Struts, etc.

[sean69]

Trouble with some crappy struts, [not the first time either]

other than carving, sanding etc. Has anyone got a good method of creating new struts and landing gear legs etc?

- I've had limited success bending pop can metal around a pre-carved former
- evergreen is ok in some applications but too flimsy on longer runs


I thought about using a draw plate of some kind, found several jeweler's plates that would do the correct size profile, but am not sure it would work well with either evergreen or bamboo.

Any thoughts? has anyone got any input on the draw-plate?

-thanks
-sean

[coyotemagic]

Lacking the old Aeroclub Strutz, I like splitting and sanding bamboo skewers. Very strong, stiff and real looking.
,
Bud

[SteveS]

Originally Posted by coyotemagic

Lacking the old Aeroclub Strutz, I like splitting and sanding bamboo skewers. Very strong, stiff and real looking.
,
Bud

Buds right, bamboos the way to go. It will surprise you how much strength it has even in tiny diameters.


Salute,
Steve

[Brad Cancian]

If you need to make undercarriage struts, I recommend brass "strutz" material - I bent up a set for my 1:48 Jager Albatros C.X, which is a very heavy model, to replace their white metal struts and they have held up great. I glued mine with CA but I would recommend something a little more solid, like solder of some description. I created a jig to bend them at the right diameter as well - basically a flat styrene sheet with the strut plan view angles marked on it, and a piece of circular shaped styrene at the right radius of the bend glued perpendicular to the flat sheet - allowed me to bend it around the circular protrusion and get all the right angles (but was still tricky to keep flat...)



Not sure where you can get this material though...?

BC

[GAJouette]

I agree with Brad that Struz is the best way to go especially when your fabricating undercarriage struts.The only difficulties I've had is using the Strutz is filing down the ends.But I've learned to clamp it in a small C-Clamp padded with balsa strips which makes it much easier to hold on to while filing it to shape.

For smaller scales such as 1/48 Bamboo struts work excellent for the wing struts too.I haven't used bamboo for the undercarriage but I would assume this will as well.

Another option would to use steel wire sandwiched between thin balsa strips.Once you gotten your basic strut it's a simple matter of coating the piece with Zap-A- Gap and sanding to shape. This works well for wing struts and for some undercarriage depending on the type of aircraft modeled.

Best of luck Sean on your project,no doubts it will be another winner.

Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[sean69]

Thanks for all the thoughts .... I think I am going the draw-plate method: smf-SN-DrawPlates - ShipWrightsFAQ
Byrnes Model Machines - Drawplate

Will probably start with a drill guage - if it really works out well - I'll plunk down the $80 for the oval cross section jeweler's plate.

-sean

[coyotemagic]

Wow, Sean, that seems hard. Let us know how it works out. I've seen the draw plates offered on Micro Mark's site, but was unsure of how well they would work.
,
Bud

[Doug Baumann]

i make mine out of brass wire that i stretch, the i take plastic sheet and lay it on the edge of the work table and scrape a airfoil shape to it then cut it free and i supper glue the flat side of it to the brass wire let it dry sand and you might have to putty the seam some times . my AEG fell 6 feet to the floor and the landing gear struts were knocked off but were intacked and no repair need
Doug

[sean69]

It just occurred to me that:

I won't be using hard metals, annealed brass tube, aluminum tube or copper tube should be much easier to draw & cause less wear on the plate and be more than strong enough for struts, same goes for bamboo. Also I can probably actually get by with a cheaper plate since using it will be quite rare indeed ~ and if not, I can always upgrade

-sean

[albatros1234]

i learned a neat trick a while back that wojtek fayga and terri werner use. i tryed it and its pretty easy and strong. i take a piece of wire, i use steel but i supposed you could use brass too. then i cut them to length allowing for as much as you want to go into holes drill in the wings. say 1/16" or like 2mm or so. then you place it in brass or aluminum tubeing. most people use brass but i kinda like aluminum. then you squash the tubing which secures the wire inside. then its a matter of fileing the cross section to shape.they are very strong and look great under paint. for under carrige i take the wire and bend it to the right angle, then slip 2 separate tubes on either side and squish and file. i use a metal needle file to get the basic shape, then use gradually finer emory boards till it looks right.