1/32 Trumpeter Swordfish Mk I dilemma

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

Hello gents, I am a newbie here and was wondering if any one would want to see if they could help me find a solution to a challenging problem.. I have the trumpeter 1.32 Fairey Swordfish kit and I would like to display it with the wings deployed. The kit is really meant to have the wings stowed but as with all trumpeter kits that have planes with folding wings getting them to build up with them deployed is a problem. There is one piece that is inserted in the center / inner plane top wing assembly that resembles a spar but it really does not provide enough support or a real good contact surface to be able to install the outer wing panel securely. Essentially it winds up being just a butt joint and being rather fiddly. Anyway, if any of you have a solution to offer I an tuned in..

Cheers

Paul

 

[fubar57]

Here it says "Wing spars are included, along with directions for minor modifications required if you want your Stringbag with folded wings"
Trumpeter 1/32 scale Fairey Swordfish Mk.I | Finescale Modeler Magazine
This site says the wings in the extended may be sketchy
Internet Modeler Trumpeter 1/32 Fairey Swordfish Mk. I
This guy built them with the wings extended...
Swordfish
As did this guy but he did the Mk.II
Trumpeter Swordfish Mk.II (FINISHED)

 

[Crimea_River]

Some wood perhaps? Maybe use some tongue depressors.

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

Some wood perhaps? Maybe use some tongue depressors.

Those may be a bit too heavy but I have thought about using some plastic card as tabs. I read in the links that FUBAR sent me that there may be more to it than just glue here and there. I am at the stage in my model building where I really have to get my head around a build before I jump into it otherwise it will wind up on the shelf of doom.

 

[fubar57]

There's a guy just starting a build here. Fairey Swordfish MkII - Trumpeter 1/32 It is a Mk.II but it should still piece together the same

 

[Wurger]

A question that should have been asked firstly . How the two surfaces ( edges between the two wing parts ) look like? Any pic would be helpful.

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

A question that should have been asked firstly . How the two surfaces ( edges between the two wing parts ) look like? Any pic would be helpful.

Sperry, but I am not starting this kit just yet. I have to order some pe and belts for it yet so unfortunately there are no pics yet from my desk. All I can tell you is that there is one free floating wing spar the extends into the outer wing about 2 inches and other than that the mating surfaces would be just a p[lain butt joint.. I may get to this in about a month.

 

[Wurger]

Just asking about pics of the parts at current the stage. Later the correction may be more difficult. . Also a scan of the kit instruction showing the assembling at the areas would be helpful.

BTW As I grasped you want to display the model with wings unfolded don't you? I have to leave for some of time but get back soon.

 

[Wurger]

Returned.

 

[Crimea_River]

I think he wants the wings in flying position. The wood I suggested would be stronger than a plastic spar, could easily be shaped to fit the inside of the wing halves, and can be secured with 2 part epoxy.

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

I think he wants the wings in flying position. The wood I suggested would be stronger than a plastic spar, could easily be shaped to fit the inside of the wing halves, and can be secured with 2 part epoxy.

I have thought of that and it sounds like a good idea and I may give that a try

 

[Wurger]

IMHO Andy's idea is fine but one note though. The combination wood and the epoxy is OK but the epoxy isn't a good glue for polistyrene. The adhesive can crack or stop sticking parts in time. As the result the joint of parts can fall apart. Therefore I would suaggest plastic and a glue for the kind of the material . But there is a couple of ways to get the problem sorted out. And this is the reason for posting a couple of pics of the requested areas and thinking the matter over .

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

OK, I do not have the ability to scan the instructions of the assembly step that you wish to see. So I will give you a link and direct you to the steps that you are interested in.

https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/8/0/3/102803-31-instructions.pdf

See the following steps; Step 9 and steps 10 through 18. Particularly the outer wing panels to the inner plane assembly.

 

[Wurger]

Humm.. it seems that the model kit contains all parts that are needed for the proper attaching of the wings unfolded. There is the main wing spar for the top wing ( C26) . It works with the B7 and B9 parts with struts. Both the B7 and B9 have the opening for the spar at the top airfoils that have to be glued in the external parts of wings. Also the parts have the flanges for sticking to the both top and bottom central pieces of wings. Therefore the instruction show there aren't any airfoils attached to the outer edges of the central wing parts. If you consider the way of attaching as insufficient you may attach a additional wing spar for both the top and the bottom wing. Also if you want you may make a new top wing spar longer if you consider the 2 inches not too enough. In the case I would use the kit one as the template and copy it with a piece of plastic plate of the same thickess the genuin spar is. It shouldn't be any trouble to make it. But IMHO the 2 inches are enough.

OK. here you are steps of the first way I would follow in order to make the additional rear wing spar for both the top and bottom wings.

Step 1...
The B-7 and B-9 parts have to be modified by cutting off their endings in order to get the same shape there as the B-6 and B-8 for folded wings have .In tha way you can get the slots of the wing spars accessed.

Step 2...
Use the B-12 and B-16 parts for making the rear wing spars. Of course you may make them from scratch using a plastic plate of the correct thickness.

Step 3...
The same should be done to the G-1 and G-6 parts. tthe height of the spars going into the bottom central wing has to be fitted to the inner height of the C16,C19 and C20 parts put together..

 

[Wurger]

Step 4..
Please check on the marked edges in the diagram below. These may need to be corrected with a file or by cutting/scratching in order to get the correct entries for the additional rear wing spars.

 

[Wurger]

Here is the another way ... as an example I used the bottom wing but exactly the same may be made to the top one. But you should remember about the main spar there.

