arial wire on planes

[tufty]

i hope this tip will help

to make a ariel wire on planes i use fishing line go to your local tackle shop and you will find all the different sizes of line ,you will be able to get what ever thickness you require for a couple of quid or go to the boot sales and you will get it even cheaper

 

[wbk666]

ive got the line but only ever tried it once and things got messy at the gluing stage. any tips for that?

 

[tecdes]

Super Glue & Accelerator I use. The superglue the gel type.

I put a small amount on the end of the aerial line. Then offer it up with tweezers to the point of contact using something to rest the arm on to keep it steady. Use the other hand with the accelerator bottle open with a metal point dip in so there is a VERY small amount of accelerator. Touch the aerial with it if possible a minute distance away from the superglue. Minute distance as you may superglue the applicator. Done the superglue goes off in milli seconds. Make sure you hold the line so that it is direct in it's alignment otherwise you get a weird slightly crooked aerial.

Use the gel type as you can make connections look authentic with what looks like the joint connectors especially when you have a three way aerial connection. Some aerials have a short connection to the aircraft then a joint for the longer part & this looks good with a simulated joint in Supergel.

Always make sure that I have all set up including the arm support before attempting. Otherwise you will wish, un-granted, for three arms & hands & be rewarded with an awful tirade of Andrew Mitchell language.

Laurie

PS I use knicker elastic thread as it stretches about 10 times its length. Thread can be coloured with ink pens etc. Tension it about a quarter of its length & it looks fine with a slight bow after a few weeks. Also Scale Models supply elasticated thread in differing colours

 

[wbk666]

any particular brand? i've found different superglues can vary in quality.

 

[tecdes]

I live in Jersey Wayne & the selection is small.

I use Locktite which I get from B & Q. (not B & Q's mixture). They do an ordinary superglue & a gel type. Use both found the gel gives a bit more time. They do a number of differing types of containers. The one I use is the container with the finger pushes on the side which when squeezed then extrude the glue in very small increments without mess & loss. I got some very mini plastic beakers about an inch tall from the Pound Shop & squeeze a small amount into the bottom which makes life easy.

By the way use a metal pointed applicator for the accelerator. Found that a cocktail stick will bond quickly & easily. Even if the metal takes hold if you are quick it comes away easily without harm.

Never found the weathered colour of aerials. Assume they are stainless steel or galvanised rope twisted but what colour do they weather down to ?

Laurie

 

[stona]

As for colour,German and I am reliably informed British aerial wires were made from a stainless steel. A metallic silver/grey colour would be appropriate. I use monofilament fishing line and drag a brush loaded with good old Humbrol 56 along the length.

The old schoolers will remember that stretched clear sprue also gives a good result.

I often see them black which would not really be correct,if it bothers you.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tecdes]

Just wondered Steve if they may have tried to disguise the aerials.

Having been a boating man the first you would see of a boat apart from the surf (in sunny conditions) would be the glint of the stainless steel pulpit rather like a winking light. Same with searchlights on a Lancaster or Wellington.

Problem is with museums & modern photos of renovated aircraft they do not show the real working condition of an aircraft. Not a crit. just a fact. WW11 photos are it seems 99% B/W & the aerial lines always look darkish probably due photo conditions being in black & white against a light coloured sky.

One answer of course is would a coat of paint have hindered the reception. I am dopy on this subject.

Laurie

 

[stona]

Not the Luftwaffe. I have some not very good B+W photos of the wire on an unrestored Fw 190 and it shows no sign of any coating or paint. I can only go by what Edgar Brooks said about British wires and he didn't seem to think they were disguised either.

If the sun would catch anything on an aeroplane it would surely be the canopy "glass", a long time before the fine wire of an aerial. As you say in most photos aerial wires are not easily visible,I really don't think that they would be something that anyone would have worried about giving away an aeroplane at distance.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tecdes]

Not the Luftwaffe. I have some not very good B+W photos of the wire on an unrestored Fw 190 and it shows no sign of any coating or paint. I can only go by what Edgar Brooks said about British wires and he didn't seem to think they were disguised either.If the sun would catch anything on an aeroplane it would surely be the canopy "glass", a long time before the fine wire of an aerial. As you say in most photos aerial wires are not easily visible,I really don't think that they would be something that anyone would have worried about giving away an aeroplane at distance.

Cheers

Steve

I tend to think it would be perhaps wise, Steve, to avoid canopy glass discussions !!!!!!!

 

[stona]

Laurie I had a quick flick through a folder of colour photos in my Bf 109 collection as I thought that's where I'd find the most likely candidates to show the wire.

A couple show it fairly well.

First this one of a Bf 109 K found at the end of the war.

And most obviously this well known photo of a Bf 109 E.

I have some detail shots of the attachments (on a Bf 109 F) to the fin and mast in which a few centimetres of the wire,around the wind deflectors,has been painted,presumably when the deflectors were painted. This was on a Bf 109 F (Trop) which may have been sprayed in the tropical RLM 79 post production.

Cheers

Steve

 

[tecdes]

Those are really nice photos Steve considering the relative quality of photography of the time. The aerial certainly stands out as stainless steel

Actually thinking of stainless steel it does take on a certain dullness & looses that new brightness unless polished. Also noticed on the boat stainless what appeared to be rust. It was but not the stainless steel it was the ferrous machinery used to prepare the stainless steel which left very minute bits of ferrous embedded in the stainless which then rusted.

Remarkable record of camouflage.

Laurie