I was going to use a very fine nylon upholstery thread for radio antenae till I came across horse hair. I was out at the barn being the bored husband while my wife was grooming her horse and started looking at the mane and tail hair of horses. This stuff is great. Its thick, stiff and seems the right scale for wire.
Has anyone used this before?
What are you guys using to represent antenae wire?
Mike
Mike, it might work…! I’ve always heard that using hair led to problems because the humidity (or lack of) in the air cause hair to become slightly longer (or shorter), leading to drooping or snapped ‘wires’… But that was for human hair. I normally use stretched sprue. I know it’s fragile, but I just have to be careful. Fine metal wire would be OK too, I guess, but I’m a bit afraid of using superglue on my completed paint & decal job… Let us know how horse hair works.
Mike,
Pick your poison - thin gauge wire, human hair, horse hair, stretched sprue…they all work fairly well, depending upon the application.
For antennae wires, I’d have to say that stretched sprue might be the easiest - it’s cheap (whole bunches of it comes with each kit at no charge), with practice you can make it visually acceptable for 1/72, 1/48, or 1/32 scale.
I usually attach one end with a TINY amount of superglue, wait till completely dry, then carefully cut the other end to length, and attach the other end. When dry, I run the head of a match that’s JUST been blown out under the sprue to tighten it up. Looks fantastic, and looks in-scale.
Just practice using the “punk” method with extra sprue on a “set up rig” before you try it on a model - too much heat just burns the sprue, effectively cutting it in two. I often say rude words when that happens, and I won’t repeat any of them here.
Good luck
Lee Tree
I use invisible thread on 1/48 scale aircraft. It’s really strong. Run it over a black felt tiped pen first.
I use sewing in elastic. A very fine elastic that’s used for…well you get the picture. It’s cheap, lots to a roll, attaches with superglue and, it doesn’t break if touched accidentally!. If it’s stuck on right you can pick up the model with it! Hit the craft shop’s and try some. Also, the above tip with the felt pen works with it, though sometimes the ink runs when the glue gets it, so stick it on first.
If you have a copier, at work you’re in luck. Ask your tecnician for a length if corona wire. It is a very thin tungsten wire…or send me an e-mail and I’ll send a spool of used wire from when I repaired the beasts. huntp134@hotmail.com
As I said, they’re used so they have an ozone build-up on them which can easily be removed with a soft cloth dampened with Windex. I have yet to try it on a model yet, but will be applying it soon to my 1/72 Hellcat.
I always use stretched sprue, but use the clear. This has the effect of making it look thinner. Oh, and I use a cigarette to tighten it, but I DON’T INHALE!
I’ve found that fishing line works well. For a couple of bucks, you can get 100’s of feet, enough to do hundreds of models. Also, it’s extremely strong if attached correctly. As for messing up the paint job, I super glue one end to any point that has a seam, such as the tail assembly before attaching the halves together.
I have tried the sprue antenna thingy…but i have never yet got sprue to stretch out…it just melts in half. I know there is a proper technique for doing this, and i would appreciate knowing what the heck it is.
I have also had good luck with fish line, but the suggestion of supergluing it to the tail before you glue the two fuselage sections together, seems like a good method.
Do you guys try including tension springs when you fabricate antennae? Or is that too minute a detail to try and include?
Mike
I usually try to, and with the fishing line I use (see aabove), it’s real easy just to through a few loops if line arond itself to look like the spring. A few seconds of work speaks volumes for the skill of the modeler, and the overall impression to those viewing it.
I use real metal wire (even on 1/72 scale models). There is an ordinary copper multi-wire cable used in electronics, with a lot of micro-wire (diameter approx. 0.01 mm each); I take one of these “hair” micro-wires and I fix it on the model using super-glue (cyanoacrilate). It is very resistant, and it have that metal wire appearance; and it don’t need paint; with the time, the “real metal” aerial acquires a natural “gunmetal” color, that can be a desirable feature, depending on the aircraft I am modeling.