Tamiya's Vague Instructions...

If you are indicating the rigging cable and antennae, then yes, it is included albeit in the form of the parts sprues. I remember there being a little item in the instuctions on how to heat and stretch the sprue to form the rigging. This is an old tried and true method and Tamiya probably figures we all know how to do it.

Wow, I never would've guessed it. Thanks subfixer .

Third Echelon - You've brought up a very real problem in the plastic scale model industry. Olde Phogies like me can remember the days when plastic kits came with elaborate instruction sheets, replete with well-written historical data about the subject, verbal instructions on how to build the model, and parts lists that explained what every component of the model was. Those days are gone. Nowadays the manufacturers are obsessed with "multi-national" instructions, which rely almost entirely on drawings and symbols. The idea is that one instruction sheet/book has to serve all the markets in which the kit is sold. So explanation takes a back seat to graphics. Some of those instructions almost require an Ultra machine to decode them.

All this is unfortunate for several reasons. It particularly bothers me that younger modelers, many of whom don't know what the parts of a model are, don't learn as much from building it as they used to.

Hope this experience hasn't turned you off to the hobby. Tamiya actually is one of the best manufacturers in the world - but those instructions do require some adjustment.

Hear, hear!

Knowing "how to stretch sprue" and actually getting the desired result can be two very differenty things. I'm sure before this thread is over, you'll get every possible method of rigging you can think of.

Two methods that have worked out for me are:
1) .007" monofilament fishing line. Cheap, easy to cut, and one roll lasts forever.

2) Piano wire. Rather expensive: $ .30/ft, but it doesn't deform the masts, you've got to go to a musical instrument store to get it.

Thanks for the tips pathfinder. Fishing line should be easy to find here in Panama, but I'm not so sure where to get piano wire. I guess I could get my sister to ask her piano teacher...

Third Echelon, contact me by email, I've got a couple pics to show you on just how well the line method works. If I could ever figure how to get pics over here I'd post them.

Sure pathfinder, send pics to third_echelon13@homail.com