Flat monofilament. Finally found some !

[Hubert Boillot]

As many, if not all of you, know, the drag of rigging wires very soon became an issue for airplane manufacturers. The answer was to streamline the rigging wires, giving them an aerodynamic shape. And it became common on notably the English biplanes.

 

Enter modellers, almost 100 years later, and come the question of reproducing the shape of the flat rigging wires. The answer has been to use Prym elastic thread, or use PE "wires". The first one is very convenient, provided you check it does not twist, the latter ones are realistic, but show a sensitivity to heat conditions, with sagging, or minute structure distortions (like handling your beloved kit by the wings) ... And none has the structural capacity of taut monofilament. They are just there for aesthetics ...

 

But monofilament is round, and therefore not realistic, especially in 1/32.

 

I had been on the hunt for a flat monofilament for some time, but this proved almost as elusive as the famous Graal. Sometimes I had leads, which ended nowhere, or I had to buy in bulk out of China, enough to rig all biplanes kits of the world for 100 years  .

 

Well, the search is over ! I found some on-line  !

 

I found this, hereafter, in a fishing supply shop on Amazon :

 

https://www.amazon.com/Airflo-Flat-Mono-Running-Line/dp/B077BB121V

 

I just received the spool today. I just measured it with my calipers. The monofilament is 0.3 mm thick (that is 10 mm in 1:1 scale, i.e. 0.40 inch) and 0.6 mm wide (that is 19 mm in 1:1 scale , or 0.76 inch). This is the 30lb variety, and there is a 44 lb available, which I presume would be bigger in both dimensions. The spool is 50 yards long : should last a few bipes, especially at my current building rate .

 

Finally, If you believe the manufacturer's add, it has very little memory, and should therefore minimize the dreaded "spring coil" of most fishing monofilaments. It just remains to deal with the fluorescent yellow color, but that should be easy to cope with, with some paint or silver Rubn'Buff ...

 

HTH

 

Hubert

 

PS: Here are pics I made ... So interesting ones  

 

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2018 by Hubert Boillot
Inserted pics + corrected the gauge of the bigger mono;

[GuildAero]

Hubert, that's about twice the size of the wires on the DH89 we measured.  They were very delicate, I thought, but of course were not wires at all, but aerodynamically shaped steel rod. I think your filament will show itself up when they have to cross and fit into a wooden object that is used where flying wires cross each other.

 

Martin

[Hubert Boillot]

You're right, Martin  ...

 

I still have to find finer gauge monofilament ... But this one is better than nothing, and can find a use, even if overscale ....

 

Hubert

[wunwinglow]

Good for BIG bipes like a Swordfish though!!   In fact, I seem to remember my original Williams Brothers GeeBees and Wedell Williams had something like this in the box, but that was normal nylon colour. That must have been 35 years ago, so this material must have been around for decades. The stuff I have is from a different manufacturer, I'll photograph the reels when I get home.

 

Tim

[Guest Clunkmeister]

Yes! I’ve been a long term singer of the praises of monofilament Line for biplane rigging, and thanks to Hubert’s great detective work, there is light at the end of that tunnel.

 

Yes, a bit big for the likes of Camels and SE5s, but it certainly is better than Prym.

No more wobbly Britishers!  

[GuildAero]

I know it's an old system, but stretched sprue is still good.  If you file sprue to the section you need first and then stretch it, it will stretch in the aerodynamic section you put on it.

 

Martin

[ScottsGT]

20+ years ago I got to see my first Stearman up close.  First thing I noticed was the aerodynamic rods used for supports.  I was building R/C at the time.  First thing that popped into my head was "Now how the hell am I going to replicate that!?"

[DeanKB]

Looks interesting - I use 2lb mono, so 35lb mono must surely look overscale?

[Out2gtcha]

Yes, personally I had all sorts of fits trying to tie up 15 or 20 lb. test line. 

[Hubert Boillot]

2 hours ago, DeanKB said:

Looks interesting - I use 2lb mono, so 35lb mono must surely look overscale?

 

2 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

Yes, personally I had all sorts of fits trying to tie up 15 or 20 lb. test line. 

 

Brian, I would not expect to try to make any knot with this one. Just CA glue some straight pieces ...

 

I did further checks. A "standard" RAF 9/32 RAF wire should be in 1/32 scale roughly 0.1 mm thick by 0.3 mm wide, so in essence the mono I have found is twice the required size in any dimension, and actually 6 times the required scale section. 

 

Assuming strength is a proportionate factor of the section, we should be looking for 5 lbs strength. So far I have failed to locate any flat wire of this strength / dimensions. As for this one, the only info I had when ordering was strength and "flat". I ordered one to see what it looked like and what dimensions it actually had. By the way, from memory, it is not any bigger than what was included in my Gee Bee boxes by Williams. When I get back home tomorrow, I will have a comparison look.

 

So this is probably overscale, although probably good for some big bipes. Question is : will it look so out-of-scale on a finished model ? Worth giving it a try before making a definitive call, IMHO.

 

Hubert

[Out2gtcha]

Id be up for trying it, if there is no need to tie it up. I think if one used Bobs Bs, or if that subject didnt call for buckles, some CA into the wing or other depending on need for a fairing.  I wonder what the bare minimum thickness this flat mono would come in is? 

 

I think the only way to know exactly how (if at all) out of scale it would look is to actually install it on a test model. 

[Old Dog]

Just out of curiosity is it possible to flatten round nylon line by rolling it with a round object on a flat hard surface ? Never tried nylon but have done the same with copper wire and have flattened brass wire in a smooth jawed vice. It might not hold its shape if heated to shrink but it might be worth trying.

[Out2gtcha]

2 hours ago, Old Dog said:

Just out of curiosity is it possible to flatten round nylon line by rolling it with a round object on a flat hard surface ? Never tried nylon but have done the same with copper wire and have flattened brass wire in a smooth jawed vice. It might not hold its shape if heated to shrink but it might be worth trying.

 

I think the issue that maybe ran into with that is getting a consist profile. It seems it might be difficult to get the same identicle flatness all the way across each piece of rigging.

I guess in the end, there's only 1 way to know for sure!

[Guest Clunkmeister]

I'm definitely going to try it. There's some here I trust their opinions unerringly, and Hubert is one of those. If he thinks it'll work, I'm all for giving it a try.

 

Besides, what's the worst that could happen?  You're out the astronomical cost of a roll of fishing line.

[williamj]

You know with the tens of thousands of WNW kits combined with all of the other Bipes out there in resin and styrene,surprised there aren't more AM flying wires in different sizes and material available.

I have used only RB flat flying wires with no complaints for the past few years (actually like them),used to use stretched sprue and thin plastic rod ,but it would be nice to have something as an option that was the correct shape.

I am convinced if such a product was made available there would be an absolute run on it.