Pinning your struts?

[GazzaS]

Hi everyone,
    After a terrible few hours of rigging, with the top wing detaching a couple of times during the process I went looking about for some kind of tutorial on adding the top wing.

Unsuccessful in that endeavor I started looking at the topics in this subforum and found myself looking at a build thread on the another Albatros by Roden.  The builder pinned all of his struts even though that didn't completely solve all of his upper wing programs.

Do many of you pin your struts?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Gaz

[Dave Brewer]

Always except for Wingnuts builds.A jig can help a lot also.

[lcarroll]

Gaz,
    I believe Dave speaks from experience; I too "pin" the struts and also control surfaces more often then not although the superb engineering of the Wingnut Wings Kits usually eliminates the requirement unless some damage has been induced by careless work! I use stainless steel guitar string pins and generally CA although recently I've found 5 Minute epoxy offers a bit more time to get things aligned then the quick setting CA. A good Jig is crucial in my experience as being human you are limited in hands and fingers!
    As I said earlier the Roden D.III was my first 1:32 Biplane Build and I had to pin every one of the struts including the landing gear to get her together. I have two Jigs to use, one like yours in your photos and also the more elaborate Aeroclub Biplane Assembly Jig which is regrettably no longer available.
Cheers,
Lance

[krow113]

Pin if needed , but todays kits don't have that problem.
Also I advocate the use of jigs whenever possible , if you need them:

[hiddeous1973]

as I do mostly 1/48 I pin a lot, almost everything.
Most 1/48 don't have precize mounting pionts anyway.
But if you build WnW, a very important first step is to fill the holes where the struts will be placed with a liquid mask of any kind and clean up  the hole and the strut before glueing.
That makes it a perfect bare plastic to plastic connection that can be glued with something like Tamiya extra thinn or the likes, they give a very stong bond, but don't like painted surfaces that much.
A pin will give a strong bond also,so if glue alone is not enough, pin!

[GazzaS]

Thank you all for your answers.  I have a jig, and it made things a lot easier, but my clumsiness was a big problem.  I hope my next biplane kit will go easier.

[rayb24]

All of this begs the question what dos everyone use for a jig. I have been using lego, snap cubes and elastic bands. I always cut the elastic band rather than try to undo it.

I've once seen an aeroclub jig. Which looked to me the ideal thing, but rarer than gold.

Ray

[Dave Brewer]

I was lucky to buy the Aeroclub jig when John was still operating,and it has enabled me to build some kits I would have struggled with otherwise.I think it might be too small to handle  1/32 kits but now that I build WNW predominantly I only need it for the odd 1/48,was a great help assembling a pair of his Tiger Moths last year.He was going to offer a modification to take larger scales but I don't think it was ever actually available,although looking at it I think I can fettle something up.I also have a large jig which was available through a chap on the forum a few years ago,which can hold the model securely and then move it into any position via an arm swiveling off a heavy base,great for rigging rather than attaching a top wing.

[hiddeous1973]

there are some wooden versions around, can't recall the names but you can google 1/32 jig and look for the pictures.

I have this one, a clear plastic one.
http://www.vertigo-miniatures.com/vertigo/eshop/15-1-VERTIGO-JIGS/0/5/843-Basic-BI-3224

I know some people had difficulties with shipments not arriving, but I had no problems with mine. Goog communications and fast shipping in Europe.
Across the pond, UMM has  them as well
http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?manufacturers_id=114&osCsid=8aecd3813c1896aaa27bc93a081e2e38

I love mine, great options but not as versitile as the aeroclub, but a lot bigger!

[GazzaS]

I use the Vertigo Miniatures Jig, too.  It helped a lot, but I think I need to find some way to secure the wings to the jig that won't ruin the paint.  I also need a way to keep the wings together while I'm rigging the plane.  I'm thinking that binding the wings with strips of nylons liberated from my missus might hold them together so I can make them separate less.

I was painting rigging today and managed to separate the cabanes from the fuselage again.  Frustrating!  I think if there is a piece that needs to be designed to pierce the sides of the fuselage deeply, it's the cabanes of the Albatros D. series.

Gaz

[lcarroll]

  Quote from Dave: "I think it might be too small to handle  1/32 kits"
 
     I use both the AeroClub and the Vertigo types too. I was fortunate enough to get the AeroClub version from John just before he ceased production, and had him include longer lateral beams (the threaded and the square brass components) which allow for longer wing spans of the larger scale. It is limited by a restriction of the longer wing chords of the bigger kits such as the Hansa Brandenberg W.12 and 29 thus I purchased the Vertigo Jig as well. The Aero Club product is by far the superior tool and if you can locate one I believe the longer lateral bits could be easily found if you want to work on larger then 1:48 Scale Kits.
   I also have the "Magic Third Hand" clamp stand device for rigging etc. which is my favorite modelling tool, absolutely magic IMHO!
Cheers,
Lance

[GazzaS]

Lance,
     Do you have a link to the "Magic Third Hand" jig?  I went looking for it, but unfortunately those three words bring up a lot of different things.

Gaz

[uncletony]

Lance,
     Do you have a link to the "Magic Third Hand" jig?  I went looking for it, but unfortunately those three words bring up a lot of different things.

Gaz

The guy's on Facebook... his name is Paul Grivas. I'm not sure he's still selling them (they were a thing back in late 2015). I bought one but I have to confess I've never used it. I find it kind of big and clunky ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lcarroll]

Gaz,
    It's not a Jig , rather a device that holds your model securely and can be rotated and locked in all three axis; try this link and watch the video, I find it indispensible for rigging but it may not appeal to all.The info and prices are somewhat dated, I paid around $110 USD for mine. If you contact Paul directly he is very quick to respond and his service was excellent.

https://www.facebook.com/Kronos-Designs-1556299394599528/?fref=ts

Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

Gaz,
    It's not a Jig , rather a device that holds your model securely and can be rotated and locked in all three axis; try this link and watch the video, I find it indispensible for rigging but it may not appeal to all.The info and prices are somewhat dated, I paid around $110 USD for mine.

ouch -- i got mine for about $60...

anyway, what Lance said. I guess my problem with it is that it would seem to be more in the way than anything else, and I don't like the idea of mounting my model to this brutal scrape-y metal thing. But then I haven't really given it a fair shot, either. I suppose if I was building a Fee it might start to look a lot more appealing...