Scribing difficult curves

There is a flexable curve used for drafting that can be bent to shape as desired. Perhaps this could be used as a guide. Check with art or drafting supply stores. I saw one at a university book store. Just a thought.

Hi Mike,

Not sure exactly which lines you're referring to, but I just had a bit of a scribing 'exercise' on a CF-5 that I'm building. I got some good advice that might help:
- get some 'Dymo' tape. It's the tape they used to use in those older label-making machines (the kind that 'embossed' the letters into the heavy tape). Stationary store should have it. It's thick and has a peel-away sticky backing that works great to hold the tape in place. You can pull a scriber or knife along it really well and it goes around fuselage curves quite well. My F-5 was in 1/72 so it was a bit tight, but worked well.
- I also got some advice to 'roll' a curved blade (like a scalpel blade) over the line. This works really well on fuselage curves. At a minimum, it creates a bit of a channel so that you can pull a scriber through. The blade creates a bit of a ridge that I just buffed away with a bit of a scouring pad.
- Last thing I learned (discovered this on my own) is that electrical tape can work as well. This isn't nearly as thick as the dymo tape, but it's more flexible for doing 'rounded' corners or lines. If you cut a thin strip, it can be twisted around fairly well. You can drag the scriber along this line, but GO SLOW and LIGHT! (several passes if needed) It's not as rigid as a ruler or the dymo tape, but should get the job done if you have patience and a light touch.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Murray

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Murray,

I have read those tips about that dymo tape before in the past.
Unfortunately money is tight right now and I can't go out and buy anything right now so I will make due with more creative ways.
What I did was take my drawings of the A-1H from the instruction sheet and scanned it with my scanner and then enlarged it to close to scale size and then cut out the curve I need from the drawing. I then took the drawing that I cut out and traced that curve onto a thin piece of sheet styrene and then cut it out with an X-acto blade and essentially made myself a styrene template with the curvature I need. I put a drop of Zap CA on each end of the styrene and glued it to the model and then followed the edge of that styrene template with my scribing tool. It worked out alright but I slipped and have a little work to fix it again. I just put a small amount of Zap CA in my drafting pen and run it into the scratch, wait a minute or two and then sand it out with wet 320 before it hardens too much.

I know you weren't sure which panel line I was talking about so I posted a photo of the model drawing here: http://rongeorge.com/modules/Gallery/upload/A1PanelLine
The panel line I am talking about is the one that passes through the 5 angled stripes at the rear of the fuselage in the picture. It follows the contour of the fuselage and up the tail.

Mike

Mike,

Over the years as an aircraft mechanic, from time to time I had occasion to use what is called 500 mph duct tape. Its a dead soft aluminum tape that is extremely sticky. I've got a 1/2 inch roll that I have found works very well for scribing lines on my models. If there is a small airport near you check with the mechanics there, if they don't have some, they should be able to get you some. I'll warn you that it is somewhat expensive and takes alittle practice to work with. It's made by 3M.

Mike, verlinden makes scribing templates made from thin flexible metal, similar to photo-etched sets. They bend around curves very well. If necessary you can tape them into position. They've saved my life a few times.

Mike,

After looking at the picture you posted, I'd say you picked a pretty good way to scribe the line. I don't think Dymo tape would twist like that. It's good for going around a fuselage, but curving like that is another story. Your 'custom ruler' is fairly unique and I'd say better than anything I could have thought of!

Nice F-16 in the Aircraft forum, BTW...

Murray