Antenna wires - any advice?

[maxidad66]

I have searched the tutorial for advice on making and fixing antenna wires for model aircraft, but can't find anything. I have a couple of niggling queries:

• I know that stretching sprue is one method of making antenna wires. I have tried this with only mediocre results. Is stretched sprue best for this? If it is, how do you get a good, straight thin line? How to fix it to the mast/fuselage surface?
  
• Are there other materials for the purose (e.g. copper wire?) What's the method for attaching wire to plastic kits?
  
• Does anybody bother fixing wires to 1/72 scale aircraft? Or is the scale too small?

Any other usful advice on this subject would be great appreciated.

 

[Nigel.D]

dead easy mate!! with sprue heat it till it starts to bend then in one continuous pull stretch it out. here is the best bit though, once you have fixed it in place (i use superglue or if very fine a blob of varnish) you just need a soldering iron when it has reached temp just hold it close to the sagging sprue and like magic it will tighten up!! if you havent got a soldering iron just heat up a screwdriver or needle whatever the size you require to get access (Please bare in mind that the item should be almost red hot for this to work) Another method is to use fishing line as this comes in different thicknesses this needs to be tensione as you glue so superglue is really then only answer for this, but if you put a dab of accelerator on the joins it is dead easy and very quick.

hope this helps

 

[squiffythewombat]

wow, what a great tip with the soldering iron! Nigels basically said everything i was going to...

Fishing wire- make sure you get a nice fine grade and use superglue to join, applying with a needle eye (the eye holds the glue)

Copper wire- my method, i use superglue to apply and havent had any problems.

stretch sprue- never tried it so cant help.

Jewlers wire- i steal this off my sister when i can, its like copper wire but much finer and more maluable.

Remmber though that if your cannopy is open the wire might not be taught. eg: Fw190. A

lso worth a mention is that most aircraft have a little "bobble" on their wires, ive no idea what this is but to recreate it, just dab a blob of super glue on the wire and it kind of "hangs there" and then dries creating the bulge. Definatly worth praticing this a few times as its a bit hit or miss, and at 1:72nd might just be too small.

 

[Nigel.D]

The bobble squiff is talking about are tensioners they are easily fabricated with a blob of krystal klear or copydex

 

[wonwinglo]

Nylon Monofilament is another good alternative Nigel,it is very fine,easily obtained from haberdashy shops,sticks easily with cyno.

I also use this for rigging my 1=72 nd scale biplanes,the good thing about this stuff is that it is actually structural,ie once in place it holds the model together and very strong.

 

[maxidad66]

Guys, all great advice - thanks. The problem with the sagging sprue antenna on my little bf109 was cured immediately by the hot screwdriver method (just fantastic!). Maybe my first attempts to stretch sprue weren't so bad after all - the kinks just disappeared instantly.

 

[squiffythewombat]

DOH>>>>>>copydex, why didnt i think of that, lol!!!!

The bobble squiff is talking about are tensioners they are easily fabricated with a blob of krystal klear or copydex

:respect1:

Brilliant to hear your wires are sorted max! Does that mean we can see some piccys now?

 

[maxidad66]

The bloody thing pinged off as I was manouevering it for a photo (curses). However, I now feel so confident with the old sprue-stretching, I rustled another antenna up in a couple minutes and attached it again - but now it's gotta dry. Don't hold your breath, Squiffy, it's the first kit I have done in about 25 years!

 

[rapier]

The little bobbles are insulators to insulate the aerial itself from the aircraft frame and to provide attachment points for the feeder cable down to the aerial tuning unit.

Mike

 

[Lips McGee]

I use a bit of the wife's hair for 1/72 or smaller. A bit finicky at first, but it strengthens up with a quick light coat of white glue (not that her hair isn't wiry enough to begin with.) Hair is usually pretty elastic too, so it is easy to stretch and keep tight.

 

[Bazza]

Do you know anyone with a guitar, the old guitar wires work a treat. Failing that, do you have a cat. Their moulted whiskers are excellent for the purpose.

 

[AJay]

Great thread as I've wondered about this myself. Should the line be a particular colour? I have some pretty thin fishing line I could use........

 

[tr1ckey66]

By far the easiest and most forgiving solution is EZ wire - a purpose made product available in the US. It is blooming marvelous - easy to attach and stretches so that it doesn't break with the merest touch. Drill a small hole in the mast glue the EZ line into this with a small amount of CA and then gently stretch to the fin. Once you release the gentle stretch the wire will be nice and taught - simples!

Here's the link

BOBE'S HOBBY HOUSE-EZ Line

Cheers

Paul

 

[AJay]

Thanks for the heads up, Paul!

Regards,

Alex

 

[Bill's Bunker]

Hi,

I find guitar strings best, you can even choose the width from quite thick to quite fine (for all scales). go to your local music shop and ask to see some steel guitar strings. Only about a £1 for a metre or so. Fix with super glue, and they don't snap in half every time you catch them with a stray finger, etc.

Regards

Mel.

 

[munkster]

Failing that, do you have a cat.

For some reason am now wiping coffee off the screen after reading that. Wondered what on earth you were going to say!

 

[AJay]

I have 7 cats....had a word with them and none of them were willing to give up just one whisker!

 

[tommy1drop]

Have you tried fuse wire, it comes in different thickness`s and retains a sharp curve.

Tom

 

[stona]

Whatever you use make it fine! You'll still almost certainly be over scale. The real thing was stainless steel so a silver grey colour is about right.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tecdes]

I have used EZ LINE as mentioned earlier. This can be obtained in white black (and many more for other modeling types) & about 3 thicknesses. Can also be shaded with a pen.

The great thing is that it stretches about ten times its normal length. So fixing it it can be tensioned ( no sagging not yet any way) & when your grandson picks up your latest model it stands a chance of not being screwed up.

Also used Gold Zack knitting in elastic (knicker elastic) which has similar properties to EZ line. Comes in white & can be tinted to colour required. Worked out when I first used them that both this & fine EZ line are about right for 1-72 scale. Gold Zack can be obtained on Amazon.

Laurie