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Scale Modeling: How to do Rib Stitching

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CubMan at RCOnline loves Piper Cubs, and has spent a lot of time building them and learning how to build the perfect scale model of this venerable aircraft. It is often said that a good scale modeler can walk into any hobby or hardware store and be able to make authentic scale accessories for his/her plane out of the simplest of items. In accord with this, CubMan has documented some of the tricks of scale modeling that he has learned. In this part, he describes making the rib stitches that are so common on old fabric-covered planes of yesteryear, like the Cub. It's a lot of work, but the results look awesome.

The method he describes involves simulating stitches and does not pierce the covering. This method only works on fabric covering. Use a coat of modeling dope to seal the strips to the fabric covering. You could rely on the adhesive of the tape to hold the strips on, but this has not been tested. This method also assumes that after done the entire model is to be painted (typical of scale airplanes, since MonoKote only comes in so many colors, and scale modelers are darn picky...).





Craig Kulesa
Fri Dec 1 16:52:14 MST 2000