Wow, I love it when a plan comes together. The flat "RAF" wires included in the Silver Wings 1/32 Gladiator work very nicely. My research, including two specialized books on the Glad, show exactly how the rigging works, and I attempted to reproduce each area as close as possible. The wing outer struts have the wires at their base, wrapped with a fairing to reduce drag. I cut strips of paper, and wrapped them around the strut and wire, securing with good 'ol Elmer's Glue. They appear raggy at first, but can be faired in and smoothed out with the Elmer's to look realistic. The idea behind the "flat" wires is to reproduce the aerfoil shaped rigging wires used on all RAF planes, so the flats have to be facing away from the wind to be correct. They were more rods than wires, and made for a very strong, if draggy, structure. The Gladiator has a lot of them, but as with many other things, once you've done a couple, things roll on quickly, and most of them are in place. All that remains are the aileron connectors and rudder rods. This one is getting done, by jove. Still to do-canopy masking and painting, rudder control wires (redundant controls-two per side of course) pitot, cockpit doors, pilot step and painting all the leftovers lights, etc.and touchup. Oh, and the GD antenna, a complicated little setup I might leave for the hotel room.
Of course, not all goes smoothly. My painstakingly redone Fairy-Reed prop had a tiny bend in one blade, just straighten it a little...SNAP. Never bend resin without hot water. the repair, of course, looks like a forehead Zit on prom night...sigh.
The end of the tunnel beckons...
7 attached images. Click to enlarge.
