Thanks, Gerhard and Greg! (Sorry for the slow acknowledgment, but I haven't checked back for a while.)
FUN WITH RIGGING
No updates for a bit, but rigging and final finishing are complete, and my pretty bird is now lacking only wheels and a prop. Pictures soon, I hope.
Rigging was interesting. I usually do the 'traditional' version of EZ-Line: drilling half-depth holes to mount a given line, then an all-the-way-through hole at the opposite attachment point. Some kind of tubing sections threaded onto the EZ-Line for 'turnbuckles,' then thread the line through the all-the-way-through hole and stretch to the desired degree of tautness, glue with CA, and trim off the line end. Usually a tiny dab of paint is all that's needed to touch up the latter hole.
This one was a bit different. First, the Sopwith Camel---at least some models, in the mid-to-late production runs (as best I've been able to puzzle out)---had mounting brackets for the landing and flying wires that were a bit different from the regular-appearance 'turnbuckles.' As it happened, the Part p-e set I'm using did quite nice versions of these brackets...though in their 'standard' fashion, a bit fussier---and with more parts---than need be. The photo below (with a shiny Mr. Roosevelt for scale) shows these brackets---the 'double' rectangular bits---and the little 'spike' parts that are the separate [why???] pieces for the wing anchors.
[FAIR WARNING: much tedious description follows!]
Note the photo shows that the parts actually have holes for tiny 'bolts' to hold them together. I actually did up a few of these, as a 'test'---using stretched sprue lengths 'heat shrunk' for bolt heads---before determining that there really seemed no point, since they were barely visible. The rest I just super-glued together.
So for each line, I'd glue a 'spike' piece to the 'back half' of the bracket...then CA a strand of EZ-Line to that...then add the 'front half' bracket to sandwich the line end, with a last tiny dab of CA to insure everything held together. It actually went pretty quickly. (I actually 'folded' the double bracket around the glued-on line for the single landing wires, and used two 'doubles,' front and back, for the double flying wires. Photo above shows a completed 'double' at lower center.)
Once the top wing was solidly on and I could caliper the lengths necessary for the various lines, I trimed the EZ-Line runs to length. (I chose 2/3 the 'gap length' as about the right length for the EZ-Line itself. This allowed for enough stretch to make everything nice and taut...but left enough thickness to resemble the fairly-visible RAF-style flying wires.) With lines trimmed I attached the 'other end' brackets and spikes---more CA---and all was ready to install.
Much to even my own surprise, it went more smoothly that any biblane I've ever rigged before. The little 'spikes' actually provided a pretty 'grabby' end to fit to the wing, and allowed for a bit of bending to get the angles right once the lines were in place. I had carefully pre-drilled tiny holes for the spikes at the proper locations---and was sure to keep them as free of paint as possible---then fitted each bracket to its location with a mini-drop of CA and my essential needle-nosed cross-lock tweezers. Once all the 'lowers' were done, I flipped it onto its top wing, and attached the 'top' ends. Here I'd CA the spike/bracket into its hole---and clamp off the line with a little bit of 'slack' in it, until the CA set---then remove the clamp. I only had 2 lines that 'sprang' and had to be reattached---pretty much a 'given' now and then using tiny amounts of CA, that sometmes 'set' on the part itself before they can grab.
The wing rigging itself (once the lines were made up) only took slightly over a half hour. I think that's a new record for me, even compared to the normally-pretty-quick white-gluing strands of stretched sprue!
That's it for now. Next post should have pictures of 'TIKI' in her completed glory---if I can manage not to accidentally nose-dive her off the work table. [Given past experiences, that's not said entirely in jest....] Thanks to all for following along.