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Im about to start the rigging on a Minicraft 1/350 Titanic. Instead of running the thread from under the decks, I want to glue a fitting with an eye loop into the top of the decks. Something like a sewing needle . I have LED lighting throughout the hull and upper decks and need to seal the rigging holes from the top.Does anyone have a better or easier suggestion to attach the thread from the top of the deck? Thank you for your help.
Hi Mars,
When you say "thread", I reccomend using a solid fiber. The better choices are elastic EZ line, stretched sprue or fly tying monofilament. I prefer the latter, there's a product called Uni Caenis that comes in gray, black or clear.
An eyebolt at 1/350 is mighty small.
You can drill a hole and dip the end of the filament in gel superglue, then poke it in the hole. That works at one end. I usually don't glue the stack caps on until I rig the stack stays, running the mono up through the open top until the glue sets.
Modeling is an excuse to buy books.
Get some small fly tying hooks, size 20 and smaller (the larger the number the smaller the hook). Bass Pro, Cabellas, Orvis, or on line. Cut off the bend and epoxy the hook shaft into a hole drilled in the deck or bulkhead. If you use a filled epoxy like JB Weld it will block light
Dont use your good modeling spruce cutters to cut the hook wire. i have a couple hardware store side cutters reserved for cutting wire.
While some fittings suppliers like Bluejacket and Model Expo do sell eyelets that you can glue into tiny holes you can drill in the deck, they are more for larger scale wood models.
I make my own tiny eyelets by taking a length of fine wire, and wrapping the middle around a pin. Wrap one turn, then start twisting the ends about three turns. Cut off the excess, remove from the pin, and you have a tiny eyelet. Drill a hole for about a 70 to 75 drill (depending on the size of the wire you used) and glue the eyelet in the deck. Feed the thread through, and knot the thread.
Fine electrical wire is getting hard to find. My supply from junking old electronics is dwindling, but I found very fine stuff in the beading section at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
MarsYes, I have a spool of gray monofiliment. How do you stretch sprue?
Some hold each end, hold it over the flame, and then pull. It isn't something I can do well.
Some hold one end and wait until the end droops, then grab and pull.
I hold both ends until the middle catches of fire and separates. Then I blow out the fires, stick the molten ends back together, and then pull apart.
Most of this stuff is sheated so I have to strip it. https://www.radioshack.com/pages/search-results?findify_limit=24&findify_q=wire
Havn't ordered from here yet https://www.lightningvapes.com/collections/wire/products/stainless-steel-316l EJ
Completed - 1/525 Round Two Lindberg repop of T2A tanker done as USS MATTAPONI, USS ESSEX 1/700 Hasegawa Dec 1942, USS Yorktown 1/700 Trumpeter 1943. In The Yards - USS ESSEX 1/700 Hasegawa 1945, USS ESSEX 1/700 Dragon 1944, USS ESSEX 1/700 Trumpeter 1945, USS ESSEX 1/540 Revell (vintage) 1962, USS ESSEX 1/350 Trumpeter 1942, USS ESSEX LHD-2 as commissioned, converted from USS Wasp kit Gallery Models. Plus 35 other plastic and wood ship kits.
ejhammer Most of this stuff is sheated so I have to strip it. https://www.radioshack.com/pages/search-results?findify_limit=24&findify_q=wire Havn't ordered from here yet https://www.lightningvapes.com/collections/wire/products/stainless-steel-316l EJ
If it is insulated, it is probably not fine enough. What you want for fine rigging wire is called magnet wire. It is copper with just a thin coating of shellac over it. You need somewhere around 30 gauge. 28 may do in a pinch. But it is hard to find. That is why I suggest looking in a craft store.
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