Living on the Ceiling (no more room down there)

[Blue Elephant]

Anyone have any idea how to display (Large) models like the Victor, Bear etc from the ceiling? I was thinking of using a large breaking strain fishing line and supporting the model in two places around the fuselage forward and aft of the wings, and on each wing (wife's idea) ...but some, such as the Vulcan don't have a fuselage per se, and some of the wings...like the Victor seem a bit "delicate" for that idea....any suggestions gratefully accepted

[Gregers]

Two loops around the fuselage will suffice. I hung a B36 with noseweight in from my ceiling when I was a teenager. I did however use a hook screwed into the joist and iirc about a 3lb line. The Vulcan you can loop around the tail and nose just the same.
Hope this helps.

All the best.

Greg

[Saxon]

I lost a Victor and a B-36 that were suspended from the ceiling. They were sitting nicely in two loops. A freak gust of wind knocked them out the line and knots were still intact and remained on the hook!

You could try small holes in select places and thread the line through it then tie a knot, it might be more secure.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Use clear fishing line, it blends right in.
I have a Victor, 3 EE Lightnings and a 24th Hurricane suspended at tewo points -- one a loop around fuselage at the wing LE and the other somewhere on the rear fuselage / tail. For the Viktor, I ran the rear loop around the knob in front of the fib/stab, then under the tail plane and back up.





Admittedly there are no strong winds in my modeling room ....

[Migrant]

What a brilliant display, John. Is there a build article anywhere for this? The fuel lines/baskets look really convincing.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Thanks, Mike. I had trouble trying to keep the Lightnings flying straight behind the Victor because of the effect of the drogues -- got 'em close as I could and was happy.

You may remember our Ted Taylor Memorial Matchbox GB from 2013: http://www.uamf.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=250;
There are two threads, one for the Victor and another for the Lightnings.

[Gregers]

I just re-read my post. I forgot to mention that I looped the line around the fuselage and never had a problem with a model slipping out. The only one I evr hsd drop was a Revell Lancaster. I was very young and didn't know better and hung it up with cotton snd one drawing pin. The result of that was the Lancaster hitting me in the face one night when the pin fell out.

All the best.

Greg

[Blue Elephant]

Thanks guys, that's given me something to think about..........I would have replied earlier, but Oh Dopey me, forgot to check the "get notified by email" box

[Tarkas]

Yes, that's pretty much the way to do it. I had a formation of about 8 aircraft hanging from my ceiling as a teenager that was centred around the old Monogram B-52D, including a Lindberg B-58 (okay, slightly out of scale, but it was the only one available at the time), the Revell F-111C and a bunch of other fighter/attack types, all of which were hung separately using fishing line. The BUFF was supported around the forward fuselage, and around the tailplane; the others in similar locations (often around the wings) depending on their layout.

It worked fine; so did the Star Trek (TOS) Enterprise and Klingon battlecruiser that I had facing one another on the other side of the room. Oh, and the old Revell Blue Angels F11F-1 Tiger that I had in an inverted dive (it's an aerobatic aircraft!) over in a corner. With a blue ceiling, the planes all looked rather good; the spaceships had to wait until after dark when I could turn on the internal lighting to look their best .

[JohnRatzenberger]

I'd only use wing-support if I wanted it in a maneuvering (banked) attitude.
Supporting by the wings only usually means the problem of nose or tail-heavy must be solved by additional support.
Models aren't usually left or right wing heavy so supporting by the fuselage is good enough.

[Saxon]

Something else I have been told is that some modern fishing lines are designed to decompose over time to avoid pollution. You might want to be careful about what type of fishing line you buy.

I recently had a packet of rubbish bags that had to be thrown out as I didn't realize that there were degradable and were there a while. I went to use them and they were in pieces. So a bit of an irony there really.