Hey there,
small update
Aluminium is ordered for the run.
I have received the new UNEF 5/8" tap today and tried a new hole for the red button, it works very well now.
View attachment 1791892
I get the exact result I wanted, which is the red button only threads a little bit and rests against the inner core. That gives the exact look of the original.
View attachment 1791893
as you can see, the core is inside and the red button rests on top of it.
View attachment 1791894
View attachment 1791895
threading a tube gives weird results, but anyways, it seems to work very well.
View attachment 1791896
I have some more investigating to do though as the glass eyes I have on hand are not threading all the way for some reason. Either as a result of the fact we are trying to thread them into a tube, or because UNEF 5/8" is still not the proper size?
weirdly enough, the red buttons I have measure 15.6mm at the threads and the glass eyes measure 15.8mm. I don't know, it's surprising, but I'll make it work.
also received this boat antenna today and will play around with doing a blade for my motorized prototype
View attachment 1791897
cheers all!