Suggestions for armor antennas

Dave335

Member since
September 2010
From: Marshfield, Missouri

Suggestions for armor antennas

Posted by Dave335 on Monday, September 13, 2010 11:12 PM

I am returning to modeling after a short absence and decided to pull out my unfinished 1/35 LAV-25. While adding some scratchbuilt details, I noticed the two antenna bases with the Italeri kit were lacking. I have tried several times to create the "bulged" coil antennas without success...any suggestions?

I'm sure most everyone is familiar with these antennas, but here is a link if not:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb70/p61widow/LAV-25antenna.jpg

Thanks in advance!

Reply

stikpusher

Member since
July 2004
From: Sonora Desert

Posted by stikpusher on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 12:01 AM

try wrapping some thin gauge wire around some rod or stretched sprue to replicate the antenna base spring.

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

- Plankton

LSM

Reply

Dave335

Member since
September 2010
From: Marshfield, Missouri

Posted by Dave335 on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 1:00 AM

Thanks for the reply, stikpusher.

I have tried using rod to wrap the wire around, but so far I haven't been successful in reproducing the bulge at the base of the antenna. I have carved a couple of bases from styrene rod to hold the wire in shape, so we'll see if that works any better. Thanks again!

Reply

Phil_H

Member since
August 2005
From: Sydney, Australia

Posted by Phil_H on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 1:10 AM

You can buy them ready-made too. http://www.rbmodel.com/picture.php?dir=35A06

Reply

si.treadhead

Member since
September 2010
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Posted by si.treadhead on Monday, October 4, 2010 2:49 PM

Chuck a piece of clear sprue (it's harder than normal styrene) or acrylic rod into a drill.

Tape over the trigger so it's running continuously and shape it into an antenna base using files and/or sanding sticks - basically a poor man's lathe! Wink

Before you judge someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. After that, who cares? They're a mile away and you've got their shoes!

Reply

Anonymous

Member since
November 2005

Posted by Anonymous on Monday, October 4, 2010 3:10 PM

...cat whisker...

Reply
Edit

DoogsATX

Member since
June 2010
From: Austin, TX

Posted by DoogsATX on Monday, October 4, 2010 3:21 PM

Manstein's revenge

...cat whisker...

Indifferent

Waiting for chickens to come into play...

On the Bench: 1/32 Trumpeter P-47 | 1/32 Hasegawa Bf 109G | 1/144 Eduard MiG-21MF x2

On Deck: 1/350 HMS Dreadnought

Blog/Completed Builds: doogsmodels.com

Reply

Dave335

Member since
September 2010
From: Marshfield, Missouri

Posted by Dave335 on Monday, October 4, 2010 8:26 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions! I ended up shaping styrene rod into the base and wrapping copper wire to get that oval shape. I'll have to try the lathe idea on my next LAV. It is adequate for this build which is mostly a warm-up after being away from modeling for so long.

After adding some detail, I realized the kit M60 wasn't correct so I decided to build the M240 with a new mount. Most of the machine gun was fabricated from styrene, but I decided to use a barrel from a Dragon kit. It's not done yet, but so far I think it has turned out pretty good. Thanks again!

[View:/themes/fsm/utility/:550:0]