New Showcase Miniatures items in development!

[arbomambo]

http://www.showcaseminiatures.net/century-foundry-accessories1.html

they're here!

[peteski]

Nice!
But no clear insulators, or injection-molded cross-arms  - Bob Gilmore will be disappointed. 

[arbomambo]

Nice!
But no clear insulators, or injection-molded cross-arms  - Bob Gilmore will be disappointed. 

lol...yes he probably will!
I've already placed the first of many orders of thee for me....can't wait to build these...I'm going to leave the insulator part silver and paint with various clear Tamiya acrylics-smoke-green-red-blue....
I want to build, not only the classic 'two armed' poles that were and are seen along most of Santa Fe's right of way, but also some multi-armed poles for special locations-we've beem needing these for a long. long time!
~Bruce

[robert3985]

Nice!
But no clear insulators, or injection-molded cross-arms  - Bob Gilmore will be disappointed. 

Hell yes!

I also hate the cast support brackets.  Woulda been better (IMHO) without 'em but with a nib or dimple on the back to attach a fine wire to.

What I do like is the smaller insulators, but, from the photos, their contours don't look much like prototype insulators.

I also hope the metal isn't as pliable as the NSN ones, which bend if you look at 'em cross-eyed.

Ah well...onward with my FUD ones.  I hope they work out. 

[Scottl]

Nice, I'll be getting some of these!  I like that they are metal, should be more durable than plastic.  The price seems very reasonable too.

[peteski]

Hell yes!

I also hate the cast support brackets.  Woulda been better (IMHO) without 'em but with a nib or dimple on the back to attach a fine wire to.

What I do like is the smaller insulators, but, from the photos, their contours don't look much like prototype insulators.

I also hope the metal isn't as pliable as the NSN ones, which bend if you look at 'em cross-eyed.

Ah well...onward with my FUD ones.  I hope they work out. 

Bob,
you just gave me an idea for a new business venture.

How much would you be willing to spend for N scale telephone poles made from epoxy/carbon-fiber composite material, titanium cross arms with true-to-scale real glass insulators?   

[Kisatchie]

How much would you be willing to spend for N scale telephone poles made from epoxy/carbon-fiber composite material, titanium cross arms with true-to-scale real glass insulators?   

Hmm... I'll pay $.18 each.
(Is there a volume
discount...?)

[robert3985]

Bob,
you just gave me an idea for a new business venture.

How much would you be willing to spend for N scale telephone poles made from epoxy/carbon-fiber composite material, titanium cross arms with true-to-scale real glass insulators?   

Believe it or not, I found some antique glass beads of the right color that were the correct diameter.  However, they looked like beads instead of insulators, but the color was very nice!

I think the FUD ones will be okay.  I've engineered a very robust attachment protocol with a drilling depth jig as part of the print which should speed things up considerably on assembly.  Wooden swab sticks work great as poles (especially after I taper them on my lathe) so no epoxy/carbon-fiber monocoque poles needed!

Truthfully, I don't mind if the crossarms break.  I can glue 'em back together pretty easily, it's the bending thing that I don't like since I'm planning on stringing them with EZ Line.

However titanium cross arms would be good if you could engineer the insulator pegs to be the correct diameter!!  Hahahaha...like about .005" in diameter??

Would your 1:160th glass insulators screw on like the real ones???

Good one Peteski!! 

[peteski]

However titanium cross arms would be good if you could engineer the insulator pegs to be the correct diameter!!  Hahahaha...like about .005" in diameter??

Would your 1:160th glass insulators screw on like the real ones???

Good one Peteski!! 

But of course!   

[arbomambo]

getting a chance to put together some of the new Showcase Miniatures poles and crossarms...mixed a color for faded poles...
~Bruce

[up1950s]

Looks like you can turn the cross arms upside-down , cut to length , and make them into the curb part of street catch basins .


http://www.anaheim.net/depts_servc/pub_works/stormdrains/image/kids_catch_basin.jpg

[robert3985]

getting a chance to put together some of the new Showcase Miniatures poles and crossarms...mixed a color for faded poles...
~Bruce

Here are a couple of photos of UP poles alongside the Wasatch Grade mainline between Weber and Echo Canyons with some good closeups of the color of the aged wood:




One more:


Hope that helps to choose a couple of colors to paint the poles and crossarms.

[arbomambo]

Bob,
great pics!...that's the color I'm trying to replicate...a driftwood color...very non-descript...grey-tan...
I'm really loving these poles...the options they allow; with some trimming of the crossarms, almost any combination is possible
~Bruce

[robert3985]

Even with their limitations, I have to admit they look better than anything else out there...yet   

Make sure you post some photos of yours painted & weathered.  On the poles themselves, prototypically the crossarms were mounted on different sides of the poles every other pole and the tops were cut at an angle to encourage drainage, and it also varied just the opposite way every other pole.

I see the poles are available both as "poles" and as just crossarms.  As opposed to plastic or metal poles, I've found that wooden swab sticks I buy at my local pharmacy look much better than plastic.  I haven't had any experience with metal.

Although the following technique works great for wooden poles, you might try scraping the metal poles, which would add some needed "grain".  The staining is only valid for wood.

I scrape my wood swab sticks with a fine toothed Zona saw blade, then swipe it a few times with a fine steel welder's brush to get rid of the "fuzz' the scraping produces.  This makes very convincing "grain" in the swab sticks.

I used to use Floquil "driftwood" stain, but...it's gone now.  I'm sure you could find a good selection of wood stains at The Home Depot or Lowe's that would probably work just as well.  I'd let it sit for a minute or four, then wipe it off with a soft cloth or paper towel, not applying much pressure, which allows stain to collect in the "grain", emphasizing it but lightening the high spots, so you'd be starting with a stain color that you'd think would be darker than what you want.  After you wipe it off the high spots, it's lighter and hopefully, the right "tone".

Also, you can see from the photos that the crossarms are a different color than the poles.  The poles I've photographed are a slightly reddish color, but the crossarms are more tannish-gray.

On newer poles, you can see a distinct "creosote" portion of the poles near the bottom.  I'm assuming the poles would have creosote applied to the portion of them that would be buried.  This fades after decades of being out in the weather.

Your telegraph poles may vary. 

[arbomambo]

Here the poles, crossarms, and insulators are painted...I've given everything a thin black wash....
for some reason, these pics make the poles appear lighter in hue than they are to the naked eye...to the eye they appear just as the poles in Bob's previous pics...I used a tan, gray, and wood mix to get the 'driftwood' look with a little tan still showing; I used flat black and dark tan to make the crossarms appear 'newer'.
There is some subtle texture on the pole castings, but I like your idea of roughing them up more...even using a fine tooth razor saw in a vertical scrape to impart more of a suggestion of wood.  I think I'll do some very light vertical drybrushing as a finish.
I searched all my Tamiya clear acrylics and could only find 'smoke', which works for these insulators.





all in all...these are going to work very well for a lot of different scenery applications...
~Bruce