Whip antenna

[littlemac]

Does anyone have any ideas for how to make a whip antenna for a voxcaster? Wire perhaps?

[Dedrier]

Perhaps try guitar wire? Maybe really thin plasticard?

[littlemac]

Has anyone else done this before?

[antipope]

Take a look here. Quite similar to what you want. Hope it helps!

[crispy]

You can get the same effect for free by taking a length of leftover plastic sprue (the plastic frames your GW kits come on), heating it over the flame of a candle until quite soft and then stretching it. It'll be more flexible than metal wire, less likely to snap off should you catch it during a game and can be fixed with plastic glue. If you let the heated plastic cool a little before stretching you'll get a thicker strand and it'll naturally taper, thin in the middle and thicker at both ends. Cut it in half and you'll have 2 strands perfect for aerials.

Nic

[Lt. Erwin]

On a related note, anyone have any good ideas for making spools of wire, at about the size to be mounted on a backpack?

[fatuous]

I use telephone wire for pretty much every thing, piping on power weapons/fists, flamer hoses, etc... and will work on pretty much any thing that you need small, regular piping for. So should be ideal for a whip antenna.

Very cheap, I paid maybe 2 pounds (UK) for a spool several meters long and still have plenty left.

You can leave the wire in if you want a fixed look (and this is usually easier to stick on the model-drill a small hole, and remove the outer coating for a few millimeters, so u use the metal core to fill the hole), or remove the inner metal core completely, and just use the outer rubber/plastic piping.

Note when i say telephone wire, I mean the small, thin wiring inside the cable you see connecting a teleophone.

[crispy]

A good source for wire and cables are old broken electrical goods. If you're about to throw anything away its worth taking 10 mins to open it up and see whats inside but of course make sure its unplugged or had any batteries removed first. Old stereos will be full of useful wire in various thickness, cogs, LED's, nuts bolts and screws etc. Thicker insulated wire can be turned into a piston by just cutting the plastic coating to resemble the outer sleeve leaving the copped wire bare.

Electric motors contain a lot of thin coiled wire which would be just right to add to a backpack.

[Pax Urbis Pax Imperi]

I used plasticard rods for my antenna on my Elysian ...

However, Galeforce 9 sells Plasticard rods and sheets of various sizes. The thinnest and smallest diameter rod is perfect for whip antennas.

[emptyhat]

Jan 3, 2011 17:48:52 GMT -5 crispy said:

You can get the same effect for free by taking a length of leftover plastic sprue (the plastic frames your GW kits come on), heating it over the flame of a candle until quite soft and then stretching it. It'll be more flexible than metal wire, less likely to snap off should you catch it during a game and can be fixed with plastic glue. If you let the heated plastic cool a little before stretching you'll get a thicker strand and it'll naturally taper, thin in the middle and thicker at both ends. Cut it in half and you'll have 2 strands perfect for aerials.

Nic

Isn't heating plastic pretty bad for your health? DO you use a mask or something?

[Morat]

It's not exactly -good- for you, but if you do it in a well ventilated area and provided you're not doing it 24/7 (how many whip aerials does a man need?) there's not likely to be any long term problems.

(Morat is not a doctor)
(Morat may be hazardous to your health)
(Morat is not a toy)

[richie]

I agree with Crispy and Morat on this one - i make the ariels outside and i also use a builders dust mask as an extra percaution. Its free and its made out of stuff you'd normally throw away.

[Atora]

i use pin from a sewing kit as they dont bend