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.

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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!!!!



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.