I just got from Ebay a 1/48 scale Williams Bros Pitcairn PCA2 autogiro. This has been out of production for a bunch of years, but does look good for the vintage. My question is, are there any accessories available, such as for the cockpit, or even the engine? Also, the 'giro had support wires attached to the rotor blades. There was clear nylon thread supplied with the kit. In the general drawing that shows everything set up, there are turnbuckles midway down each wire. Is there any manufacturer which could help out with turnbuckles, or would I be on my own? I think I could do better than simply building straight out of the box, so I'm asking what I asked.

Max,

I know diddly as in Bo Diddly about the kit you mentioned, but if there are any 1/48 scale ships out there (doubt it sorry) maybe a AM producer makes some turnbuckles you need?

Just an idea sorry can't help you more....

Paul

Well, I thought I'd ask, and don't wknow what kind of responses will result.

I could try that route, though. Thanks for the tip.

Hi Max.

You could try making your own, Wombat58 (Des) has a good tutorial on his website HERE.

Also, there are some after-market manufacturers around if you do a bit of searching, for example RB Productions product is reviewed HERE .

Good luck with your build.

heers, D

You've also got the possibility of some of the early aircrft. It's out of my forte, but wouldn't they use turnbuckles on the rigging?

I went to the website and set up an account with them, then contacted them to see about the turnbuckles, as well as the shjock damper that connects each guy wire to each rotor blades, so I'll see what comes of asking my question.

I appreciate the links, the other one I'm about to click on.

Yes they did. Incidentally, there more than a few modern aircraft which use turnbuckles, including some airliners(such as the 727). They are inside the structure at various places, but they still make use of them, and they are always saftey wired).
And, looking at the general arrangement drawing, there are other details that are not covered in the kit construction plans, such as dampers on the end of each guy wire connecting it to the rrotor blade. There is another short length of wire on each leg of the rotor blade shaft to down on the rotor mast. There are other details in the general arrangement drawing that I could incorporate into the model, which wouldn't be there if you build straight out of the box. Also, for rigging, monofilament nylon thread has been supplied. I may be sounding naive, but isn't there stainless wire of the same diameter which I could use? This might mean that I'll have to make the guy wire supports in two pieces, with a turnbuckle connecting them, but this feels doable.

It seems that this is the busier thread, so I'll tuck my reply in here.

There's nothing specifically made for the Pitcairn, but you could use generic aircraft details for anything made in the 1930s. For the turnbuckles, you can borrow a WWI modelling technique. Stretch some styrene tube and wind some wire into little loops. Superglue the loops into either end of a piece of the stretched tube and you've got yourself a turnbuckle. You coud make your own, or buy them from Bob's Buckles.

Here's a walkaround of a preserved specimen. The cockpit looks pretty simple; you could probably make most of it from styrene rod and sheet. Here's a build of the kit. The text is in German, but it can be machine-translated easily enough.