If the rear wing spars appear to you not enough to keep the proper joint of the pieces there you can make two plastic cubes. Certainly these should be fitted in the shape to the inner area of the central bottom wing ( parts C16+C19+C20 put togeter ). Then make holes with a drill bit in them. Glue them into the central wing as showed in the diagram below. Put into the drilled appertures pieces of a copper wire of the same diameter the drill bit was used. Additionally you have to make holes in the parts B7 and B9 for the wire shafts. Also please remember about moving these cubes slightly deeper into the interior because of the flanges of B7 and B9 parts. What is more you may drill the set of holes what may allow you to get the best setting of the wing parts. I think the diagram shows that properly. But it is not needed and one hole for each shaft is enough.

As I said .. in the same way you may make the rear top spars. In the case there is no need to modify the B7, B9 parts by removing the small endings and make the rear wing spars using the G1,G6,B12 and B16. Just make two cubes of the proper shape, drill holes and attach them into the central top wing at the back . Drill appertures in the top part of the B7 and B9 pieces.

Also the spars for the bottom wing can be made in the different way avoiding making four smaller cubes. Make the cube of a longer chord in one solid piece. Drill holes at the front and back of these cubes. Glue them into the central wing part. Drill appertures in the B7 and B9 parts for wires..

If the way for making the additional spars is going to be used, the rear inner slots for them at wing halves, have to be sanded down in order to glue the plastic cubes correctly.

I hope the two ways can come in handy. I would say the second one is much easier than the first one.

 

[snapdragon]

Ok.... I've built this and had no problems building OOB with deployed wings.

section 9
build as shown. Do not cut off anything (and do put K4 on). Do not fit G1 & G6

Build section 10 AS SHOWN

Miss section 11.. that's for folded wings.

Continue with section 12 - 17. Miss section 18!
Do not use B6 (section 13)
Do not use B8 (section 16)

Take your time and do plenty of dry fits with the etched wing braces.

I painted the lower surface of the upper wing and the upper surface of the lower wing before assembly using the shadow shading paint on the lower wing upper surface and he standard FAA colours on the top wing upper surface.

It does build up into a very nice representation of the stringbag.
If you want photos you'll have to wait while it is daylight! LOL

 

[Papa Tango Whiskey]

Ok.... I've built this and had no problems building OOB with deployed wings.

section 9
build as shown. Do not cut off anything (and do put K4 on). Do not fit G1 & G6

Build section 10 AS SHOWN

Miss section 11.. that's for folded wings.

Continue with section 12 - 17. Miss section 18!
Do not use B6 (section 13)
Do not use B8 (section 16)

Take your time and do plenty of dry fits with the etched wing braces.

I painted the lower surface of the upper wing and the upper surface of the lower wing before assembly using the shadow shading paint on the lower wing upper surface and he standard FAA colours on the top wing upper surface.

It does build up into a very nice representation of the stringbag.
If you want photos you'll have to wait while it is daylight! LOL

Wow! Thanks for all of the help. I will try to keep my old mind going straight here.

 

[Skyediamonds]

Wow! Lots of help from highly qualified members. I must admit that's impressive. Wurger and Snapdragon were just outstanding in their level of research to make sure that they had the proper instructions in hand before making the suggestions and to scan the instructions with their added notations, that alone took quite some time. Then Snapdragon offered his alternatives of which both carry tremendous weight in providing support to Papa Tango. Really great!

May I offer a small contribution? What many people are no aware of, is the most biplanes nowadays employ flat wire rigging that is airfoil shaped in cross section. This was developed by the Royal Aircraft Factory during the middle stages of the First World War. This term is often referred as "RAFer." This flat rigging provides additional strength and rigidity than the traditional stranded wires that were then is use. As the biplanes' airspeeds increased, this stranded wire rigging setup started to whip in the wind and sway both the landing and flying wires out of alignment. Long poles, called "Javelins" were mounted at the crossed intersections between the landing and flying wires that helped to mitigate this whipping to some effect, but eventually something had to be done.

After nearly four years of searching for an alternative ( & many trials and tribulations of trying to fabricate the flat rigging myself), it was discovered that extremely thin, flexible, lightweight and very cheap Vape metal strips were perfect for rigging. They come in .4mm, .5mm, and .8mm in width. Just a slight tug and a spot of super glue, they will remain taut in place. Papa Tango since you have indicated your willingness to purchase some P.E. for additional highlights for the finer details to your model with the wings deployed for flight, they will reveal all of the rigging in their glory. I can't think of a better way to take your model "to the next level" of scale fidelity. I've been in contact with the editor of Fine ScaleModeler and he's very much impressed with my suggestions.

The reasons why most people do not rig their models with flat rigging is mostly due to their not being aware of the true nature of the rigging itself. Secondly, this type of rigging for models in the smaller scales is not being readily available on the market. This Vape metal strip can be easily ordered through Amazon and you can get a 100' roll of either of the sizes for $8.50 and the shipping is free.

I've enclosed a few pictures to illustrate this thin Vape metal strips and they're perfect for your scale 1/32 Swordfish. I also built a model Swordfish about 35 years ago with a 5-foot wingspan out of wood and covering. It turned out very nice. In the third picture of me holding the two Vape strips, you can see how thin they are. The one on the right is .4mm and the one on the left is .8mm. The last photo is of my R/C sized model. It was painted and finished exactly as the 5-view shown on Aircraft in Profiles book. I hope all this helps.

Sincerely,

Skye

 

[Crimea_River]

Great suggestion. My 1/48 Tamiya kit was completed with Tamiya's PE rigging that is of flat cross section but that stuff allows flexibility in all scales.