accessory terminolgy

They fall under what we call "plugs and covers". You will see jet engine intakes and exhausts plugged or covered to keep out snow, ice and critters, pitot tubes get a cover to keep insects from building mud nests inside, air scoops and vents get plugged for the same reason, mainly birds. Sharp pointy things sometimes have a cushioned guard on them to keep you from whacking your noggin on them, and landing gear legs get an anti-retraction pin inserted to make them safe from collapse while towing. All of these things will have a prominent, usually red, streamer with white lettering saying "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT", generally good advice. There are some aftermarket plug sets for modern jets and decals for the warnings, but most of these details are scratch-built. A warning streamer is really no different than making a seatbelt whether you use tape or foil, and plugs are easy to fashion. Surf Roll Models, Squadron, Eduard and any of the other aftermarket providers for ideas, and have fun!

The "plugs" in the intakes, outlets and other places where the airplane can ingest junk are called "Foreign Object Debris", or FOD covers. FOD management is a major concern.

They can be soft, like tarps, or molded plastic to fit into specific locations. Their availability for models is fairly random, easier to find for more common aircraft.

"Remove Before Flight" pins or covers, the visible part of which is a red ribbon with copy on it, are not hard to find. Eduard makes nice ones.

 My buddy Airman Jim was in the radio shop at Barksdale using an electric pencil to engrave his name on his tools. The Seargent came in.

"Hey boy, watcha doin" there?".

"Putting my name on my tools, sir".

"Oh, so when they find it in the ruins of a million dollar engine, they'll know who to return it to?".

I messed up the paint in a jet intake on a P-59- bad masking job. It would have been hard to fix at the stage I discovered it.  So I made intake plugs with those tags.  Looks fine :-)

GMorrison

My buddy Airman Jim was in the radio shop at Barksdale using an electric pencil to engrave his name on his tools. The Seargent came in. "Hey boy, watcha doin" there?". "Putting my name on my tools, sir". "Oh, so when they find it in the ruins of a million dollar engine, they'll know who to return it to?".

Ha! That's pretty good.

Verlinden put out a set of "RBF" stickers. They have to be cut out, folded, then a little touch up paint up the sides.

You get 1/72, 1/48 and 1/32, and various styles and sizes (as you can see).

Eduard PE RBF flags come in only one size per set and only have the lettering printed on one side.

fermis

only have the lettering printed on one side

Which matches about half the RBF tags I've seen in real life.

As with all else we do, reference photos are our guide. 

Some of the newest flags are red vinyl.  A good bulk of them are red nylon canvas.  Some sizable fraction are red cotton canvas.

I never much liked lead foil for RBF, even at very large scales.
For very small scales, Heavy-Duty aluminum foil (but, it really needs a good gloss coat first).
Mylar film is noce, but does not hold shape very well.
Decaling to themselves is extremely fussy and not good for keeping one's intake of distilled spirits or exercising profane vocabulary under much control.

Whatever you do, don't forget the attaching wire.  Finding a bit of electrical cable with really fine copper wires can be your friend.

CapnMac82

Whatever you do, don't forget the attaching wire.  Finding a bit of electrical cable with really fine copper wires can be your friend.

 

I used to scrounge electrical wire from transformers and coils from all the old electronics gear I threw out. It is indeed hard to find fine electrical wire.

But, the jewelry departments in craft stores such as HL and Michaels now have very fine wire.

Way to go GM. Thoughts of the "mile high club" just came to mind. And for all you old sailors out there "don't make waves". The flying club I belong to has three light aircraft, a Cessna 152, 172, and a Piper Cherokee. If we find that the opening at the front of the cowl was not plugged we required that the cowl be opened or removed to inspect for birds nest or other critter nests. The reminder to do so was a full red cover on each prop blade that had the "remove before flight" inscription on them. There are also "remove before flight" locks that keep the flight controls from being banged up and down by the wind. Not removing these could be fatal. Also note that military jet aircraft also have a safety pin for the ejection seat that needs to be removed before flight. If you are doing a diorama you can have a ground crew member holding up X number of "remove before flight" "flags" so the pilot knows that all are accounted for. Just a thought.