Hints & Tips

Antennas

When the Corvette debuted in 1953, the wonderbar AM radio had the antenna "sandwiched" between fiberglass layers of the trunk lid. In '56, the antenna was changed to an external one, located in the rear panel, where it remained until 1996.  Before the power antennas dominated the scene, the antennas were fixed masts in a base. These antennas can be replicated for looks, but more importantly, doing so will help when painting the model.

When painting?  What does it has to do with it?  The molded in antenna base in models like the Revell-Monogram '67 roadster, present a little problem when polishing or buffing the paint. So first of all, let's get rid of it.  Begin by flattening the top of the molded antenna, and using the point of a sharp hobby knife, make a small hole, as centered as possible. Using this hole as a guide, drill a thru hole with the smallest drill bit you can get. Then use a bigger bit, the width of the base you want to remove. Sand smooth the area and you are ready to paint and buff it.

Now the fun begins. Cut a piece of the thinnest wire you can get. Make sure the piece is as straight as possible, and about a quarter of an inch longer than the antenna mast you want.  About this quarter of an inch, put a dab of white glue on the end of the wire. Make sure the glue surrounds the wire completely in a balloon shape. Let it dry for several hours. Find a way to keep it vertical, when dry, slip the end of the wire thru the hole in the car body to see how much more glue is needed to get it "stuck". Add some more white glue as required surrounding the wire. Get the idea?

Once the glue "base" is thick enough to stand in the hole, paint it silver. These antenna bases usually had a black grommet. To simulate it, simply dip the painted antenna base into the flat black paint bottle. Be careful not to dip it completely! When dry, glue it to the car.  For the finishing touch, just put a very small dab of glue in the top of the antenna and paint it silver after dry. The antenna body may or may not need silver paint. That's up to you.

Summary

There you have it! An antenna that looks good, and helped you in the painting of the model. This hobby certainly has some strange pathways to perfection!  Your scale model Sting Ray is ready to listen to the traffic report, the music will always be provided by the sidepipes......

As always, don't be afraid of experimenting and have fun!

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Page updated  01/03/00