Hi all

I have the following antenna base and wire set from VoyagerModels:

http://www.voyagermodel.com/products/Report/PEA169.jpg

As you can see in the picture, the way it is packaged causes the wire to bend.

I clamped each end in a peg and pulled it straight and used heavy objects around the pegs to keep the tension. Left it over night and had no affect what so ever.

Any advice on how I can get the wire straight?

Thanks

I was going to try the same thing you mentioned, but I was going to try heating it first. I haven't reached that point in my Stryker build, yet. Using their M1117 kit, I discarded the wire and used thin piano wire in the Voyager bases.

An alternative is to use the new twist ties for plastic bags. Take a new one and just burn off the coating, instant antenna wires. You can get various legnths depending on the plastic bags you buy. Also if you want a slight bend in them you bend to desired shape and it holds, so tied down or vehical in motion is easy. Some white glue for insulators and tie downs and a shot of paint and your done. Wound guitar strings sections are what I use for the base, but the A.M. ones are better looking.

John:

Hi!

First off: I know NOTHING whatsoever of either the vehicle, the Voyager kit, or the specific antenna you want... I'm only here to suggest a solution I've used on all my builds (mostly WWII German stuff).

The issue: You want one (1) of maybe 2 basic forms - either a "pipe" or "rod" of consistent diameter, OR some sort of "tapered" shaft (lots of more-modern vehicles use tapered "glass" or carbon-fibre antennae).

Metal wire works well for "pipes and rods" - I suggest BRASS, COPPER, or ALUMINUM wire of the right diam, cut to length. These wires are soft enough to be easily finger-straightened. As suggested above, "sac - twisties" are also good - they are typically soft steel wire.

NO wire will work "as is" for a "tapered" part. You must either use the kit bit, buy a specific AM piece, make your own from metal, or...

Make it with STRETCHED SPRUE. With a little practice, you can easily make ANY diameter AND TYPE of "antenna" (rod, pipe, tapered-shaft, etc.) you wish. Easy to make, easy to straighten (or curve, as you like), easy to attach to any base material, and easy to replace if it gets damaged or bent or lost.

Pick a piece of sprue, sand it round (stretched sprue will carry the cross-section shape AND the seams of the original piece), and heat it over a candle or lighter or... until it softens. Pull out gently - the rate of pull will affect and control the diameter. Pull it straight, hold it straight until it cools completely, and the stretched sprue will remain straight.

The stretched sprue will ALWAYS have a taper where it comes from the original piece. To get your tapered antenna, simply clip out the length you like starting from where the taper is of the right diam.

For the consistent-diam "rod", you'll need to pull sufficient length to get your diameter (pull-rate) in a section long enough. Practice. You'll quickly get there!

Just a suggestion!

Cheers!

Bob

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions.

@dioman13, never ever occurred to me to use those ties!
Can't wait to see my wife's face when I start using those.
Will see if we have or get some over the weekend and see if they fit the holes.

@panzerbob01, thank you for all your suggestions and techniques
Normally I use the kit antenna base and drill a hole in it and then use evergreen plastic rod, think its the 0.25mm one which usually works well.

Since I'm specifically using AM bases (Voyager did the same with their Modern Russian Antenna Base set) the hole is smaller than the Evergreen plastic rod.

Found some metal wire from the local hobby shop which fits the holes (only just if you get the angle right) but it is still thicker than the wire supplied with the VM sets.

If VM packaged them better in something which kept them straight doubt this problem would exist.

Thanks again for all the input

Ola John

Here is a little trick I picked up years ago from another modeler... It is a really simple trick and it always works. Made a diagram of it as well


I used it a gazzillion times I think. Always worked for me

@John;

Hi!

If the Evergreen rod is your desired diameter (and you want a consistent-diam rod antenna) - you have it "made in the shade"! Mount hole too small? Just shave the botton bit of your rod down to size (that will be quicker, easier and less likely to have something undesired happen than drilling-out the mount hole).

@Faust:

Ever try using a larger flat "plate" object to do that? If you use any object with a flat surface large enough to cover the rod or wire, you can roll the entire thing at one go - even easier and faster than with a tweezer handle! Using the larger flat object also works well to straighten a bent or curved tapered-piece, which will roll around in an arc underneath.

Cheers!

Bob

Another idea is to get Carbon Fiber Rods....

http://www.cstsales.com/carbon_rods.html

I have used antanne from Voyager. You need to anneal it. Has it is heating, roll the ends between your fingers. You should be able to see the result on my Trumpy Early BMP3 blog.

I tried the rolling on flat surface with mixed results, guess practice makes perfect

Will try the annealing/heating this weekend.

Just need to clarify my early comments which were incorrect.
The Evergreen rod does fit the Voyager Stryker Antenna set, it is the Modern Russian Antenna set that it doesn't fit.

I apologise for the misinformation, downside of working with multiple kits at the same time.

The K&S Engineering music wire fits both sets, although it is still thicker than the wire supplied by Voyager.

Will keep working at straightening the Voyager wire.

I take all my son's broken guitar strings....they come in different diameters and have been under tension for so long they remain straight. New ones are bent from being rolled in the packet.

Annealing is the key with the Voyager wire. I should have mentioned that in the reviews I have done of their products. The wire is very stiff and springy until it is annealed, at which point it will straighten easily when rolled on the cutting mat.

That's the way I do for soft metal wire. Unfortunately for hard metal like piano string it doesn't work unless you heat the string. The drawback is that heated piano string tends to break.

The best solution is definitely carbon fiber IF you can find some.

Olivier