Introduction

The wireless set No19 was developed in the UK and was extensively used on basically any type of AFV in the Commonwealth as well as US and lend-lease vehicles in USSR. Moreover, some vehicles still had it in the early 1960’s! It was a great improvement from its predecessors – more compact size and wider range and contained 2 components – “A” set, working in High frequency range (up to 50 miles) and “B” set, a Very high frequency range transmitter-receiver for up to 1 mile communications. Up to date, there exist several clubs of enthusiasts and collectors of No19 set and equipment related to it.

Contents

The No19 wireless set was equipped with 2 aerials on 2 aerial bases. “A” or aerial base #8 had conic shape and is represented quite nicely in styrene, however, it lacks important details like aerial rod fixing bracket with nut. “B” or aerial base #9 is a bit more complex and had a brush guard, tubular shape base, mounting plate, brackets and nuts. These elements are quite difficult to reproduce in styrene and even the aftermarket solutions until recent time are not ideal. I have been mostly interested in Axis models but I am now getting more and more interested in Allied equipment and building a Churchill and A39 Tortoise I started to look for appropriate solutions without spending too much time on scratching these aerial bases.
Luckily, Panzer Art from Poland, a small company that has been around for a couple of years released a set of British aerial bases recently!

The Review

The aerial base set comes in a small cardboard box with a 3D drawing of the aerial bases A and B on a casting block. Upon opening it I discovered two casting blocks with parts sufficient for 2 vehicles equipped with No19 wireless set. First casting block includes aerial bases A and B (2 of each) and another one has brush guards for aerial base B. Also 2 rods are present – the longer one for base A and short for base A. The aerial base A has all necessary detail, including bolt heads on the mounting base, aerial rod fixing bracket with nut. The shape looks appropriate too. The aerial base B also has excellent detail however I would be very careful when removing the brush guard not to break it.
The detail is as crisp as possible and there are no casting defects on these resin parts. Cutting off parts from the casting blocks was very simple with a modelling saw and there was a minimal amount of resin dust (something that is always important to take into consideration when working with resin). Using CA glue I attached one of the B-bases to my A39. After that I drilled a small hole in the top of the base and glued a metal antenna rod (from a different manufacturer). The brush guard was not installed as I’ve seen some vehicles without it.

Conclusion

In my opinion this is an excellent set of British aerial bases that can be used on most of the vehicles produced in Commonwealth countries during the WW2. The detail level is unbeatable and the price is very attractive.
If you wish to read more on No19 wireless sets and see some references on aerial bases – please follow these links

Historic Military Vehicle Forum Live links
Wireless Set No19 Group Live links