Japanese Zero in particular. Is the wire running from radio mast to tail a guy line or aerial wire? And if one were to incorporate one how would you attach to tail?
My guess is - running from mast it is antenna. To attach to tail you can drill very small hole and super glue it in. I’m sure others will chime in with a better way.
Ditto on what Goldhammer said. It’s the best and easiest I’ve found.
Jim [cptn]
Drill small hole in tail. put line inside hole attach with CA. Make sure line is a little longer past mast pull line snug. Not to tight. Put dab of CA on top of mast. Lay line on top and use accelerator to lock it in place. Cut off excess
Lots of zeros had their radios removed because they were no good. The mast would also be removed to save weight. Check your refs, you might get away without having to rig the aerial.
Thanks TJ and Nate, the question now is do I want to drill into tail after laying base coat down. Extra effort, still debating.
There was always an insulator between the wire and the vertical stab. You can simulate this with a little daub of white glue or window cement.
On some planes with a wire antenna the feed was brought up through the mast- on others there was another insulator between the antenna and the mast and a thin feedwire from a feedthrough on the fuselage to the mast end of the antenna. Don’t know what the zero had- sometimes it is hard to tell in photos.
Thanks Don, yea, even some schematics I’ve seen aren’t really helpful. My thinking right now is why add to this comedy of errors .
Another thing that complicates WW2 era antennas is the switch to VHF frequencies. In this case the antenna was a blade of conducting metal that looked just like the mast supporting a wire antenna (HF, not VHF). So aircraft with HF had wires, those with VHF no wire. I believe Japan was slower in switching to VHF, but cannot be absolutely sure.
Noted and filed for future reference. Don, you are a font of information. Thanks
On the Zero, the attachment to the vertical fin is pretty easy. You can drill a small hole all the way through the fin from the side, just in front of the rudder balance tab and just slightly below the top of the fin. A loop of cable passed through this, and the antenna attached to an insulator secured to the forward end. of the loop. I just pass my antenna (usually nylon thread) through that hole, and tie it to itself just forward of the vertical fin. Then, a blob of white glue hides the knot and becomes the insulator. You’ll see field-fabricated sheet metal straps attached this way with the antenna secured to a hole in the front as well. At the mast, I wrap and tie the thread at the top, on the real airplane, the antenna passed into the mast through a hole in the traling edge,and I can’t duplicate that, especially in 1/48th!
And thank you sir, now I’m gonna have to get another Zero.
one technique I’ve used to get the antenna wire tight is to use fishing line and run a flame over it. The heat will almost instantly cause the line to shrink tight. Just don’t hold it too long or the mast will break