Voisin III

[pepperman42]

All. A question for the floor. Des, you mentioned colouring the rigging. Do you do that before or after rigging the plane? Im guessing after but just wondering.

Steve

[Des]

Hi Steve and thanks for the question.  I paint each rigging line after it is fitted, it is easier to paint the lines as you progress through the rigging stage. It is important to cover the wings before painting the rigging, if you use Mr Metal Colour paints which are lacquer and very thin, splatters from the brush can sometimes happen, I usually cut a piece of paper to fit between the struts.

Des.

[pepperman42]

Thanks Des. I imagine on this one there was a fair amount of  different approaches to get in at all of them!!

Steve

[Des]

Yes Steve, I had to approach the rigging painting quite differently on this one, I had to make sure I didn't get the paint brush tangled up with the lines.

I made the tail booms from 1.2mm brass tube, the uprights are from 0.9mm brass tube with 0.6mm brass tube running through the centre. I drilled holes through the booms to allow the uprights to be fitted, everything is held together with CA which bonds to brass extremely well.

Des.

[Jose Chaica]

Hi Des.

Wouldn´t soldering be a better option than CA? Have you considered it? I´ve had bad experiences in the past using CA to hold brass tubes together. While at the beginning they tend to hold it quite well, after sometime, and due to stress and handling they sometimes loose grip, and end up separating.

[modelmaker]

Hi Des Jose is right I work with Brass on a daily basis, I'm no expert just talking from experience.
CA will hold the brass very nicely over a short period of time. But over a long period of time the CA will become brittle and let go. The CA isn't actually welding the joints as Solder would. I'm by no means trying to tell you what to do it just concerns me that you have put so much work into this beautiful model to think what could happen latter.

Sean

[Des]

Thanks Jose for your comments. I have considered soldering but with such small section brass tube it would be a little messy. All the joints I do are drilled and pinned so with the CA it is a very positive and strong bond, and once the rigging is fitted it becomes even stronger. I have never had a problem with CA letting go, for these types of jobs I use the extra strong CA. The top wing mounting frames are soldered because I needed a very strong assemly, and now with the wings mounted, the struts in place, the rigging done I can pick the model up by the wing tip and there is no movement at all in the wings, this would have to be the most rigid model I have ever built. I have probably over engineered the whole model but I wanted it to be strong because of the size of the wings and the pram like undercarriage.

Des.

Sean, I just got your comment as I was replying to Jose. Again, thanks for your thoughts and I have taken note. I have been using CA now for over three years and not had a problem, when you say it will become brittle over a period of time, what time span are we talking?

[modelmaker]

Hi Des about 4 to 5 years and also depends on climate and how well the surface of the joining parts were cleaned. I would recomend using a good automotive thinner for cleaning the surface and roughing the surface with emery paper will also help conciderably to give a tooth (bite for the glue to bond to).
 Also Des not sure if you use it but avoid using that cheap Super glue in the black tube found in cheap shops. Its fine for bonding plastic surfaces and very tiny metal parts but not larger areas or areas that will need to take load.
Sorry for the drawn out explanaition!!

Sean

[Jose Chaica]

... I have probably over engineered the whole model but I wanted it to be strong because of the size of the wings and the pram like undercarriage...

If there´s one thing that I´ve learned on my scratchbuilding experiences, is that there is no thing as "over engineering"!
It pays to think ahead and take extra actions to avoid disaster, at later stages.
Anyway, I like very much the way you approach your build. Like I´ve said countless times before... Keep up the excellent job!

[Des]

Not drawn out at all Sean, it is always great to get a step by step for any techniques we use in our modeling, it helps everyone. I clean all the parts to be glued thoroughly before applying any glue, and a light rub with some wet and dry paper takes the shine off which helps the glue to grab, using the industrial grade super glue is a must when making assemblies which require high strength.

Des.

[GAJouette]

   Des,
The tailbooms look awesome my old friend. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together. She's the most prefect example of your Master level craftsmanship and skills to date.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[Chris Johnson]

I've been looking forward to seeing how you tackle the tail boom Des. In my own mind, the task seems fraught with difficulties when considering how to anchor the rigging in brass tubing. However, I have no doubt that you've already thought this through and engineered a solution. You'll probably make it look like child's play, which will encourage me to try to emulate your technique with Roden's DH-2 boom, undoubtedly with disasterous results! 

Cheers,

Chris

[Des]

Thanks guys for all the nice comments.

Chris - The rigging attachments for the tail booms are quite different to an ''ordinary'' pusher. As with the wings, the tail booms had a circular metal plate which was fitted over the upright sections of the tail boom assembly, these had a series of holes around the plate which took the rigging cables. I used 0.3mm plastic sheet, first I punched a 0.96mm holes, then centring (centering) this in my punch set I punched out a 2.5mm disc, this left roughly 0.75mm of material. I then drilled six 0.3mm holes equally spaced around the disc making sure they were centred (centered) in the remaining material. A disc was then placed over each upright at the top and bottom, these will now give an anchor point for the rigging cables. Each rigging line has a turnbuckle, so there will be a heap of them to make and fit. Keeping the correct tension on the cables is crucial, if one line is slightly too tight it will pull the boom assembly out of shape, so I will attempt to rig both sides at the same time keeping the tension equal.

I hope to have some more photos in the next day or two.

Des.

[GAJouette]

   Des,
My old friend I can hardly wait. I'm prepared to be amazed.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[Des]

I have completed most of the tail boom rigging, still have to do the bottom runs. There are turnbuckles on each individual line so that means a heap of turnbuckles. I used 0.12mm Maxima Chameleon monofilament for the rigging, once fitted it was painted with Mr Metal Color Stainless. To keep the booms straight, before rigging comenced I glued two 1mm steel rods spanning the booms near the uprights, after I fixed all the rigging I then removed the rods, the booms remained dead straight, I will do the same for the bottom booms. The photos give a good indication of the amount of rigging on this aeroplane, there is still to be added all the control line rigging for the rudder and elevators.

Des.