancian]

Hi all - i've been looking for a way to consistently replicate wing structure for some projects I have in mind. I think i've found a way that seems to work reasonably well. I quickly knocked up the below in about half an hour, which was made from 0.10" sheet plastic, plus some plastic strip / rod. It's not based on anything in particular (I just did it to see what was possible); it's about 3.5cm in chord (so rougly 1/48 scale) to give an idea of size.





What do you think? I think i've got a process that t I can work with, but the challenge will ultimately be trying to retain sufficient strength given the thinness of the ribs, but I think I can help solve some of this with some thin strips for rip caps.... The ultimate project is a complete skeletal model in 1/48.

How else do all you scratch builders do something similar?

Cheers!

BC

[ermeio]

excellent  work, Brad
I myself experimented this method some years ago and it is excellent for an uncovered wing
If you want to cover it you should use something different by plastic card, as I discovered that if it is covered with plastic card it tends to warp with time. It is likely that this is due to the differential dilatation of the plastic card in the various directions.

Thanks for posting, exellent  work!

[Brad Cancian]

Thanks Ermeio - my plan is definitely for an uncovered wing. I appreciate the feedback

Cheers,

Brad

[coyotemagic]

If you have cut these all by hand, that is astonishing work, Brad!  They are so sharp and clean, they look like they were done on a machine.
Cheers,
Bud

[Brad Cancian]

Thanks Bud - they were done on a machine I think i'd go insane if I tried to do it all by hand!

For this little experiment, I designed one rib (not based on any particular pattern), then copied and pasted three more. Once the design was done, it took around 5 minutes to cut the parts, another 5-10 minutes or so to separate each rib and do a cursory clean up, and then assembly. The problem that I am trying to overcome now is that the ribs were cut from 0.10" plastic and are flimsy, so it's hard to keep them straight. I think rib caps may help here.

If I can get it to work, this should give me the ability to create skeletal structures relatively quickly and (hopefully) consistently.

Cheers,

BC

[Gene K]

Thanks Bud - they were done on a machine

What kind of machine, if I may ask?

Gene K

[Brad Cancian]

Nothing too fancy - one of these - https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/shop/machines/portrait

With my experiments so far, I think you'd need to go something a little bigger for anything over 0.10" thickness.

Cheers,

BC

[Gene K]

Nothing too fancy - one of these - https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/shop/machines/portrait

Thanks. I have a Portrait as well as a Curio (for thicker material, but cutting force is unfortunately the same).

Gene K

[Bughunter]

From my experience with the D.H.2 strip down:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8552
I think the plastic is to weak, you should at least replace the spars by brass (this is what I have done on that model). Even the etched ribs are not easy to handle, and you needs struts between the wings. So I think, your construction will be bend under own weight.
I thought about brass spars and wooden ribs done by laser cutter.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Frank

[Brad Cancian]

Thanks Frank, a great suggestion and i'd had the same thoughts about using brass spars. I think that should provide me with the stiffness that I need. Mounting them to a fuselage or similar would be the next challenge...

I think i'll be ok with the plastic ribs if I add some rib caps and use wire leading and trailing edges; I have to see what might work best here.

Unfortunately with the cutter I have, I can't easily cut though anything thicker than 0.10" plastic. I wonder if there is somewhere where I can get thin enough wood that could be cut with the machine that I have...?

Beautiful DH-2 by the way!

Cheers,

BC

[Brad Cancian]

On that note - where could I get something that would work for brass spars in 1/48 scale? There are a couple of products that I've seen but they all seem a bit large for 1/48...

Cheers,

BC

[Bughunter]

Not that easy to find. I found some on ebay, but the shop do not exists anymore.
The most comprehensive range on brass profiles you can find in shops for architectural modeling and arts & crafts fair. Also railway modelling in bigger scales (soldered locomotives and so on).
The smallest I found was 0.6x1mm, such can be a base for further processing.

Cheers,
Frank