Just curious, how you all string an antenna wire for 1/48th scale? In the book by Pat Hawkey he uses a melted & stretched sprue piece. Won’t that be real brittle and unworkable? What do you use? Also, where do you purchase Future floor acrylic?
Future is now known as Pledge with Future Shine. WalMart , food stores etc.
Stretch sprue works well. It is not brittle at all. It has the advantage of once it is glued in place, if there is slack it can be tightened by lighting a match and blowing it out. Then pass it under the stretched sprue but do not touch it. It will snap tight from the heat.
EZ Line is a stretchable material that some guys use. I will sometimes use real wire. The dark colored invisible thread, looks like fishing line, is my general 1st choice.
I have used spru. Works good if you are practiced at streching it in the first place. Fine metal wire can be used, but I find nylon sewing thread to work very well and is super cheap.
Ah…, now Pledge I know. So the sprue stretch works huh? Where do you get the “line” you use?
Any nylon monofilament line would work I believe, and make it a bit longer than needed, then use a soldering iron to heat it indirectly and it should shrink up to the right tension. Never done it personally, but the principle is sound enough, as the monofilament fishing line is plastic, just like sprue, so heating it would cause it to tighten up, sort of like using heatshrink.
Where you find most threads…craft or fabric/sewing store.
Yes sprue works well and its readily available…right in front of you. LOL You can tighten the tension up of stretch sprue once it has been attached by hold a hot object near it which causes the sprue to contract and tighten…just as heat shrink tubing or window film does when you use a heat gun or hair dryer.
Want a thin wire…stretch the sprue fast. What thicker…stretch it s l o w l y.
Yep…
No… It’s actually quite flexible.
Sprue, but I also use a strand of my hair sometimes in smaller scales, but that’s mostly for biplane rigging as my hair is usually too fine for antenna wire. Superglue REALLY holds that, since it’s organic…
The trick to using sprue is to first attach it ,with a little sag being ok… You really don’t want to try to pull it tight yet, not until the glue sets and cures…
To fix the sag, apply heat to it after it’s glued (and cured) in place… If you’re a non-smoker, but still have matches, take a match, strike it, then blow it out and quickly hold it close to the sprue, about the middle area… The sprue, when the the heat is right, will suddenly snap taut…
You can also use a butane lighter cigarette, cigar, incense stick, fireworks punk, anything that’ll supply enough heat to melt styrene… I’m a cigar / incense stick guy m’self…
Once it goes taut, STOP! Any further heat application will melt it… Oh yeah… Be prepared to try it three or four times at first, until you get the hang of applying heat. It happens REALLY suddenly…
Sprue also works best for me because I can get the right color without having to paint the wire after it’s done… I use Black or Dark Green/OD, although some are uninsulated wires, in which case silver sprue looks ok…
Excellent info Hawkeye and all, you guys know your stuff.
Where from in Iowa, if I can ask that? I’m in Ames…
Must be nice…us foliclly challenged folks would have to head hunt our significant others for this technique.[prte]
As Hans pointed out hair works great. I like stretched sprue and the nylon line (as it works much the same as the sprue and you don’t have to worry about stretching it). For antenna wires that don’t have to be pulled tight, I like to use very small/ fine guitar wire. You’ll break the model itself before that thing snaps off!
Well, hate to brag, but at just shy of 52, I still got pretty much all of it, lol… Haven’t cut it since December of 2006, either…
I guess if I grew my beard for 5 years I could get some long hairs, or I could harvest the one or two hairs that are around my hair line.[:D]
HAHAHA!!! … I sometime steal some from the wife. She leaves enough lyin’ around anyway!
Quad Cities
You know, I miss Iowa. Lived in Des Moines and Iowa City. Still got family in DSM and in Davenport. Beautiful state(well some of the western side is a little blah!).
I`m gonna be the first guy to string an antennae with butt hair [:D]
LMAO thats terrible[whstl]
I use hair from a horses mane, it’s a little thicker and stronger than human hair…
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… holy crap ( … no pun intended…)
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I’ve heard that using horse mane/ tail is pretty good. Just have to be carefuly with the thickness I’d guess.
Here’s a question about hair though … over time, doesn’t the hair degrade and become brittle over time? Haven’t had a problem with any that I’ve used, but then again, I’ve only used it once or twice …
the best thing i find is to use fishing line then you can color it silver or use TAMIYA smoke as it pleases you ok many regards joe