Hi guys !!

I can't seem to find any tips on making the tapered modern antenna as seen on armour in this day and age.

The easy way is to simply use wire and leave it that, however the tapered look is missing using this method.

Any tips on making antenna as seen below:





Cheers

Paul

I would try to replicate this by heating up a section of sprue over a candle, you could pull it until the desired thickness and then cut to length.

You can also use evergreen plastic rods cut it the size you need then simply sand one side to a point ,and your done .Hope that helps.

Thanks Rob.

I did give that some thought as it is the most obvious solution. A bit tricky and a fair bit of trial an error to get the right thickness and length / straightness I guess.

I wonder if there is another way of doing it ?

Cheers Paul

That may be do-able thanks Ed. A lot of sanding I guess, but no other easy method I figure.

I wonder if anyone has tried using putty or filler around a wire and sanding / building it up to get the taper.

Has anyone tried that ?

Cheers

Paul

There was someone who said they use a lathe to get the desired effect, however I can't see how you would do this due to the diameters involved. Here is an idea I had but have not attempted as yet. Place some Evergreen in a slow speed drill, then have a flat edge against one side, then use a sanding stick to get a tapered finish of your choosing.

I'v also tried that to, testers makes flexable sand paper in different grits, works great!

Thanks Ed, Darren, you guys are onto something there

I think I'll have to give the Evergeen a try.

I'm still infatuated with the idea of using spring steel wire from a hobby shop (I have some 0.15 inch) and using a filler or putty to build up the base and a little way up towards the tip



Paul

Hold the antennae upside down and let a drop of CA glue form on the tip. Hit it with Excelorator if needed. Paint it black or whatever color you need it to be.

Thanks Mark, great idea

Excuse my ignorance but......you mean CA Accelerator do you ?

Hi Paul,

I've been using Carbon Fibre for a while now. CF is great ( Accurate Armour carries it) as it doesn't have a memory, so it always springs back to shape ( important when transporting models to and from shows in closed topped boxes), takes paint and remains straight. Antenna top caps ( there is a name for them, I just can't remember at this time of the morning) are made from good old white glue as I try and get a bit of a tear drop shape, as opposed to a round ball. It takes me a couple of sessions to get the right shape.

Just my way,Hope it helps

Pete

I use plastic rod for strong antenna and string 0.2mm - 0.3mm for thin antenna.
Miloslav

I recently made a pair of antenna for a modern British vehicle. I used brass rod as the base material, I think 0.020" was the diameter I use.

I clamped the rod in the chuck of my motor tool, set it to a low speed, and then used 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper to impart the slight taper along the length of the antenna. I worked slowly, stopping often to examine the rod until the desired taper was achieved.

I then wrapped bits of lead sheet (from a wine bottle) fixed with super-glue around the mid point of the antenna to represent the collar where the two sections are screwed together. After the super-glue had fully set up, I sanded the collar with a fine grit sanding stick (I think it was 320) to ensure that the collar was a consistent diameter.

This whole operation required less than 30 minutes of time, and I am quite happy with the result. The advantage of using brass rod is that it won't break if knocked about. I chose to leave both antenna (the vehicle has two) loose for ease of storage of the entire model when transporting it to and from shows and such.

I hope this helps you on your build(s).

Cheers - Dan

Thanks Miroslav, Pete, Dan,

you're been really helpful and are using some great methods

There is definately more than one way to "skin a cat" by the looks of it. I think I'll have a play and try a few of these methods.

The brass rod method sounds appealing, but so do the others

Cheers

Paul

Adler's Nest, Lion Marc, and Armourscale all make tapered brass antennas for WWII German tanks...........they are all 2 metre antennas so they might be a bit short in height to use on all modern vehicles that use tapered antennas.

It all depends on your budget and degree of accuracy wanted......blah blah blah.

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/lionmarc/lm60008.html

Thanks Jason.

I think I have a couple of those in my stash somewhere now that I think of it

They were going to be used on a Panther G. So I'll check them out.

Cheers

Paul

LIke I said.....they might be a bit too short.......at 2 metres or 6 feet they should have about another 2 - 3 feet length to make them more accurate for modern antennas.

Maybe one of those companies will come out with a modern antenna set.......it would be simple for them to make longer tapered antennas.

I think I will try wire (spring steel) first and attach that to the model antenna base (after drilling a hole) having built-up a taper with some products mentioned here. (wow that was a mouthful !!).

Trial and error I guess at first. I'jj also try some of the other method's here too.

I see you've got some cool looking antenna's on some of your C2 builds Jason, how did you do those ?

Cheers

Paul

Paul,
Ahhh, another tip that I can expound on...

I have used the AA Carbon fiber as well as Modelmeca (A Spanish company, I believe) stainless steel wire antennas for my modern US Army builds... The US Army went to thinner, shorter. metallic antennas for their SINCGARS radios/antenna bases (as well as the older, fiberglass ones) so the use of the wire works for me.

To get the antenna ball, I suspend the wire from one of those "third hand' devices and apply a blob of CA to the lower end then spin the wire to get a uniform ball, finally apply CA accelerator to solidify the CA. Takes a bit of practice and the ball can be touched up with additional CA/ accelerator to get it to the correct shape.

Now who has a good recipe for the antenna base springs and retaining clips???

John

Thanks John,

If this technique is anywhere as good as the last one of yours I used, I'll be 'wrapped'.

Cheers

Paul