Hi. I'm not a big German armour buff so hopefully someone can help me with this question.

I'm working on a Panzer IIIJ Befehelswagen with the star antenna on the rear deck. I was wondering would that antenna always be up, or would it be stored away when not in use?

Thanks for your time,

Jeff

Jeff;

Hi! The "sternantenna" head was folded for storage. There was a leather and canvas tubular casing typically used to store and carry this item when it was placed inside the host vehicle (or when it was being carried by a field radio operator), but the star head could also be left mounted on it's typical 2m or 3m base rod antenna and just be folded and secured with a strap, almost like a sort of umbrella without the fabric.

This latter "stowage mode" was actually pretty common when these antennae were deployed from scout cars and such - in cases where it was frequently being put up for short periods and then taken down for vehicular movement, crew would fold the head and sometimes lower the base rod. The star head consisted of a soft leather "cup" to which were attached the 6 thin tubular arms, and was actually fairly fragile, and violently waving it around, such as when the host vehicle was moving, didn't lead to longevity...

Strangely enough (in my opinion! ), model kits of German subjects almost always provide it open and deployed (in styrene or as PE). But Italeri has been rather "counter" to this practice, in that they provide the stern-antenna folded and stowed on its folded-down base rod in their several Italian armored-car kits...! Which is well-documented in photos...

Cheers!

Bob

Thanks for the info, that clears up my question and thanks for taking the time to reply.

Cheers

Jeff