Evaporated iron and iron-cobalt thin films in the range 20-1500 nm were deposited on various rotating substrates in UHV conditions (2 x 10(-7) Pa). Spin orientation, deduced from Mossbauer spectra, rotates from in plane to out of plane (nearly perpendicular) position when thickness increases. This behaviour is related to the columnar structure observed by TEM and explained by the enhanced surface diffusion in the low residual pressure. The stability of the perpendicular spin orientation is also investigated by subsequent annealing up to 700-degrees-C.