What do you all use for aerials running between the masts of WWII and some modern ships? I’ve tried different things, including stretched sprue, but cannot find anything that looks right – especially for the 1/700 ships. Any suggestions, thoughts or information will be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!
Bob
I use black spandex thread. You can get it at any fabric store. It’s very thin and light and stretches easily to make taught. Because it’s elastic, once it’s attached to the first mast you can pull it to the next without it putting much pressure on the first mast.
I use the smoke colored translucent nylon thread. It is almost impossible to find a material that would be scale diameter, so you need to make it less visible to make it look smaller. The transparent or translucent colors do this. My ordinary thread I bought from a craft store is 10 mil diameter. I recently bought a couple of spools of 5 mil thread sold for tying fishing flys. However, one spool is black and the other is white. Both black and white create high contrast which makes a thread look bigger than it really is, so these 5 mil threads don’t really look any smaller than the more readily available translucent (invisible) threads sold in craft stores.
model rr EZLine. comes in black and white and tan. stretches nicely without adding tension to the mast and attaches with a smidgen of CYA.
Stretched sprue.
definatley EZline… I rigged my 1/350 Bismarck with it and it came out great. its very easy to work with, is forgiving and creates its own tention without the complications.
thin wire
In 1/700 scale, a 0.5 inch diameter rope or cable would be 0.0007 inch in 700 scale - a human hair is about 0.004 inches (an order of magnitude larger), so a viable scale solution is impractical.
IMO, the smallest diameter smoke translucent monofilament thread or stretched sprue is best… the problem with using a “stretchable” product is bending the masts and yards, and finding a small enough diameter for the scale.
We’re into an interesting, semi-philosophical issue here. In mathematical terms, all sorts of objects are, to all intents and purposes, impossible to represent on small scales. Think of the thickness of the plating on a gun tub. Or the lines in a guardrail. Or the grid on lots of radar screens. Or, for that matter, the plating that forms the sides of an open bridge. In fact, most of the things routinely represented by photo-etched metal are, in literal terms, over-scale - sometimes by quite a lot.
When photo-etched parts came on the scene, back in the late seventies or thereabouts, the modern warship modeling community seemed to accept that such parts made models more attractive and realistic. (I personally think they were right.) Up till then, the usual approach was “if you were far enough away from it that it looked that little, you wouldn’t see it.” (That one always struck me as a cop out.) Surely we’ve all seen enough beautifully executed models on 1/700 and 1/350 scale to be convinced that, in the hands of a good modeler, various features of a warship can be represented convincingly on those scales - even though the representations are, strictly speaking, out of scale. I’ve gotten to the point where I almost expect a 1/700 model by a good modeler to have guardrails and rigging. But if somebody wanted to take the position “if I can’t show it to scale, I won’t show it at all,” I’d have trouble arguing. To each his/her own.
I haven’t built enough modern warships to have a firm opinion about rigging materials. I’ve stretched a whole lot of sprue in my day, and it looks fine until it gets busted (which can happen very easily). I bought a spool of EZ Line some time back; I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but it looks like great stuff. I also have some examples of very, very fine fly tying silk, which also looks promising. And many years ago a friend gave me a spool of nichrome wire that he’d bought at a military surplus store. Its diameter is .0025 - pretty daggone fine. I’ve used it with, I think, success in sailing ship models (it makes great ratlines). Its problem is that, though it’s not likely to snap under normal handling, it is likely to kink - and when that happens, getting the kink out is almost impossible. I have a 1/700 battleship on the back burner, and I intend to use a mixture of all those materials to rig it.
I also have a copy of a fine book called Building Model Warships that was published back in the mid-seventies, when the 1/700 “Waterline Series” was getting established. The book asserts that radar screens and guard rails are “impossible to model” on 1/700 scale. When I read that sentence, and then glance at the catalog of Gold Medal Models or White Ensign Models, I wonder: What will the hobby look like 35 years from now? I wonder what the next development in rigging material will be.
I certainly agree. In fact, if we are really talking about antennas rather than rigging, the wires are likely to be less than a fifth that diameter. You will never get a material down to scale diameter. You can only pick the smallest you can find, and then aim to make it even less visible, by using translucent or transparent material, or low contrast coloring. I see so many otherwise fine models spoiled by large carpet or button thread, in a high contrast white or stark black color.
Thank you all for the great suggestions!! I appreciate the assistance. I now what I’ve been using does not work, especially for 1/700 scale. Thank you all again!!