G`day Folks, Why bother you may say.......I can buy perfectly good telegraph poles from my local hobby shop. All true and yes ....why take on the task of building something that is readily available and not terribly expensive.? Well during these uncertain times when we are locked down in our homes, we are presented with the gift of more time for modelling. More time to take a chance with your modelling abilities and have a go at something scratch built. The humble telegraph pole offers you a way into scratch building something that is well within the capabilities of most of us and is cheap as chips. You may possibly have most of the materials already about your house, however the method I`m proposing requires some small beads which probably will need to bought in from an online supplier. Scratch building offers you the opportunity to create something unique to your railway and may also indeed be closer to the prototype for the region you model. The fact that the telegraph poles I make are made from bamboo skewers gives us a pole that may more closely resemble the real thing when painted and weathered appropriately. They have a texture that resembles wood rather than plastic that tries to look like plastic. Here are my second and third attempts.....my first attempt is a poor relative now. So enjoy the video and stay safe. Gormo
Well yes...they certainly are cheap but I think they are a good base to improve on. Some of our skilled modellers could take them to another level I reckon.? Gormo
Look good enough to me. No need to take them any further. It would be 100% more effort for a potentially available 5 % improvement ...... if that. Great result. Toto
Thanks Toto, I have been advised just yesterday, that a rail side telegraph pole should not have the metal bracket but rather just a cross bar. I researched my poles online via images and obviously I got it wrong. Apparently the poles with bracing would be carrying electricity whereas the rail side poles are just telegraph / communication wires and their crossbars are not braced. I live and learn, however I rather like the poles with the bracing. The bonus in producing a pole without the bracing, and one which looks more prototypical, is the fact that it`s easier to make. So no big deal....I should be able to pump them out like little sausages when I get back out into the shed. Stay safe Gormo
I like the bracing so I think I will put them into a residential setting on Dargan and call them electricity poles where the four insulator approach is perfect. Another project for the list! Thanks Gormo Cheers and happy modelling Richard
No worries Richard, By the way, if you want to make the poles look really weathered, take a fine toothed saw, possibly something like a tenon saw or a fret saw, possibly even a hack saw, and drag the saw blade along the length of the pole at random, making subtle grooves in it and on all sides .... then weather it favoring a grey colour along with less of the browns.......Not my idea but I have seen it done.....it gives the impression the pole has been there for years and may even need replacing by the look of it....... Stay safe Gormo