How I Build Dioramas(step-by-step)

Pat,On the Albatros I used piano wire which I absolutely don't recommend.It stays straight but is very difficult to work with.
The beading wire I am using on the Jenny is flexible but easy to work with.
It is called SoftFlex 21 Strands Stainless steel /N
ylon Coated
Diameter .014 Fine 30 feet.
www.softflexcompany.com
Cheers! John.

You know,this is a great era to be working in before the advent of all the rules and regs that plague us freespirits today.It truly was aviations romantic age when airmen werent of much danger other than to themselves.The American cowboy is a Hollywood created myth but the barnstormers were a reality .Their exploits were well documented and on public display.
This tradition even carries down,in a small way , to this very day.Personally,I really enjoy modeling this era of aviation history when just about anything goes.The modeler really doesnt have to be too worried about being absolutely correct.Color,changes to the aircraft structure, mix and match are all fair game. You can either explain it away or ignore it as it really could have been that way.
A little of this attitude could even be found in WW1 and may have been its birthplace.What was done "in the field" and what was in the rules and regs were two different things.Pilots were given wide latitude to customize their aircraft while the brass looked the other way.
These same pilots, back in civilian life, carried on this attitude of anything goes as long as you can get away with it, and in that era they could get away with it ,in spades.Pilots were often their own mechanics and on the verge of starvation most of the time(as one barnstormer put it "The greatest danger a barnstormer faces is starvation".
So out of necessity they bought the cheapest parts available or made their own.The elevator of one model could be used on another or adapted to do so.Want a more unstable airplane for airshows?,no problem,just change the wing stagger, who's to know the difference or even care what these crazy WW1 misfits did, even if it meant an early trip to the boneyard.
In my modeling of this era I try to reflect this same attitude by breaking the rules a little here and there.I like the fact that I am not tied down to this color or that.This rule or that reg. Take a little artistic licence here or there, who will know the difference? or even care.Who is to say that it couldnt have been done this way .See what I mean? Liberating isn't it? That is what I call the "Barnstormer Spirit of Modeling".
Cheers! John.